Sunset in Bougon-please critique!

Critiques [Translate]

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• ramthakur (32112)
• [2009-05-18 1:28]
• - [workshop] [compare] [+]

You have let the sun hit your lens directly in this picture, Oana. Hence that flare and white-out on one side of the picture.
The Orchids strewn over the field in the foreground could have been a feast for the eye, but for the subdued light.
Anyway, you were shooting under trying conditions, so I must at least give credit for your impulse not to miss the scene.
Ram

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• techranger (2662)
• [2009-05-18 5:01]
• - [workshop] [compare] [+]

Hi Oana...

I have taken the liberty to do a workshop of your photo... in that workshop I tried to explain my PP technique. My goal was to enhance the feeling of the image you perhaps were trying to emulate. The scene was well worth capturing but like all of my photographs, needed a bit of PP to appease that inner eye... the WS is my intepretation of that emotional response. :)

Larry

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• SunToucher (10147)
• [2009-05-19 1:30]

Hi Oana,
I like Ram's workshop a lot and I hope you are able to copy it in the future. Although post processing can do a lot to a photo, it is still better to get it correct while making the photo. In this case a grad ND would have helped. Although shooting in the direction of the sun is always difficult. Evaluating your photo shows that the sky is over exposed and the meadow under exposed. The grad ND will level out the exposure correct both flaws.
I praise you for uploading this photo and showing that you want to learn.
TFS,
Niek

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• goutham_ramesh (10360)
• [2009-05-27 4:37]
• - [workshop] [compare]

I like the composition, but there are few things that could have been better. as Ram said you should avoid sun hit your lens directly, a good lens hood should solve this problem.

Landscape photography is at the same time one of the easiest and most difficult subjects to approach.It is easy because landscapes are so familiar , accessible, pretty permanent and they don't move, and so all that is necessary is to get there with a camera and shoot :-).

Some thoughts to lift the picture from ordinary postcards to an exceptional one are as follows :-

Decide what it is about a particular landscape that characterizes it and try to visualize and emphasize it , this is what Ansel Adams, probably the finest of landscape photographers, called "the personal statement". It may be simply the play of light and shade. It could be the lushness of fields, or the colors of fall etc.. What is important is to maintain a logical approach. In most cases, the scene is not going to change in a few minutes, so it is worth taking time to think about it; Adams emphasized the importance of what he called "visualization" - anticipating the shot even before setting up his camera.

Use and experiment with simple techniques for improving your landscapes. Some are simple like selecting the best f-stop or aperture for the image you want to capture( here in this picture fstop could have been better , it would have cut down the flare and even given you the DOF). Use accessories like a Polarizing Filter or Graduated Filters or use proper post-processing technique like straightening a sloping horizon for example...stiching pictures etc.

Simply look with perceptive eyes at the world about you, and trust to your own reactions and convictions.

Regards,
Goutham R

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• manu_el_manouch (0)
• [2009-06-03 2:42]

Bon, je vais critiquer de manière constructive, surtout ne pas y voir une attaque personnelle:

- Visiblement l'intention est de photographier le soleil couchant. Personnellement, c'est le soleil qui me gène sur cette photo, il m'éblouit tellement que je n'arrive que difficilement à distinguer les fleurs et le reste du paysage. Peut etre aurait il été intéressant d'attendre encore un peu que le soleil se cache un peut derrière la végétation.

- J'aurai également aimé un 1er plan plus présent (peut etre les fleurs justement.

- Vraiment, le coin supérieur droit est vraiment trop cramé!

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• briGG (1383)
• [2009-06-17 12:31]

Bonjour Oana,

Comme le soleil vient face à toi, l'image est "brûlée"; tu es en surexposition.
D'où,le ciel manque de vie et la végétation est trop sombre.
Ta composition est coupée en deux.

Voilà, tout ceci pour t'aider à y faire attention. Je suis aussi débutante et c'est en s'entraidant qu'on y arrive!

Bonne soirée

brigitte