Landscape C&Cs

batman1

Hi,

Any comments, good or bad, would be much appreciated for my pix, as I am still at the bottom of the steep learning curve.

Thanks

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pullandbang

First things first, if you're going to do landscapes, especially with the sea in them, make sure the horizons are level.

AnimalRights

I'm not a Landscape expert but here goes...

1) Not for me and that thing at the bottom (pole?) is very distracting.
There is just too much sky and the colours are pretty bland/dull.

2) Not bad but again maybe too much water this time, I know you may well have being going for the 'vastness' of the shot though and wanted to include it.

3) I love this one and only quibble would be I'd have cropped that lampost out to the left as again it's distracting.

4) This is where the vastness works for me unlike #1 and #2, I also love the vibrant rich colours.

5) Love the way you've caught the sun but again the issues of #1 and #2 effect this too.

6) Hard to C&C this because it's a loveable cute Dolphin and how can I be nasty.

And if that's your 'bottom' I can't wait til I see you scale the heights!

/edit
Told you I was no expert, as P&B said the Sea is crookered!! How the hell did I miss that and it does ruin your very promising #4

Fenster

Images #1, 2, 4 and 5 are all lopsided to some degree. I _really_ like #'s 4 and 5, but to say that I would crop them differently. #3 isn't bad, but I would have shuffled over to the left by a few feet so that all of the lines in the image would be converging on the rising moon. #'1 and 2, I don't like so much. There isn't really anything in them that would catch my own fancy.

And #6 is a dolphin. Dolphins aren't landscapey.

NothingMan

+1 on the level landscapes. It was definitely the first thing that popped out on most of them.

I love the light in number 3. What settings were you using (only starting out myself). Was there any PP on that?

I think 4 has too much space. I would have cropped about half of that bringing more focus on the sun and the lighter parts of the sea and sky and just a bit of the darker area.

I love the colour in the middle of number 5 but I think it looks too compressed between the dark sea and sky. Maybe lay it out in thirds?

Now that I have the camera I really need to get my ass outta bed to catch some colours like yours.

paulusdu

Some great shots there, everyone will love flipper !

Landscapes are funny beasts though, one person will think a sunset on the ocean is fantastic, and the next will think it is bland and boring. So its hard to be overly subjective on them (the same i suppose for all types of photography)

I love the urban landscape one, nice idea.

Horizons seem to be crooked in most of them, and unless that is what you want i would fix them up, easily done.

There are general rules to landscape, one of them being rules of third, but i wouldn;t pay too much attention to it, as long as you are happy with something you have done, no need to change it because of what others think, you are your own best critic, i like the way the sky takes up most of the photo in the second shot, but agree that the pole is a bit annoying.

You seem to have a great eye for capturing a scene, i really like all the pictures, apart from the lighthouse one, personally i think its the weakest of the set and a bit bland.
As for your learning curve, going by most of the shots you have below i don;t think it will be all that steep for you to be honest. And to be honest its a fun way to learn.

Really good stuff.

batman1

Thanks everyone,

I am aware of the horizon issue, but all the sea shots were taken from a boat so it's difficult to get the horizon spot on and stay standing at the same time! A tripod is no good either.

I didn't know I could fix the horizons. Is it difficult?

The dolphin was just for the cuteness really. Not often wild dolphins are so willing....:)

pete4130

Number 4 works best for me. balanced exposure, low down to the water, sort of creepy and inviting. again its off level but easy to fix in photoshop.

Fenster

batman1 wrote: »

Thanks everyone,

I am aware of the horizon issue, but all the sea shots were taken from a boat so it's difficult to get the horizon spot on and stay standing at the same time! A tripod is no good either.

I didn't know I could fix the horizons. Is it difficult?

The dolphin was just for the cuteness really. Not often wild dolphins are so willing....:)

Well with a little bit of whispering sweet nothings and TLC the dolphin will...ah, yeah, horizons are easily straightened in virtually all photo managers.

Thecageyone

batman1 wrote: »

Thanks everyone,

I am aware of the horizon issue, but all the sea shots were taken from a boat so it's difficult to get the horizon spot on and stay standing at the same time! A tripod is no good either.

I didn't know I could fix the horizons. Is it difficult?

The dolphin was just for the cuteness really. Not often wild dolphins are so willing....:)

Most post-processing software, even the free ones, have grid lines to help straighten up, might require a little cropping but you wouldn't lose much. better a straight horizon that a slightly fuller image.


Just look up straightening tips and gridline shortcuts for whatever program you use.

batman1

Thanks again for all the tips etc.

I figured out how to solve the horizon issue.:)

What does anyone reckon now?

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And for the Dolphin lovers.....




Cheers

NothingMan

No: 1 is really good now. I like it a lot. Was there any post processing on the colours?

batman1

No, none of my pics have any post processing done because I don't know how to do it and I don't have any software yet.I only started using picassa yesterday following tips on here to fix my horizons. The only thing I now do is fix the horizons as a lot of my pictures are taken from a boat which is usually rolling around.

The colours in this one are the colours on the day. I don't have any filters or anything on my camera. It was taken off the west coast during that recent cold settled spell of weather.

pullandbang

Now you're suckin' diesel.


Don't those straight horizons look ten times better?

The sky in the second shot is fabulous. Well done, it's really well captured.

batman1

batman1 wrote: »

What does anyone reckon now?

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I think that's a fantastic photograph! Looks really, really well in my opinion.


Quite liked number 2 from your first post, too. The colour in the above one is excellent though.

Freddie59

Some difference in the after shots! Love that sunset.:)