Windmills in Karpathos

[MilT0s]

Being very windy, the Greek islands are an ideal place for windmills. In almost all of them, we can still find mills, most often in ruins.

The question for these shots is: do you think that the post processing is too much or it works for you?

[Donald]

The post processing seems fine. I think it's what happened at the time of capture that maybe causes some problem.

The first one is very busy. You tell us that what you wanted to emphasise was the windmill. Yet the windmill is only a small part of the frame. That would be fine if, in order to place it in context of its surroundings, the windmill stood out as the main subject. But I don't think it does.

With the second image the problem is the exposure. You seem to have had a very large dynamic range to deal with - a very bright sky and a building in shade. To photograph this scene, I think you would have needed a Graduated Neutral Density running up the left hand edge of the frame. This would have allowed you to tone down the blown highlights, but yet increase exposure on the building.

[MilT0s]

Thanks for the feedback Donald.

In the first one: what you see is not one windmills but a total of 9 of them (yes count them!). The two at the top in ruins, the others but the one in middle without the fan. I wanted to capture all them but a clear view was not possible. I tried to blur and de-tone the surround to make the frame less clattered but it looks like it is not possible.

In the second one, the DR was huge, no ND available so I thought I could include the burned areas as part of the photograph.

I hope you liked the third one, the combination of dark clouds in the background with the direct warm sunset light on the windmill created an astonishing scene which I tried to capture.

[Donald]

I think the light on the 3rd one is great and when you do get such good light, the less post-processing you do the better.

[Rufus]

I like the third one best, but I would remove the sign to the Bakery Store, Church and Parking which appears in the bottom left.

In the second image the clouds provide some vignette effect, but I might be tempted to try to add more so as to direct attention to the windmill blades.

The first image I would remove the car, but essentially is just too cluttered for my liking.

But that is only my opinion and I have a lot to learn.

[katto]

I think 2nd is best

[MilT0s]

In the third one I left the sign there as a small surprise element for the viewer, something to be discovered few moments after the eye explore the mill. So, on one hand it is a destructing element while on the other hand it adds a bit tension and surprise. I am not sure if it works or not, I will decide later after reviewing the image several times. In any case the idea is that the sing is not the first thing to observe in the image.

[lunarbo]

I do like the 3rd image, the brickwork detail is lovely and the light with the angry sky is a gift any togger would want to capture. But that sign is for me an unnecessary distraction

Sorry but for me nº 1 is just trying to get too much in, and that red corrugated roof is too dominant.

Nº 2 --comments already made about such a huge DR

But that last one is a peach!

[Shadowman]

I like the processing but agree that the first is a bit too busy, the third contains quite a bit of noise in the sky.

[FootLoose]

I like the processing but agree with the others' nitpicking here. And that green blot in the third shot is really distracting.

[MilT0s]

Thank you all for valuable comments.

Here is another version, I chose to tone down the sign instead of deleting it (content aware) or cropping the image.