Just came back from Glacier National Park

[Hiebs915]

Hey guys,

Looking for some critique on these photos. They were shot in Glacier National Park and on the way over there. Thanks!

 

[MTVision]

I'm not all that qualified to give critiques but I will give you my opinion and you can do with it what you want!

First off beautiful scenery. Not sure exactly what you were going for in any of the pictures.....

#1 - are the mountains and reflection the subject? If so crop out the boat and dock and a tiny bit of the sky. I don't like the boat in the picture (but thats just me!). It seems like the boat might be a little blown out since the white is so bright. First thing I notice when looking at this picture is the boat! Which is good if thats what you aimed for. Also this one is a little underexposed as well....IMHO
#2 is a little dark (underexposed). Some of the details in the rocks aren't visible because they are too dark. The sky is blown out in one spot. I'm not sure if fixing the exposure will make that blown out spot bigger/worse - so just watch it if you didn't fix it.
#3 What were you going for in this picture?

 

[Jarmo]

1. A bit more contrast and color saturation maybe? I like the composition.
2. Tilted horizon?
3. My favorite of the three. Don't change anything.

 

[Hiebs915]

Thanks for the critiques. In the first I was trying to show the mountain. I debated cropping out the boat for a long time. This was also my first hdr shot.

In the second I wanted to show the vastness of the landscape. I'm around 7000 ft up and the view was amazing; hard to capture though.

In the last picture I wanted to show the old abandoned house out in the middle of no where.

 

[rmagers]

#1 eyes are torn between the boat and the mountains.
#2 A bit under exposed and horizon is slightly off level
#3 Love it. The fence line takes your eye straight to the subject. You may try adding a little detail to the foreground.

 

[Compaq]

C&C:

#1
Your subject is wonderful. However, I feel it's lacking impact, as I'm sure you wanted to express the landscape's beauty. Part of that is, I believe, that the mountain and its peak has a relatively small role in this shot. Whilst I can understand why you chose to place the boat at the edge, I just thinks it takes attention from what I'd like to look at in this photo: the landscape and the mountain. I think there's a lot of dead space here: under the mountain reflection as well as above the mountain itself. In addition, it seems just a little under exposed, or just lacks contrast. Also, I'm fond of the black part of the trees to the left. I'd like the cloud to be white, which it isn't here. Here's a quick edit where I've tried to visualize what I've just said.

#2
Here the clouds are white as they should be. They add a fine depth to the image. One thing I'd like to see more of in this photo is the foreground. Those flowers in the lower left, for instance. I'd also like to see more of the peak on the right edge. The snow also adds to the image, imo. It shows how far up you've been. Again, I'd like it to be brighter. Details in the trees are lost. I can't do much about the crop of this, but I'll try to address the other things. In images such as these, they are best when viewed big. Why? Because we want the viewer too feel he or she actually is there. Then you need a correct exposed image to really bring out that view. My quick edit addresses that, I hope. I added a little bit of saturation as well A small f-stop for a big depth of field i key, imo, in such valleyscapes.

#3
As for this, I'm not expert on simplistic images, and don't feel I can come with anything useful. Sorry :/

This said, I think these have great potential. I really like the valleyscape.. and the mountain shot, they just need a little caring :hugs:

 

[Hiebs915]

#1 eyes are torn between the boat and the mountains.
#2 A bit under exposed and horizon is slightly off level
#3 Love it. The fence line takes your eye straight to the subject. You may try adding a little detail to the foreground.

Thanks, how would I add detail to the foreground?

 

[Hiebs915]

C&C:

#1
Your subject is wonderful. However, I feel it's lacking impact, as I'm sure you wanted to express the landscape's beauty. Part of that is, I believe, that the mountain and its peak has a relatively small role in this shot. Whilst I can understand why you chose to place the boat at the edge, I just thinks it takes attention from what I'd like to look at in this photo: the landscape and the mountain. I think there's a lot of dead space here: under the mountain reflection as well as above the mountain itself. In addition, it seems just a little under exposed, or just lacks contrast. Also, I'm fond of the black part of the trees to the left. I'd like the cloud to be white, which it isn't here. Here's a quick edit where I've tried to visualize what I've just said.


Thank you. How did you make the clouds white? I fiddled around in camera raw and couldn't figure it out. I wanted them white. I like this crop more. I was torn between the mountain and the boat also.

 

[Compaq]

#1 eyes are torn between the boat and the mountains.
#2 A bit under exposed and horizon is slightly off level
#3 Love it. The fence line takes your eye straight to the subject. You may try adding a little detail to the foreground.

Thanks, how would I add detail to the foreground?

Learn to use photoshop and layer masks. Endless possibilities of selective editing on pictures. I won't go into it here, google it, youtube it and practice it :thumbsup: I used layer masks in my edits of your shots.

[answer to previous post]

I made the clods by first a curves adjustment, if I remember correctly, and then a little touch up dodging.