Back after a week away on holiday/vacation

[Donald]

Just spent a week in, for me, the the relatively unknown Abernethy/Strathpsey area of Scotland. This area lies within the Cairngorms National Park and has normally been a place I just past through on my way north. It's probably because it's so close to home that I've never really taken time to stop and explore. I'm now very glad I did. It's glorious.

So, just to give you a taster ... and get all that colour stuff out of my system before starting on the real (B & W) pictures! I'm not really a fan of multiple-image posts, but thought I'd expunge this colour burst in one go!

Your criticial analysis and comments are always appreciated.

The early morning mist clearing off Loch Garten lends mood and atmosphere


40D, 24-70mm f/2.8L @ 70mm. ISO100. 0.5s@f16

Or you can also take, what I call. the picture-postcard approach


40D, 24-70mm f/2.8L @ 24mm. ISO400. 1/125s@f16

In the next one, the mountain covered in cloud is Cairn Gorm, from the which both the mountain range (the Cairngorms) and the National Park take their names. What you can't see here are all the ski tows and chairlifts (this is one of Scotland's main winter sports area) and the mountain side restaurant (which is above the cloud line). I loved the sky in this (it's one of my sort of skies) and I used the Detail Extractor tool in Nik's Colour Efex Pro 4 to pull out some of the detail. But I tried not to overdo it. I hope it has worked.

For me, the muted colours and the lines of the hills are what this image is about.


40D, 70-200mm f/4L IS @ 70mm. ISO400. 1/125@f8. 3-stop GND

And finally .... where we stayed for the week. Not a competition winner, but, I thought, just a nice scene that showed off the character of the area.


40D, 24-70mm f/2.8L @ 24mm. ISO100. 1/90s@f11

[Brownbear]

Beautiful images Donald. Thank you for sharing. My favourites are #1 and #4.

#4 for the sense of place and the beautiful colour and detail you captured, especially in the sky.

#1 for the mist and detail. When I move this image around I also like it a lot in the long mode, ie; with the top portion cropped so all the focus is on the mist against the forest and the reflection in the water.

[Donald]

When I move this image around I also like it a lot in the long mode, ie; with the top portion cropped so all the focus is on the mist against the forest and the reflection in the water.

Thank you, Christina.

It's interesting what you write. Right up until the last moment, I was seeing this as a 16:9 image. That's what I shot it to be. For some reason, as I was getting down to serious post-processing, I suddenly saw it as 7:5 and went with that. I think you're right, the more-panaroma-like 16:9 crop does work better. Lesson - Stick with the original plan and DON'T change your mind half-way through.

[Karm Redland]

Ah, Donald, you violated the golden rule of life: first explore what's in your backyard. Most people would die to have this type of landscape within hitting distance of home. I know lots of fisherman who are convinced that they must drive hours before they find decent fishing. I don't tell them that I fish successfully in their own backyards.

I wonder about cropping the bottom of the third image to better reveal the lines of its hills and frame the image with the wide open V shape of the first two hills.

karm

[Digital]

Donald, I like #2. It reminds me of a very peaceful place.


Bruce

[Trina]

Donald, You have a beautiful back yard... I enjoyed all these shots. I would love to see the first photo cropped to 16:9 is it fast becoming one of my favorite crops. I really like the last photo, the country looks so huge and love the blue sky. If I lived in that house I believe you would have a hard time getting me to leave it.... such a beautiful area.

[Arlen]

Welcome back, Donald. Number 1 (as you originally envisioned it) and especially number 4, do it for me.

Looking forward to seeing the "real" ones.

[Donald]

Thank you all for your comments.

Here is the 16:9 version of that first image, which is what I envisioned when I was composing the shot. As I wrote above, the mistake was in changing my mind at the PP stage. Thank you all for highlighting my error.

[Plumcrak]

I would not call it an error. #1 is a very nice capture as is, but your crop to 16:9 makes it even better IMHO. I have to agree with Arlen, can't wait for the "real" ones.

Cheers

[mammarazzi]

Love the images Donald, so many of us are blessed with wonderful scenery just down the road and yet never take advantage. I for one am surrounded by wonderful countryside from the spectacular Wye valley to the magnificent Brecons with majestic waterfalls and rugged mountains just 20 - 30 mins drive away....do I go out and capture them - no- what a fool am I

Joanne x

[Didace]

Lesson - Stick with the original plan and DON'T change your mind half-way through.

This would be a bad lesson to learn.

[wlou]

Great colour pictures Donald. You have a beautiful backyard, I agree. I like the picture of the house, it gives a sense of history
, an added point of interest.