After much practice since the last pics... Ready for more CC

Demers18 · Jan 2, 2012

Here are few shots from the past couple of weeks.

I've been working on composition and exposure.

I look forward to your feedback.

#1 Home is Here - I was going for the cool winter effect

[/URL] _MG_0431 by lee.demers, on Flickr[/IMG]

#2 Bark and shadow

[/URL] _MG_0464 by lee.demers, on Flickr[/IMG]

#3 Winterblue

[/URL] _MG_0473 by lee.demers, on Flickr[/IMG]

#4 Here comes the storm...

[/URL] _MG_0493 by lee.demers, on Flickr[/IMG]

#5 Icy

[/URL] _MG_0518 by lee.demers, on Flickr[/IMG]

#6 This one is my favorite one of them all... Don't know what it is, I find it captivating

[/URL] _MG_0526 by lee.demers, on Flickr[/IMG]

photo guy · Jan 2, 2012

I absolutely love the storm photo. Reminds me of storm season in my area. April - October.

WesternGuy · Jan 2, 2012

First impressions:

#1. This image does nothing for me - I don't see anything to tell me that it is winter. You did say that you were going for the cool winter effect.

#2. This isn't bad, but I would have tried (maybe) to have the tree's shadow in focus as well. As it stands, only the tree trunk is in focus. You might think about shooting these types of images in portrait mode. This would show more of the tree and its shadow and get rid of some of the OOF background on the left side of the image.

#3. Personally, I like this one - nice silhouette. I also like the clouds in the upper right - they tend to break up the monotonous blue sky. ( Alberta has some very blue monotonous skies - I know from shooting scenics all over the southern prairie...this is why it is nice to have the monotony broken by clouds every once in a while.)

#4 I really love this one. The placement of the orange-brown scenery against the very dark clouds - very nice capture. The two trees on the left following rule of thirds placement and the horizon is in the lower part as well. The only thing I would do is crop out the shadow area in the bottom of the picture. For me, it is a distraction. I know your part of the world very well - would you care to tell me where this was taken - looks like a golf course somewhere in the city.

#5. This is a nice snapshot, but if you hadn't told me what it was, I probably would not have known. It is not obvious to me, at least, that the upper 80%± of the image is ice.

#6. I am not sure about this one - does nothing for me, but if you like it, then that is what counts. Might have been better to have the foreground in focus as well, but that is just me.

You say you are working on composition and exposure. I would encourage you to surf the web, but you could start with - Advanced Composition -- Part I - there are two following web sites with the links at the end of the site. As well, have a look at this one - PhotographyComposition Articles Library as there are a number of links to sites on composition. There are a number of books that have been written on composition - you might want to look at one by Bryan Peterson called Learning to See Creatively - Amazon.com: Learning to See Creatively: Design, Color& Composition in Photography (Updated Edition) (9780817441814): BryanPeterson: Books. There are lots of others.

As far as exposure is concerned, Bryan Peterson has one that he wrote on that subject as well - Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition. I would recommend this as an introduction to the subject. You can also find a lot on this on the web - Google "exposure triangle". HTH.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

MissFrost · Jan 2, 2012

I think I see what you were trying to do with that first one. It looks very dark to me, way too dark for that cold effect that you were trying to do. Try more exposure and perhaps desaturate it a bit. Maybe add a little more contrast as well.
Just my suggestions.

Demers18 · Jan 2, 2012

Thanks for the CC!

#1 Must say I struggle with finding the right balance for the wintery effect. I know I need to work on it, it'll come eventually with practice. Missfrost, I will give it a shot and see what where it leads, thank you for the CC.

#2 That was the tricky thing, I wanted to focus on the detail in the bark of the tree all the while being abel to see the shadow but not be distracted by the other things in the image. I will keep that in mind for the next shot though.

#3 Thanks, I waited a while before being able to get the clouds in that shot.

#4 That's what I love about that shot as well. You are right it is a golf course but it's actually in southern Manitoba. My wife's family lives there and there's a nice walking path that winds through the course. Saw an owl and just as I was about to shoot the picture, it flew off and didn't get a chance at a capture.

#5 It's a road with a pond behind it. It was taken from a higher vantage point. I like how the ice had different colours and textures

Thank you for the links, i'll definitely check them out. I'm currently reading Bryan Peterson's understanding Photography: Field Guide and playing along as I read. Main focus is composition and exposure. I know it's going to take some time for it all to sink in. There's only one thing to do and that's to keep shooting

MLeeK · Jan 2, 2012

1. is way too blue. You placed your little home nicely to give a good composition and balance between the home and the sky. It's a bit underexposed on your home and fence. The lights are a distraction at best.

2. You are seeing creatively and that's a good thing. Otherwise? The image really doesn't do anything for me. It's not compelling, it's not something that sucks me back to look at it. You've tried balancing the bark and shadow for a good composition, but it just didn't work. So, now you get to figure out what you could do that would make it work. I honestly don't know. Maybe an HDR image where the overexposed grass is in proper exposure?

3.The color and the contrast is great. It doesn't do anything fabulous for me either, but it's something that each photographer has to play with. We all have a few of these images in our archives that turned out great for what we were doing, but aren't something that would be framed artwork either.

4.I love the feeling in this one. The shadow in the foreground is unfortunate, but I love the bright sun contrasted against the dark sky. It appears that the sunny area is a bit heavy to the warm/yellow side. The composition isn't fantabulous, but it isn't really bad either.

5. I'd have never known what it was. I was thinking rusty paint or something.

6. If you like it and it makes you look deeper into it, that's great. As for me? The foreground is really distracting. The middle and background would be much better without the foreground to take away from it.

KmH · Jan 2, 2012

#4 :thumbup: I like #3 too.

But with the shadow cropped away:

kousPhoto · Jan 2, 2012

I liked 4 (with shadow cropped away and i like 6-

Demers18 · Jan 2, 2012

MLeeK said:
1. is way too blue. You placed your little home nicely to give a good composition and balance between the home and the sky. It's a bit underexposed on your home and fence. The lights are a distraction at best.

2. You are seeing creatively and that's a good thing. Otherwise? The image really doesn't do anything for me. It's not compelling, it's not something that sucks me back to look at it. You've tried balancing the bark and shadow for a good composition, but it just didn't work. So, now you get to figure out what you could do that would make it work. I honestly don't know. Maybe an HDR image where the overexposed grass is in proper exposure?

3.The color and the contrast is great. It doesn't do anything fabulous for me either, but it's something that each photographer has to play with. We all have a few of these images in our archives that turned out great for what we were doing, but aren't something that would be framed artwork either.

4.I love the feeling in this one. The shadow in the foreground is unfortunate, but I love the bright sun contrasted against the dark sky. It appears that the sunny area is a bit heavy to the warm/yellow side. The composition isn't fantabulous, but it isn't really bad either.

5. I'd have never known what it was. I was thinking rusty paint or something.

6. If you like it and it makes you look deeper into it, that's great. As for me? The foreground is really distracting. The middle and background would be much better without the foreground to take away from it.

Thank you for taking the time to CC.

#1 I thought of taking them off but decided against it, I should have at least turned them on, maybe it would have helped.

#2 is there a way to create an HDR shot with out having multiple layered shots ( not sure if that's how there a referred as) Might be interesting

#3 Great for practice though

#4 Thank you

#5 interesting, I can see what you mean though

#6 I would agree with it being better without the distracting foreground, but it kind of give me the impression of actually being there in the wild. Just something about it

Demers18 · Jan 2, 2012

KmH said:
#4 :thumbup: I like #3 too.

But with the shadow cropped away:

I agree it is a lot better with it cropped like this. Thank you, I will definitely make that adjustment.

Upon seeing it like this, makes me wish I would have taken more pictures of it and tried an HDR. I guess I'll know for next time