Especially for Mr. Mike Buckley - Misty Morning Views

[Brownbear]

But also for everyone who has taken the time to help me in my quest to improve my landscape images.

Especially for Mike because I think they demonstrate improvement in seeing landscapes artistically. I'm slowly learning what kind of landscape images I truly enjoy photographing and I had no challenges post processing these. (Well, not quite true as the 3rd image was a bit of a challenge - feedback is appreciated)...

Photographed at Maplewood Flats (a great spot for birds) on the North Shore of Vancouver. I headed out with the hopes of finding a Red Tailed Hawk but no such luck, no birds in sight anywhere, except for a lone chickadee so instead we have...

f/8 ISO 100 SS 1/100 Focal Length 18 mm

1.



2.



3.

f/8 SS 1/320 ISO 500 Focal Length 35 mm

[FrankMi]

I'm sure Mike will be thrilled but I like them as well. Particularly the second one. The square crop suits it perfectly!

[FootLoose]

I like the first and third, Shane. It makes good use of the leading lines, and the contrast between the blue water and yellow trees makes the leaves seem golden.

I think the sky is a little too bright though - in both the 1st and 2nd, for that matter. I see nothing of particular interest in the sky, so perhaps if you pulled it down a bit, the eye would rest on those beautiful golds longer.

The third shot looks like a difficult one to capture, and you have processed it well. I wonder how it would look in mono?

[Nicks Pics]

I will have to say I like the first best, and that is a really pleasant scene. There are two reasons I like it better than the second, one because it is a little darker and the colors are deeper, and two, part of the bank included at the right side of the second image does not match with the rest of the golden leaves. Third is slightly lacking in subject matter for me, but all seem processed well.

[TonyW]

These are nice. I would prefer the deeper colours of the first one rather than the second but prefer the composition of the second. The second seems somehow better balanced.

[John 2]

As they stand, it's the second for me Christina but the third would come close with a bit more contrast. Something like this. The dynamic range has been stretched and it's had a graduated ND applied from the bottom.

[Rebel]

Lovely shots Christina, looks like its going to be a nice day

[Shadowman]

Nice effort, I think the second works better than the first as the vanishing point is too centrally placed in the first image.

[Mike Buckley]

I think they demonstrate improvement in seeing landscapes artistically.

No question about that. It's great to learn that the entire process came naturally to you; the more instinctive the process becomes, the greater the likelihood that you'll continue to enjoy it more and to improve.

Consider cropping the first two at the top slightly above the trees on the right side.

[Suzan J]

Hi Christina: It's good to know that your quest for the Red Tailed Hawk was not in vain after all. These are quite lovely and moody images. I think my favourite is the first one with just the little blob of mist in the distance. It has the foreground in focus and gives a bit of mystery to the scene.

[MarieV]

Nicely captured Christina.

[Brownbear]

Thank you to all for your replies and helpful advice. As always I've learned a lot by sharing these images.

Frank...
I also like the square crop and it is something I rarely do, so nice to hear.

Greg...

Your feedback as always is helpful and appreciated. You will see in my edits (posted after this general reply) that I tried to bring down the brightness in the sky. That said the scene was very bright, and there is something about mist which makes the images very sensitive to post processing.

I tried your suggestion for black and white, unfortunately it didn't turn out. But I found another shot of that scene that I think is a bit stronger and I will post. This time I brought out the golden tones, and added contrast.

Nick...
I appreciate your feedback. For a change I too prefer the golden tones. The subject in the 3rd image is the misty sunlit trees barely seen. I will be posting another version which hopefully will show this more clearly.

John 2....

Your edit is beautiful. Thank you for sharing. I've added contrast in my new edit. I avoided adding contrast to these images for fear that I would lose the misty feel but I see that that is not the case.

John (Shadowman)

Thank you. I couldn't photograph this scene from below (deep water) so I photographed it from a higher viewpoint, in a variety of compositions (none centered horizontally) but the trees on the left are a bit messy and the rest of the scene on the right isn't as appealing, so I ended up cropping on one side or the other for the horizontal versions. Mike's crop suggestions work well. And I will visit the spot again and rework the scene.

Matt, Suzan, Tony, and Marie....

Thank you for taking the time to comment and share your thoughts. Truly appreciated.

Mike...

Thank you. I'm very happy to hear that you agree that these have a more artistic viewpoint. I'm trying very hard to see so my images are less documentary in style, and this time around when post processing I actually knew what I wanted to highlight in the image... Your crop suggestions work well. That said the horizontal version is too small so I will visit again for another go at it.

Thank you to everyone!

[Brownbear]

Hi John,

Thank you for showing me your beautiful edit.

Here is my try on another image in this series. I added contrast and deepened the shadows to bring out the golden tones, trying to bring out the misty trees more.

As they stand, it's the second for me Christina but the third would come close with a bit more contrast. Something like this. The dynamic range has been stretched and it's had a graduated ND applied from the bottom.

[Brownbear]

Image #1

Cropped as suggested by Mike.



Image #2

Cropped as suggested by Mike, and the brightness of the scene toned down as suggested by Greg as much as possible.




And a wider version of #2 (less cropped)




Thank you.

[Mike Buckley]

I prefer all three revisions to their originals.

[Nicks Pics]

I'm not very experienced with landscape shots, but I still like first version of number one, the other version of it is nice too, for the more included at the bottom, though I think the it would be nice to include the tree tops. Just a thought.

[John 2]

Hi John,

Thank you for showing me your beautiful edit.

Here is my try on another image in this series. I added contrast and deepened the shadows to bring out the golden tones, trying to bring out the misty trees more .....................

Even better Christina because you have managed to retain more of the warmth (golden colour) in the F G in particular. Really nice set.

[Shadowman]

Nice revisions.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Christina . Very nice images and I like your revised versions more . I loved the golden tones. I'm glad that you are improving your style in the way you want

[Brownbear]

Mike...

Thank you for letting me know (helpful and encouraging for me) and for suggesting the crops. I like the crops/revisions but at this point in time I'm still not sure whether I prefer the 1st image cropped or not. It could just be because the 1st image was the only one that I was able to include the top of the trees on the left hand side. So I'll look at it again in a weeks time to decide how I feel. The first image is my keeper, and still to be decided on the misty one.

Nick...

Thank you for taking the time to share. Your comments and feedback is very helpful to hear. I'm still learning to photograph landscapes, and it doesn't come easily to me. I've managed very few that I actually like but slowly but surely I'm improving.

That first image is the only one where I could include all the treetops and I do like this one as is, but I also like the crop because it emphasizes the diagonal lines and makes for a more unique composition. I do intend to revisit this scene with my wide angle lens and explore more compositions.

John (Shadowman) Thank you. Great to hear.

John 2 - Thank you for taking the time to show me this. I learned how to bring out gold tones, and I also learned that sometimes I do in fact prefer a darker versions of nature scenes.

Binnur...

As always, thank you. I also like the colours, especially the gold tones against the blue.

FYI I very lightly painted (dodging or by lifting the shadows using curves) select lines, tree tops, some of the nicer reflections, and even a few branches directed toward the focal point. Now I need to learn how to bring out silver tones.