Canalside Symmetry.

[John 2]

Landscape is a weak area for me (amongst others ) and I have resolved to try and open my eyes this year. We are not short of opportunity around here. This is taken on the Leeds - Liverpool canal and the reflected symmetry caught my eye. As always C&C very welcome.

[Donald]

Landscape is a weak area for me ...

You wouldn't think so on the basis of this. I can't think what I could or would have done differently.

[IzzieK]

Awwwwww...........too beautiful to say anything. I can just sit here and look and looked and be peaceful and wonder about many things that I see here...!!!!!! So landscape is not "your thing" -- you could have fooled me.

[Mike Buckley]

Landscape is a weak area for me

It's amazing to see how people incorrectly perceive their abilities.

Absolutely gorgeous image, so beautiful that I crave for just a little bit more space at the bottom to give the reflection of the large tree a bit more area to breathe.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done.

[Brownbear]

Absolutely gorgeous!

[AndrewMcD]

If only I had your weakness!
Beautiful image.

Andrew

[Scouse]

Super shot John. Love that you went to mono it suits the picture well. Timeless. Composition is great with the rising ground and that sky.

Great memories for me. I learned to swim in that canal. a lifetime ago. It was a working canal back then and some barges were still pulled by horse. We, as kids, would work the swing bridges for the bargemen and sometimes get a lift to the next one.
Catching sticklebacks with a bent pin on cotton line.....See what you did there...

[bnnrcn]

Excellent image

[SpiderBob]

Everything has been said, it's fantastic.

[Kris V]

Agree with all others - nice!

[John 2]

Thanks so much for a great set of comments all.

Donald, coming from you, that's praise ideed.

Mike, I think the word consistency applies here. I may deliver the occasional decent shot but never straight out of the camera i.e I see the the crop potential later and then ...... There is a little more at the bottom but I needed to move the canal bank off the centreline.

Ken, glad you enjoyed the memories. The canals have come full circle since then. When commercial use all but died out, many went into decay but a dedicated group of people across the country campaigned and more importantly worked there socks off to restore them to use. There are even one or two working boats now using the canal system again but in the main, they have become liesure waterways.

[Donald]

... but a dedicated group of people across the country campaigned and more importantly worked there socks off to restore them to use.

The same applies to a number of waterways. One that I enjoyed hugely was the Pocklington Canal in Yorkshire. We spent a day on it a couple of years ago, having chartered one of the long boats as a family group. It was glorious. I posted some images of that up here.

[John 2]

Donald, there aren't many places that can get you away from civilisation quite as readily, apart from climbing the odd mountain I guess. Our last family canal holiday saw us one evening pottering along and putting off stopping for something to eat until "the next one". When we finally did stop at a canalside Pub it was shut (when closing time was still 10.30pm). We hadden't noticed the time going by. It was just so pleasant.

[Werner]

It's a classic - plus what Donald said.

[gratefulgordons]

I love it. From a rule of thumb perspective of landscapes, i wonder what just a touch of foreground could have done. Beautiful shot.

[Saorsa]

Never pass up a good reflection.

Even without the reflection the hill gives you a peaceful diagonal in the image. The sheep add life and prevent the left side from being relatively empty.

Even without the reflection you have an excellent landsape in the top half of the picture. Because it is a hillside, the reflection is not pure and offers a lower perspective of the view.

The sky is also interesting in that it has a texture of it's own which complements the rest of the image.

Very nice shot.

[John 2]

Thanks all for the additional comments.

[FrankMi]

Quite nice as shot John!

If you are looking for shooting options, next time you see a scene like this, try at least one capture where you shoot from as low an angle (close to the water) as you can. For an image where the goal is symmetry, you will get the get the reflection more closely identical to the scene. In this case, more of the foreground would be included.

For this particular scene though, because there really isn't all that much that is interesting between the tree and the shore, this camera height is a better choice.

[flashback]

John (2), perfect in all aspects, quintesential landscape.