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These are some of my favorite pictures from a resent family vacation. What do you think? How could I have composed them better? What about editing? Of the mill, do you think the horizontal or vertical picture is better?
When I edit I normally set the white and black points, and add a little clarity and sharping. What else would be good?
Specs in file names.
Thanks for any advice!
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Hi @blessingscaptured, You have captured some great photos here on your vacation!
Photo #1. As far as composition goes I would try to position the subject (which I’m supposing was the tree there in the middle,)
more purposefully somehow, to separate it from the other trees and help it to look intentional. Another idea I have is to try shooting it at golden hour to get those greens to really pop, and give it that warm lighting.(Of course that might not be practical if you’re just taking a hike with your family, and can’t come back later)😬.Photo #2. The first things I noticed about this photo was that it seems like it’s a little underexposed.
Also, maybe the graininess could be reduced by setting your camera on a tripod, and putting the ISO down, and the shutter speed even slower.
Other than that, I really like how you captured the fog hanging over the river, and the way the brightness of the fog leads your eyes sort-of around the curve of the river.Photo #3. I like all the bright colors, and how the curve of the branch leads your eyes along to the tip of the branch,
but I think that it’s altogether a little bit to busy with the ponds’ green/yellow algae right behind the branch.
(Hope that makes sense!) Like maybe if you could position the branch more to the right, and down lower, the branch would pop out a little more
against the water.Photo #4. This one is definitely my personal favorite of all these pictures.
I like how the red mill really stands out from everything else, and I also like how it’s framed inside of the trees surrounding it.
The reflection in the water was done pretty well, but the one thing that I would try to change is the bright white sky in the bottom of the reflection. I don’t know if it was possible, but it seems to grab for my attention, thus subtracting from the clear subject.
But overall, very well done!Photo #5. I like how the red mill attracts my attention as in the other one, but those branches covering the roof in this photo
seem to distract me somehow. I like how the landscape/horizontal orientation turned better personally.When I edit I normally set the white and black points, and add a little clarity and sharping. What else would be good?
I usually also change the vibrancy or saturation, exposure, and white balance when editing my photos.
Hey there, @blessingscaptured! I second much of what @ernestf-lloyd said!
Photo 1 – Like Ernest said, it’s a little difficult to figure out just what is the subject in this photo. Maybe even if you cropped in off the right and the bottom to bring more attention to the trees that are standing completely straight and tall, something like what I’ve attached, that might help. Then the story becomes more about this forest of tall trees, and you kind of notice the patterns of other trees in the background too, leading you to the two trees in the front.
Photo 2 – Great composition! Nice leading lines, and great ominous clouds overhead! You’ve got good overlap happening in this photo too in the textures, color tones, and brightness. I think the only thing I’d do more is brighten it up a bit.
Photo 3 – I can’t believe how still and blue this water is! Somehow the composition feels a little off… I like the reflection, but it just doesn’t feel compelling. Also, the top of the photo just seems cut off. I think perhaps a little wider angle would’ve helped, unless there was something you were trying NOT to include! 🙂 It just feels like there’s more to this scene that I’m missing out on.
Photo 4 – So well composed!! I don’t think there’s a thing I would change with this one, except perhaps a little in editing. I think the highlights could be pulled back a little, and maybe a little more contrast (?).
Photo 5 – I don’t like this one as well as the previous: the mill is not as intentionally placed, and although the reflection is very interesting to look at, the picture as a whole is not as beautiful as the horizontal.
For editing, I typically make adjustments in varying degrees in most of the basic sliders in Lightroom (white balance, exposure, highlights, shadows, vibrancy, saturation, contrast, clarity, sharpening, etc.)
Looks like you had a lovely vacation with your family!
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Thank you @ernestf-lloyd and @Bennett-family for your comments!
Photo 1- Your right about it not having a subject. I guess I was attracted to the all-over pattern of the trees. Lydia, your crop does look good. I need to work on finding order in the chaos.
Photo 2- As for being underexposed, that’s how dark it was. I could have come earlier or compensated with my settings.
Photo 3- I can’t remember exactly if there was something that I was trying to exclude. @ernestf-lloyd that is a good idea to have gotten higher and have the branch against the water. The blue is from the spring water.
Photo 4- I’ve attached another edit were I pulled the highlights almost all the way down and added some contrast. I was thankful that it was as overcast as it was, being it was the middle of the day (12:40).
Photo 5- The reason I wondered about this one was you could see the whole reflection of the tree.
Thanks again, it was very helpful!
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As for the river picture being underexposed; a lot of times when I’m shooting in the evening and at night, I look at the LCD and they look bright enough. Getting back to the computer and realizing how dark they are I end up pushing the exposure and introducing a lot of noise. I have my LCD set to 0. So I’m thinking I should be looking at my histogram to determine the brightness. For an evening scene like this one, how far to the right should it be? What about for a picture of a starry sky?
Thanks!
I’ll be sure to pull these pictures up tonight on the webinar, @blessingscaptured! https://www.lenspiration.com/webinar/photo-critique-45/ Those are some excellent specific questions.
I enjoyed critiquing your photos on the webinar the other night, @blessings-captured! Here’s the link to the replay if needed: https://www.lenspiration.com/video/webinar45/ Keep up the good work!
I leaned some more tidbits, thanks for critiquing them!
Could you answer the question I had about histograms?
a lot of times when I’m shooting in the evening and at night, I look at the LCD and they look bright enough. Getting back to the computer and realizing how dark they are I end up pushing the exposure and introducing a lot of noise. I have my LCD set to 0. So I’m thinking I should be looking at my histogram to determine the brightness. For an evening scene like this one, how far to the right should it be? What about for a picture of a starry sky?
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