Tahoe - some landscapes for C&C

[OrionsByte]

My family and I have been vacationing at Lake Tahoe for a couple days, and I wanted to share a couple landscape photos. I'd love some C&C on them because we're still here for a day and a half or so, so I'd love to be able to put any advice to work right away!

Thanks in advance!

1) I did try to straighten this one, but I think it still looks crooked because of the way the colors in the water kind of spread out to the right. Does it still look crooked to you?

2)

3) Same location as above obviously, but not the same shot, and cropped differently. Which do you prefer?

4) Same location, higher vantage point

 

[HikinMike]

Looks level to me. Don't level it based on the water/horizon, use the vertical posts. Those should be level (plumb).

 

[OrionsByte]

I did both actually (horizon and posts) but sometimes when I just glance at it it looks just a touch off.

 

[NayLoMo6C]

#1 looks gorgeous. crop in #3 is too tight for my taste

 

[MWG]

I like the way you composed the 1st shot, nice work. The others don't do much for me, I feel like i have already seen them before.

 

[WesternGuy]

I like #2 and #4, #3 is too tight for me, but then that is just my taste. I would clone out the jet trail in the images though. It detracts from the overall image in both cases. My 0.02¢ worth.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

 

[tyler_h]

Yeah, 1 looks to slope to the right to me but that is just the colouring on the water.
Not a fan of the crop on 3, prefer 2. Would like to see that with a longer exposure to blur the water.
Number 4 doesn't do a lot for me.

A shot of the shore in the distance in 4 could be nice with it on the lower third for majority sky; but that will only work if you get a nice sky. If you're still there; any chance of getting down there at dusk/dawn? The could provide some nice light, and you should be able to get some longer exposures to smooth the water.

 

[OrionsByte]

I would clone out the jet trail in the images though. It detracts from the overall image in both cases.

I wondered about that; I'll definitely clone it out.

Would like to see that with a longer exposure to blur the water.
Number 4 doesn't do a lot for me.

A shot of the shore in the distance in 4 could be nice with it on the lower third for majority sky; but that will only work if you get a nice sky. If you're still there; any chance of getting down there at dusk/dawn? The could provide some nice light, and you should be able to get some longer exposures to smooth the water.

I probably won't get down to that same spot, but I'm sure I could find somewhere similar to try some dusk shots. The sky last night never got really interesting; the clouds all kinda stayed over the mountains so over the lake it was clear.

Last year I did try blurring the water with some longer exposures, but I didn't really like the look. It works really well for waterfalls and streams and such, but for waves I have never been able to really get it to look right. I've learned a lot since then though (plus all my previous attempts were pre-DSLR) so it's definitely worth another whack.

The crop on #3 is too tight.

Thanks everyone, I agree.

 

[Derrel]

#1-NICE! Looks level.
#2-Love the wave crashing in, and the perfect blur, but do not like the jet's con trail. I prefer shot #2 over #3, the pano.
#4 is not doing much for me.

I really like #1 though...I just do.

 

[NayLoMo6C]

i wonder if you can go back to where you took number 1, and try taking it again when the sun is dipping down the horizon and when the sky changes color. add that with a ND filter to blur the water up a bit and you have a real winner

 

[OrionsByte]

Well the place I took #1 was actually right from the balcony outside our condo. I had actually already planned on walking down there for some sunset shots this evening anyways.

So here are today's results, other than the several snapshots I took of my 3 1/2 year-old riding a horse. (Picking up numbering from where I left off, for easier reference)

5) Taken at the beach after dinner.

6) This was essentially a set-up shot for what turned out to be a rather disappointing sunset. I'm posting it here because one of the recommendations I got on the last set was to put the horizon on the lower third if the sky was interesting (unfortunately, I didn't make it back to the location that advice was in reference to). After this shot, I decided the sky wasn't all that interesting (at least in the top 1/3) and I preferred to have more foreground interest for the rest of my shots. Also, I wasn't attempting to blur the water at this point yet.

7) So then I decided to put the ND filter on and crank up the exposure times to blur the water, as suggested. This was a 15-second exposure.

8) The other side of the pier had some rocks that I thought might look good with the water flowing around them in a long exposure, but I kinda think they're just distracting... thoughts? I wish I'd taken a few from this angle at a faster shutter speed. This was a 25-second exposure.

9) Before I headed in for the night, I had to stop and grab a shot of this canoe on the beach. 30-second exposure.

 

[OrionsByte]

I finally got around to cloning out the jet contrails in #2 and #4 (the changes were synced automatically so the versions in the original post should now be the updated ones). Here are the originals for comparison:

 

[Drake]

I like #1 and #5 a lot, great photographs.

 

[AgentDrex]

Sweet. No wonder my boss went there with his wife for vacation a couple years ago. It was kind of scary for us back at the office though knowing he was in Lake Tahoe and there was that raging fire going on a couple days after he left. Perhaps someday I will make it there, but until then, thank you for taking photos of what I'm missing out on.

 

[OrionsByte]

Oh, and here's a bit of fun - 5 shots taken from up on that pier and stitched together using Microsoft ICE, then uploaded to Photosynth:

Lake Tahoe from Edgelake Resort - Photosynth