My First...

[GlendaleViper]

...well, actually my second. I posted this last week before the forum outage and my account was deleted, so here I go again!

We had a nasty storm on the 27th and the sun broke through right at dusk, highlighting all the nasty smog in the coloured air.

Post processing included light shadow darkening and minor colour/contrast changes. Shot with a Canon S3 IS.

Let me know what you think!

 

[GlendaleViper]

Nothing? C&C is welcome here folks! I'm new here... I'm wondering if it's because the photo is post-edited, given the forum it's in?

 

[ClarkKent]

Well, here are some of my thoughts as I look at your image. One, there doesn't seem to be a real center point of interest here for the viewer to look at. Two, the top half of this capture is really bright, and thats were everybody is going to look. Naturally our eyes tend to follow the brightest parts of the photo.

I think instead of shooting straight up in the air...drop the camera a bit and show some of the horizon a bit and see what you get.

You are off to a good start. Keep up the good work.

 

[GlendaleViper]

Well, here are some of my thoughts as I look at your image. One, there doesn't seem to be a real center point of interest here for the viewer to look at. Two, the top half of this capture is really bright, and thats were everybody is going to look. Naturally our eyes tend to follow the brightest parts of the photo.

I think instead of shooting straight up in the air...drop the camera a bit and show some of the horizon a bit and see what you get.

You are off to a good start. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for the response Clark... or should I say Kal'L???

To be frank though, I shot that specifically as an abstraction, which is why there is no horizon. I thought the colours in the sky created an odd gradation which was accentuated by the blackness of the clouds' undersides. There was just... something about it. Its sparseness was intriguing and it appeared almost as though it was painted. In other words, I thought the sky itself provided enough of a focal "flow", starting at the clouds and drawing the eye upward. In that regard, and stepping back a moment with your comments in mind, I completely agree. Perhaps shaving a little off the top (not too much or it loses its sweeping quality) will help force the eye to follow my intended path. Will have to try that.

I am, however, upgrading to an SLR very soon (next week or so) and plan on taking some true landscape shots (I camp at some seriously nice places) and your composition tips are very much appreciated. I guess my next challenge as a photog. will be to find that balance between an intriguing landscape with a properly exposed sky...

...wish me luck with that! :stun: