Lochan na Lairge

[ST1]

Another image from my recent trip to Scotland. This one is from within the Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve. Looking South (Ish) across the Lochan towards Loch Tay, with the mountains in the distance which; are at the other side of Loch Tay.

Your thoughts and comments on the image would be welcome.



Exif: ISO100, f16, 1/45 sec hand held

[Ziggy]

This works for me. Love the depth and it has a interesting anchor point in the foreground.

[Geoff F]

Yes, good composition and plenty of depth, but has that left the foreground appearing a little 'soft'? I can't tell for sure with that fairly small image.

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured.

[John 2]

That's nice. Good composition and interesting sky. Is there a slight lean to the left though? - (could just be an optical illusion)

[deetheturk]

Very nice Peter, I'm with John here, I think it needs a slight turn to the right!

[Donald]

I agree re the slight clockwise rotation (but haven't checked with software to confirm that).

That's what I would call a very strong commercial (tourist board, postcard) image. Well done.

If you want to see that dam from the other side on a not-so-nice day, click here.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Peter,

I'm in two minds on rotation, the water line looks parallel to the top edge of my screen, but the dam wall doesn't and at this distance, I have no idea which, if either, should be.

My thoughts were that I'd have liked to see it twice as big (e.g. 1600 x 900px) and that the sharpening radius and amount are both a bit too wide/high; there's a bright line in the sky around the mountain edges, plus there are some 'gritty' bright blocks of pixels on the foreground rock thing.

However, this should be taken in the context of my admiration for the composition, exposure and tonal range.

[IzzieK]

No matter what you all say....it is a beautiful image, worth going to on a nice day like so. Rain? gotta live with it somehow...we are not given anything we cannot carry, so make the most of it. In this case with this image, even the clouds speaks so well of the place. Well done!

[JamesScott86]

Beautiful shot - so pretty too.

[bnnrcn]

Very nice shot,lovely colors

[Mike Buckley]

Stunning composition from front to rear! Consider reworking your post-processing to eliminate the halos at the top of the mountains, to render the grass with the same detail as the rock formation, and to bring out a bit more detail in the brightest parts of the clouds.

[ST1]

Hi Peter,

I'm in two minds on rotation, the water line looks parallel to the top edge of my screen, but the dam wall doesn't and at this distance, I have no idea which, if either, should be.

My thoughts were that I'd have liked to see it twice as big (e.g. 1600 x 900px) and that the sharpening radius and amount are both a bit too wide/high; there's a bright line in the sky around the mountain edges, plus there are some 'gritty' bright blocks of pixels on the foreground rock thing.

However, this should be taken in the context of my admiration for the composition, exposure and tonal range.

Dave thank you so much for your feedback on this image, that's just what I was looking for. Sometimes I process images and miss the schoolboy sharpening errors .
I have reworked the image to cover the issues on sharpening which you raised. But...this time instead of using NIK plugins I reverted to a manual method of processing. Hopefully I have improved on the previous version and look forward to hearing what others think of the revised image which; I shall post shortly.
Like you I had real problems with determining if the image needed rotating, LR5 lens corrections didn't want to change the level. I took the image in to PS and viewed a horizontal guide but with such a short line (the dam wall) to play with even then it was difficult to verify, anyway I gave it a smidgen of a CW arbitrary rotation. Hopefully it wont let the water overflow the dam wall
BTW the bright blocks of pixels you mentioned in the Cairn are pieces of Schist. Thanks again Dave, your comments were much appreciated.

[ST1]

Stunning composition from front to rear! Consider reworking your post-processing to eliminate the halos at the top of the mountains, to render the grass with the same detail as the rock formation, and to bring out a bit more detail in the brightest parts of the clouds.

Mike thanks for taking time to look and comment, much appreciated. As I wrote in my reply to Dave I have reworked the image using manual methods for the sharpening rather than using NIK plugins. I have also dodged the sky a little as per you suggestion.

[ST1]

This is my reworked image following the feedback you all supplied, thanks for all of the comments. I have left in the other TOG and his car in this version and resized it to meet with Dave's suggestion, so my apologies to those who may be viewing on a small screen.
For clarity I removed a fine young lady who was standing to the front right of the cairn and also removed a small section of road at the bottom right. Oh and I nearly forgot to mention, I also removed the remains of some idiots camp-fire to the left of the cairn!
So here it is version two, what do you think of this one?



Exif as per the original

[bnnrcn]

Your second edit looks a lot more natural Peter. I think you lost the light on the slopes of the hills in this version and it would be nice to have it back as it adds to the image

[Geoff F]

The foreground seems more natural now; although for some reason that rock in front of the cairn appears to have gone a bit out of focus.

[Dave Humphries]

This is my reworked image following the feedback you all supplied, thanks for all of the comments. I have left in the other TOG and his car in this version and resized it to meet with Dave's suggestion, so my apologies to those who may be viewing on a small screen.
~
So here it is version two, what do you think of this one?

Hi Peter,

Bigger is definitely better Peter, thanks. I remain happy with the levelness (rotation) in this too.

I agree with Geoff that some areas now seem very soft compared to others, even amongst the Schist - I cannot really explain the cause (assuming you didn't run amok with a blur tool while sleep walking). It could be the brighter bits were over exposed which led to overload blurring around the pixels - which then led to these areas being the 'wrong' radius for sharpening to enhance them - I can't help much more without seeing the original.

Talking of which, I assume it was shot RAW(?), I ask because there's still a hint of 'bright line' sharpening artefact on the skylines, perhaps that's the small amount that (by default) PS applies in ACR (or LR) or, if not, it might be the jpg compression on export.

Also, I'm fairly sure I can detect some slight residual Chromatic Aberration, which always causes confusing issues with fine grass detail in a shot. The image doesn't have sufficient content (of the right kind, in the right areas of the image) to positively confirm my suspicions. Might be worth checking whether you have the CA removal checked 'on' in LR or ACR.

It looks like you may have applied some localised Clarity, or Local Contrast Enhancement (LCE), to the dam and beyond. I think the aspect that Binnur mentions about 'lost the light' could be restored by a more general application of LCE or clarity.

I hope these additional nit-picky observations, on a very nicely composed scene, continue to help.

Cheers, Dave

[ST1]

Dave thanks once again for your feedback on my processing I really do appreciate you taking time to respond in such a concise manner. I have to say I've never considered applying a CA removal with an image like this. I shall revisit this image again and check the CA box in LR Lens corrections. Sharpening is a dark art as far as Im concerned. In the revision I tried a method which was described for use on another forum, it included resizing the image to twice the size required for posting, applying two sharpening processes (normal sharpen in PS) then...(all this is from memory BTW) resize to the required posting dimensions apply a duplicate later set to luminosity with a smart sharpen at some low settings applied to this layer. With a mask applied to allow this smart sharpen to be removed from for example water. I may have missed doing this to the cairn/Rock. That's an abridge descriptions of what I tried. Then a bit of dodging on the clouds to pick up on Mike's suggestion.
I have to disagree on "Bigger is definitely better" following my hernia repair I've acquired a Seroma, which my consultant has drained three times (750Ml, 400Ml and then 250Ml of fluid removed) so I have to say smaller is better at least from a Seroma perspective. Next treatment a scan to see if it would be possible to insert a drain in to the offending space using Ultrasound imaging. Or return to theatre for surgery to place a drain which will need to be in situ for ten days or so. I would prefer the latter to finally remove my unwanted watermelon like appendage

[Dave Humphries]

Talking of being lazy (or at least, set in one's ways), I just always leave the CA removal checked for all images

Sorry to hear you're suffering health issues at the moment, good health for comfortable living is something many take for granted. I hope your Seroma is resolved as soon as possible.