Views of Cumbria

[Overread]

Well I finally got round to processing some of the other landscape attempts I took a while back. Again I'm in a new area, without a tripod (so working single shot) and didn't have time to wait for better lighting (very much "snapshot landscape work!)

So without further ado:
All taken with Canon 400D + 70-200mm f2.8 IS L


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4072/...ffdaec56_b.jpg
f8, ISO 400, 1/200sec



http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4058/...06df0bca_b.jpg
f8, ISO 200, 1/200sec
The rocks in this didn't come out as sharp as I would have liked and I suspect my rough focusing method failed me here; since it appears I got the foreground, but not the background. Again an example that I need to learn hyperfocal focusing stuff.


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4069/...c1e494a6_b.jpg
f8, ISO 400, 1/60sec
shutter getting a bit slow here and it shows with some blur in the trees - sadly at ISO 400 I wasn't prepared to go higher with ISO in already dimming conditions.


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/...5c6888fb_b.jpg
f8, ISO 200, 1/200sec
I do wonder, now I see it on the net (I do wish there was a "preview in flickr" button in elements ) if I should have done a bit more with the contrast in this shot just to give it a little bit more punch.

So there we are - 4 more landscape attempts - and I would greatly apprecaite any input people have in these - either on the compositional or the technical or the editing side.

[Geoff F]

I would say that Nos. 1 & 4 had impossible light so you couldn't really have done any better on that day. The middle two are fine.

You say that the rocks didn't come out sharp enough. Well if you know how to get them sharp, tell me! That is exactly what happens to most of my 'rock' photos. I suspect it is something to do with the conversion from 3D to 2D. Sometimes a bit of selective sharpening will help.

Don't get temped to overdo the processing with these soft tone landscapes. It is all too easy to make them look artificial. That is why I use adjustment layers for Curves, Saturation, etc additions because I frequently keep twiddling the options then finally realise I have overdone it and need to start again. Keep the original unaltered for the same reason.

[carregwen]

I think with #1 and #3 you would seriously improve things with the use of an ND grad filter. You can see, particularly in #1, that the land is under-exposed, and the sky slightly over. I think #2 lacks a key point of interest. I'm looking for some feature to rest my eyes on before I wander around the shot to see what else is there - if that makes sense. #4 is the best, but the road appears to stop suddenly due to a steep drop. I can see it goes to the left by looking further into the shot, but it might have been better to move forward a little and shoot slightly more to the left.

Easy to say all this from the comfort of my arm-chair - I wasn't there at the time.

[Overread]

Many thanks both

Geoff: I agree 1 and 4 were tricky and I've had to process the RAWs for both twice (once for the land and once for the sky) just so that I had some detail in the clouded areas. It was certainly a time when I would have loved my tripod to bracket the shots or even (as suggested below) an ND grad filter.
On the processing side I do work in a very similar way with using layers to control different effects. The trick for me is remembering all the stages I have learnt and also - as you say - not ending up overdoing things and getting a poorer result.

Carregwen: 1 was certainly a scene I would like to shoot again in both better/more interesting light and with better gear or at least a chance to bracket shots on a tripod. Your point about 2 is interesting because I tend to feel it a little more for 3 than I do for 2 myself, though I do understand what you mean about 2 - I suspect even if it just had some creative clouds instead of grey it would lift the shot a lot.
And (in my minds eye) can see the sort of image you are thinking of when you describe 4 with your modification - and yes I agree it would help (though at the time moving left wasn't really on the cards - it was quite an active road)

[Stinky]

Nice work.

[Klickit]

re #4. It's easy to be picky from here, but even stepping a few metres further down the road might have got the whole thing, curves and all, in the shot, which would make it stronger. I do like it though and it appeals to me the most of the set.

[arith]

I like #4 but think it could be a bit more contrasty and slightly wider lens. I had a go but it isn't a very good attempt since the file is small.

[Radu Dinu Cordeanu]

Hi,
Last evening, at news, a policeman, from Cumbria, said that to shoot in Cumbria, folks or shots, is a habit.
Thanks for both
Radu Dinu

[Shadowman]

The post processing makes for a great image but does it really remind you of what you were viewing during your excursion?