Learning Landscapes - Sunrise

[Brownbear]

These images are of the Sunshine Coast a beautiful area along the coast of B.C.

Photographed from a ferry. I think I captured the morning light well in the first two images.

Processed in Lightroom using mostly the whites, blacks, vibrancy and the curves tool, sharpened in Adobe Photoshop. I noticed that even if there is no clipping in the image, once I export it from Lightroom to Photoshop I could see some clipping in the reds before applying the unsharp mask?

1.




2.



3.



I would appreciate feedback on my compositions, use of light, focus and sharpness, and post processing...

Thank you.

[Shadowman]

3rd is the best overall for composition, use of light, focus, etc.

1st is fine but not enough detail in the sky, best part of the image is in the background, could use a bit more contrast as nothing else in the image really holds the eye.

2nd is fine, the light coming from the right could be emphasized less by adding more contrast to the overall image.

[ShaneS]

I'm homesick again Christina...

For the most part I agree with John.

I wonder if you could bring some more detail back into the sky and snow covered mountains of #1 by applying a gradient in Photoshop?

I think that the uneven light and sunspot on the right in #2 hurt the overall feel of the image.

#3 is the best of the bunch but I wonder if you have considered a 16:9 aspect ratio on this one. I would eliminate some of the sky and if you had more of the green island on the left I would like to see it.

Overall you achieve nice sharpness in all the images and I look forward to seeing more...

[IzzieK]

I agree with both John and Shane here...#1 needed a bit contrast to bring out ? The sky needed something...it is really hard when what you see is what you get there...#2? I am not really keen on, but #3 is the best of them all.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Chiristina,I like the 3rd one with composition and light,unfortunatelly I can not tell you anything about PP because I haven't started PP yet.I would actually crop the big clouds in#2 and would use it like a panorama with less clouds.I like the first one as well but mountains with snow can't be seen clearly because sky is very pale ,I don't know if anything can be done about it in PP.My comments might be poor but I have been triying to do my best with little experience

[Downrigger]

These are nice. I like the first, best, and would not add more sky, myself. I like it because it has depth, which is a feature that I think can add a lot to a landscape that has distance in it, and a wonderful color.
I would suggest seeing what the clarity adjustment adds to these in LR. For me, it often does what its name suggests, which is wipe away the sense of fogginess/haziness in some images and (I don't know) you may find you want to do some of that for these. Try it, at least, if you haven't already.

[Brownbear]

Thank you John, Isabel, Binnur and Shane for your comments and helpful advice. I will revisit these photos later today, the 3rd image in particular and see what I can do.

Shane... It is very cold in Vancouver this week, with forecast lows of -13 C later this week. Hoping that bit of news will cure your homesickness. Thank you for the processing tips. I'm not familiar with the gradients but I will try using curves to increase the contrast... In the first image I decreased the contrast to bring out the pink of the sky (darkening the highlights, and lifting the shadows to lighten the mountains) This time around I will try using a layer in Adobe Photoshop so I can do it separately.

I think I have a version of the 3rd image with more water and less sky.

Binnur I am still learning my way around post processing and your comments are helpful and appreciated. I will try it.

This learning landscapes project is hard going for me... I would've thought the first image with the pink sky would've been the easiest capture while photographing the scene.

I'll post an edit later today... Thank you.

[Brownbear]

Just a note to say that I tried my best to post process these images following the helpful advice given but it just isn't working.

Shane, when I processed the image I had with more water and more of the island in view it just didn't turn out well... But I want to thank you for all your advice and help.

The image with the pink sky turned out a little better but it is still rather bleh... Here it is for the sake of sharing and for others to learn from. I darkened the sky using curves but there is no detail to bring out, just the pink colour and I added contrast to the mountains with a different curve.



However, even though this set did not turn out, they say you learn the most from your mistakes... I'm going to take a little break from my landscapes learning project and follow others landscape images for a little while... ie; for a fresh start and a new perspective.

[ShaneS]

Thanks for this Christina...

Shane... It is very cold in Vancouver this week, with forecast lows of -13 C later this week. Hoping that bit of news will cure your homesickness. T

Makes me feel a bit better and reminds me that I should never, ever, complain about highs that hover around 80 degrees year round and when I need to pull out a sweatshirt when it drops below 70 at night

But back to your images and landscape project...

I know that you have been working pretty intensively on landscapes for a month or so and are getting frustrated and in a way I feel like you might be on the edge of 'finding' something out about photography and your approach to it. So, I would encourage your to plod along and not change gears due to the frustration.

This comes from personal experience in a class that I recently took that lasted 4 months and required us to commit to a portfolio theme. In the first month I was really excited about the project and then the frustration set in...I couldn't think of or find a shot that met my theme statement to save my soul! I plodded along and my thoughts about the overall portfolio theme changed and so did my approach to creating images. The images were more well thought out and I was really putting myself out there in terms of my ability to be present when I was shooting and I found that as a result I saw scenes in front of me differently.

I will put myself out on a limb and say that I think that you might be focusing a little to intensely on the technical aspects of PP right now. I approach learning PP based on the image immediately in front of me and what I saw or want to portray and then I try to figure out what PP techniques I need to get that result. I have some curiosity (and a desired to learn) about other techniques so I follow sites like this and then file interesting techniques away for when I need them - then, and only then, do I try learn the technicalities needed to apply them to my images. Does that make sense?

So in the case of your imagery maybe you should start by asking yourself first and foremost how to you want the image to look when you are in front of the scene and then what various PP tools will be needed. My guess is that you have a lot of the tools already in your kit but that you are trying to apply each and every technique to each and every image.

To that end, I am currently reading The Art of Photography: An Approach to Personal Expression which has been quite a revelation to me in terms of my overall approach to photography. Here as a short quote from the book:

Do not limit yourself to capturing the scene as you see it; start to think in terms of interpreting the scene and creating a work of art, a personal statement.

You might also be interesting in watching Scott Kelby's video titled "Crush the Composition" which I thought was well worth the hour and is available on YouTube.

I hope that you take this reply in the spirit it is intended and not as anything negative. There is so much to learn and it can be overwhelming - just don't forget that it is supposed to be fun or at least rewarding along the way

[bnnrcn]

I watched 'Crush the Composition' just after Shane's suggestion,it is really good Christina.

[bnnrcn]

Thank you for suggesting 'Crush the Composition ' Shane,I have just watched it and I have found it very useful

Thanks for this Christina...



Makes me feel a bit better and reminds me that I should never, ever, complain about highs that hover around 80 degrees year round and when I need to pull out a sweatshirt when it drops below 70 at night

But back to your images and landscape project...

I know that you have been working pretty intensively on landscapes for a month or so and are getting frustrated and in a way I feel like you might be on the edge of 'finding' something out about photography and your approach to it. So, I would encourage your to plod along and not change gears due to the frustration.

This comes from personal experience in a class that I recently took that lasted 4 months and required us to commit to a portfolio theme. In the first month I was really excited about the project and then the frustration set in...I couldn't think of or find a shot that met my theme statement to save my soul! I plodded along and my thoughts about the overall portfolio theme changed and so did my approach to creating images. The images were more well thought out and I was really putting myself out there in terms of my ability to be present when I was shooting and I found that as a result I saw scenes in front of me differently.

I will put myself out on a limb and say that I think that you might be focusing a little to intensely on the technical aspects of PP right now. I approach learning PP based on the image immediately in front of me and what I saw or want to portray and then I try to figure out what PP techniques I need to get that result. I have some curiosity (and a desired to learn) about other techniques so I follow sites like this and then file interesting techniques away for when I need them - then, and only then, do I try learn the technicalities needed to apply them to my images. Does that make sense?

So in the case of your imagery maybe you should start by asking yourself first and foremost how to you want the image to look when you are in front of the scene and then what various PP tools will be needed. My guess is that you have a lot of the tools already in your kit but that you are trying to apply each and every technique to each and every image.

To that end, I am currently reading The Art of Photography: An Approach to Personal Expression which has been quite a revelation to me in terms of my overall approach to photography. Here as a short quote from the book:

Do not limit yourself to capturing the scene as you see it; start to think in terms of interpreting the scene and creating a work of art, a personal statement.

You might also be interesting in watching Scott Kelby's video titled "Crush the Composition" which I thought was well worth the hour and is available on YouTube.

I hope that you take this reply in the spirit it is intended and not as anything negative. There is so much to learn and it can be overwhelming - just don't forget that it is supposed to be fun or at least rewarding along the way

[Brownbear]

Shane,

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience, your encouragement,for the referrals to the book and the video and for sharing helpful new insights. I will watch the video today and take some time to think about it.

This set of images was especially disappointing for me because I put forth so much effort into capturing what I thought should be a beautiful scene... ie; getting up in the wee hours of the morning in order to get on the first ferry in time for the golden hour, rigging up my tripod with make-shift pillows on the base to minimize the vibration of the boat, and freezing to near death and my images still didn't match the scene at hand... 3 times - but I'll get over it.

Your advice is wonderful. Thank you.

[ShaneS]

Christina, I know that I have been guilty of setting the bar too high for myself and I still do it despite knowing better...

The are so many things that need to be right in order to capture the 'perfect' image and the more we get out with the camera the better our chances are of doing so. However, I will say that I am trying to get over my preconceived notion of 'perfect' and in doing so have been better able to see and capture the beauty of what is in front of me.

Maybe you should stick closer to home for a while as the amount of effort you need to make to get to the 'grand' scenery seems to putting a lot of pressure on you to come home with a great image. I'm not sure what part of town you live in but my guess is there are some great scenery pretty close to home for you

I hope you find the video helpful.

Binnur, I'm glad you liked the video - I passed it along as it really help some things 'click' for me.