Landscape My first attempt at Landscape

thechumpen · 06-13-2014, 09:35 AM

Hi guys

Whilst on holiday I had a chance to take an evening out dedicated to the camera, which is the first time I've done it (normally just take pictures of the kids etc). I spent a long while trying to get some shots of the sunset and this is my favourite so would like some feedback. I have post processed so not sure if I should post a before and after but just going with after for now as it's on Flickr already.

Unfortunately I missed the night before when we had a great sunset with lots of clouds, looked amazing. For this one no clouds unfortunately and it took me that long trying to figure out what I wanted to do that the sun had slipped behind the hill, but I still managed to get some of the sunset glow.

My intention for the "field trip" was to practise some long exposures on the sea and also get the sunset as a learning exercise. As I said, first time, but it was something I put thought into and was my best out of lots of shots so keen to get constructive criticism on obvious errors so I can improve next time.

TonyTurley · 06-13-2014, 09:39 AM

I like it just the way it is. Great capture.

mikeSF · 06-13-2014, 10:53 AM

nicely done and a good first effort for sure!
Whenever the sky is very plain, I try to compose accordingly to put less emphasis on the sky, either by eschewing a standard rule of thirds comp, or placing a big compositional element (tree, etc) to block some sky, or framing vertically to make the most of a small section of sky that may have something interesting.

also, pay attention to your main subject, as a landscape photograph is not merely a big wide scene of landscape, but should have a singled out element of interest, even multiple elements. In this pic, I assume you want the viewer to look at some of the rocks out in the water, but there is nothing to lead me to any one in particular, for example. getting close to one interesting rock might help.

There is a pink cast to your sky, maybe too much, as if a grad filter was used, but the reflection of the sky in the water has no color. consider that any reflection should echo what it is reflecting, both in color and luminance.

lastly, the pointy rock on the horizon is very interesting as a compositional element, but the chopped off one to the right of it leads my eye right off the page looking for the rest of the scene. consider placement of objects that get cut off for overall continuity in your image.

A very interesting location and lovely attempt, no doubt. thanks for sharing and I hope any of this helps!

Na Horuk · 06-13-2014, 12:55 PM

Hey, nice photo! So you shot raw, but what program did you use for the post processing? What i would suggest with that photo is to add CA correction and play with the Noise reduction. And a little bit of sharpening.

The other thing is, f22 might be overkill on APSC cameras. At that aperture, diffraction sets in and it makes the photo less sharp and more fuzzy. Try to stay under f16, it should still give you enough DoF.

But definitely a good start! I like the long exposure effect, the colours, the landscape itself

thechumpen · 06-13-2014, 02:26 PM

Thanks guys. Some very useful comments.

Mike, great advice. I had thought about that right hand mountain being a distraction but it just didn't look right when I chopped it off as it removed too much of the sky, but I do agree with you. Thanks for the other comments as well, some good points for me to consider next time around composition.

Na Horuk, I used Lightroom and some Nik plugins but was again my first proper attempt with these as well. I've since learned I did some stuff in completely the wrong order so will go back and try again. Doh! Good point on F22. I was simply going for long exposure as that was my experiment for the day but perhaps should have stuck lower like you say. Thanks for tips. Never looked at CA correction before so that gives me something to read up on!

Gregory_51 · 06-13-2014, 10:17 PM

Not too much to add. As mentioned f22 will give greater DOF but diffraction will lead to lower sharpness and you don't need to stop down that much to get everything in focus. If you were stopping down to get a slow shutter speed a neutral density filter would be a better option. You can get apps for your phone that will give you the numbers, the focus point, the DOF at different f stops etc. On android a free app is DOF Calculator. In this instance for example you could have used f8 and focusing at 10' you would have sharpness from 3.17' to infinity or the hyperfocal distance of 4.66' and have DOF from 2.33' to infinity. It's quite handy for landscape photography, you choose the lens focal length, aperture and focus point and it tells you how much is going to be sharp. As for CA's it varies depending on the lens, the lighting and the high contrast edges. In this photo you have magenta CA's along the edge of the foreground rocks. You use lightroom so when you develop the photo scroll down to lens corrections, click the color tab and your sliders are there to remove it. You could also try the profile tab. If your lens has a profile you can download check the Enable profile corrections and it will automatically correct lens distortion and CA's for you with a click.

---------- Post added 06-14-14 at 01:36 AM ----------

Not too much to add. As mentioned f22 will give greater DOF but diffraction will lead to lower sharpness and you don't need to stop down that much to get everything in focus. If you were stopping down to get a slow shutter speed a neutral density filter would be a better option. You can get apps for your phone that will give you the numbers, the focus point, the DOF at different f stops etc. On android a free app is DOF Calculator. In this instance for example you could have used f8 and focusing at 10' you would have sharpness from 3.17' to infinity or the hyperfocal distance of 4.66' and have DOF from 2.33' to infinity. It's quite handy for landscape photography, you choose the lens focal length, aperture and focus point and it tells you how much is going to be sharp. As for CA's it varies depending on the lens, the lighting and the high contrast edges. In this photo you have magenta CA's along the edge of the foreground rocks. You use lightroom so when you develop the photo scroll down to lens corrections, click the color tab and your sliders are there to remove it. You could also try the profile tab. If your lens has a profile you can download check the Enable profile corrections and it will automatically correct lens distortion and CA's for you with a click. The DA 15mm ltd does have a profile by the way.

Na Horuk · 06-14-2014, 02:07 AM

I think Lightroom has a lens profile for that lens, so you can just select it and it should reduce CA automatically. This will remove the lateral aberration, especially in the edges. The other option to switch on is Purple fringing correction, which I usually enable whenever i have hard contrasts, like trees against sky. The reason CA became so noticeable in that photo is that the added saturation and contrasts also emphasize the optical problems like that. Lens profiles are very useful, especially with (ultra) wide angle lenses.

06-13-2014, 09:35 AM	#1
thechumpen Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Middle of England Photos: Albums Posts: 296	My first attempt at Landscape Lens: DA 15 Ltd Camera: K-5 II Photo Location: Mallorca ISO: 80 Shutter Speed: Above 6s Aperture: F22 Hi guys Whilst on holiday I had a chance to take an evening out dedicated to the camera, which is the first time I've done it (normally just take pictures of the kids etc). I spent a long while trying to get some shots of the sunset and this is my favourite so would like some feedback. I have post processed so not sure if I should post a before and after but just going with after for now as it's on Flickr already. Unfortunately I missed the night before when we had a great sunset with lots of clouds, looked amazing. For this one no clouds unfortunately and it took me that long trying to figure out what I wanted to do that the sun had slipped behind the hill, but I still managed to get some of the sunset glow. My intention for the "field trip" was to practise some long exposures on the sea and also get the sunset as a learning exercise. As I said, first time, but it was something I put thought into and was my best out of lots of shots so keen to get constructive criticism on obvious errors so I can improve next time.

06-13-2014, 10:17 PM	#6
Gregory_51 Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: London, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 343	Not too much to add. As mentioned f22 will give greater DOF but diffraction will lead to lower sharpness and you don't need to stop down that much to get everything in focus. If you were stopping down to get a slow shutter speed a neutral density filter would be a better option. You can get apps for your phone that will give you the numbers, the focus point, the DOF at different f stops etc. On android a free app is DOF Calculator. In this instance for example you could have used f8 and focusing at 10' you would have sharpness from 3.17' to infinity or the hyperfocal distance of 4.66' and have DOF from 2.33' to infinity. It's quite handy for landscape photography, you choose the lens focal length, aperture and focus point and it tells you how much is going to be sharp. As for CA's it varies depending on the lens, the lighting and the high contrast edges. In this photo you have magenta CA's along the edge of the foreground rocks. You use lightroom so when you develop the photo scroll down to lens corrections, click the color tab and your sliders are there to remove it. You could also try the profile tab. If your lens has a profile you can download check the Enable profile corrections and it will automatically correct lens distortion and CA's for you with a click. ---------- Post added 06-14-14 at 01:36 AM ---------- Not too much to add. As mentioned f22 will give greater DOF but diffraction will lead to lower sharpness and you don't need to stop down that much to get everything in focus. If you were stopping down to get a slow shutter speed a neutral density filter would be a better option. You can get apps for your phone that will give you the numbers, the focus point, the DOF at different f stops etc. On android a free app is DOF Calculator. In this instance for example you could have used f8 and focusing at 10' you would have sharpness from 3.17' to infinity or the hyperfocal distance of 4.66' and have DOF from 2.33' to infinity. It's quite handy for landscape photography, you choose the lens focal length, aperture and focus point and it tells you how much is going to be sharp. As for CA's it varies depending on the lens, the lighting and the high contrast edges. In this photo you have magenta CA's along the edge of the foreground rocks. You use lightroom so when you develop the photo scroll down to lens corrections, click the color tab and your sliders are there to remove it. You could also try the profile tab. If your lens has a profile you can download check the Enable profile corrections and it will automatically correct lens distortion and CA's for you with a click. The DA 15mm ltd does have a profile by the way. Last edited by Gregory_51; 06-13-2014 at 10:30 PM.

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06-13-2014, 09:39 AM	#2
TonyTurley Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Scott Depot, WV Posts: 1,240	I like it just the way it is. Great capture.

06-13-2014, 10:53 AM	#3
mikeSF Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: East Bay Area, CA Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,622	nicely done and a good first effort for sure! Whenever the sky is very plain, I try to compose accordingly to put less emphasis on the sky, either by eschewing a standard rule of thirds comp, or placing a big compositional element (tree, etc) to block some sky, or framing vertically to make the most of a small section of sky that may have something interesting. also, pay attention to your main subject, as a landscape photograph is not merely a big wide scene of landscape, but should have a singled out element of interest, even multiple elements. In this pic, I assume you want the viewer to look at some of the rocks out in the water, but there is nothing to lead me to any one in particular, for example. getting close to one interesting rock might help. There is a pink cast to your sky, maybe too much, as if a grad filter was used, but the reflection of the sky in the water has no color. consider that any reflection should echo what it is reflecting, both in color and luminance. lastly, the pointy rock on the horizon is very interesting as a compositional element, but the chopped off one to the right of it leads my eye right off the page looking for the rest of the scene. consider placement of objects that get cut off for overall continuity in your image. A very interesting location and lovely attempt, no doubt. thanks for sharing and I hope any of this helps!

06-13-2014, 12:55 PM	#4
Na Horuk Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Slovenia, probably Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,186	Hey, nice photo! So you shot raw, but what program did you use for the post processing? What i would suggest with that photo is to add CA correction and play with the Noise reduction. And a little bit of sharpening. The other thing is, f22 might be overkill on APSC cameras. At that aperture, diffraction sets in and it makes the photo less sharp and more fuzzy. Try to stay under f16, it should still give you enough DoF. But definitely a good start! I like the long exposure effect, the colours, the landscape itself

06-13-2014, 02:26 PM	#5
thechumpen Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Middle of England Photos: Albums Posts: 296 Original Poster	Thanks guys. Some very useful comments. Mike, great advice. I had thought about that right hand mountain being a distraction but it just didn't look right when I chopped it off as it removed too much of the sky, but I do agree with you. Thanks for the other comments as well, some good points for me to consider next time around composition. Na Horuk, I used Lightroom and some Nik plugins but was again my first proper attempt with these as well. I've since learned I did some stuff in completely the wrong order so will go back and try again. Doh! Good point on F22. I was simply going for long exposure as that was my experiment for the day but perhaps should have stuck lower like you say. Thanks for tips. Never looked at CA correction before so that gives me something to read up on!

06-14-2014, 02:07 AM	#7
Na Horuk Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Slovenia, probably Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,186	I think Lightroom has a lens profile for that lens, so you can just select it and it should reduce CA automatically. This will remove the lateral aberration, especially in the edges. The other option to switch on is Purple fringing correction, which I usually enable whenever i have hard contrasts, like trees against sky. The reason CA became so noticeable in that photo is that the added saturation and contrasts also emphasize the optical problems like that. Lens profiles are very useful, especially with (ultra) wide angle lenses.