Fog burn off for c&c

[Carla_]

How's this one? It was really pretty this morning with the fog burning off toward the mountains. Does the comp work? How can I make it better?

TIA!

Carla

 

[Destin]

My advice for making landscape shots better is almost always the same thing. And I'm far from a landscape photographer, so take this with a grain of salt.

But there are 2 key rules to landscape photography, that in my experience seperate the good shots from the bad. The first being; you need something in the foreground. Having a foreground element is key to a good landscape photo more often than not. It doesn't need to be much, a few rocks. A tree. A bush. A lightpost. An animal. A car. A shed. Anything to add a foreground element will strengthen the photo if done properly.

The second thing is this: Most landscape photographers won't even pull the camera out of the bag unless it's golden hour. This is the time, either right at sunrise, or sunset, when the sun casts a golden glow over the land, and is at a low angle in the sky. It adds depth and character to the photo, and requires patience that most people don't have.

 

[marmots]

this is what i got with a couple minutes in photoshop

 

[Carla_]

Thanks for the fast responses.

How's this one? There is more foreground in it. It was completely fogged in during the golden hour. That was the best I could do this morning.

Marmots, thanks for the edit. Could you tell me what you did?

 

[Destin]

Thanks for the fast responses.

How's this one? There is more foreground in it. It was completely fogged in during the golden hour. That was the best I could do this morning.

It's not bad, but I think the foreground element is too large and distracting. Not to mention it's out of focus. You want to get a foreground subject in without blocking the mid and background elements. It can be tough to do, and sometimes a foreground element just isn't needed. Remember, rules are just a guide. There to help you learn, but meant to be broken at the same time.

Here's an example I just found on 500px of a good use of a foreground subject in a landscape. Without the branch and rocks, this would be a pretty boring photo that wouldn't keep your attention for long. The branch and rocks make you wish you were there. They draw you into the photo.