[Tonytee]

Photo taken at 28mm and used Multi-Segment Metering.

I decided to continue in my new adventure of landscape photography. This was taken at Ponzi Vineyards in Sherwood, Oregon. It does not have much in the way of context or subject, however I felt it was an opportunity to receive some very good feedback from some very talented and knowledgeable folks on this Forum.

Many thanks for any comments/suggestions/solutions.

Rgds,

Antonio

[clackers]

I do like it better than your first pic, Tony, because diagonal lines are very powerful and in that one they led to a not-great view of a building.


There is still the issue of the light being unflattering. You could HDR to bring up the shadows, or you could simply do a B&W conversion and celebrate the big contrasts. :-)


And is it just the contour of the land, or is the horizontal a little off? If the former, you can cheat and rotate the camera to level the treeline, and we'll never know, because there isn't a foreground object.

[Tonytee]

I do like it better than your first pic, Tony, because diagonal lines are very powerful and in that one they led to a not-great view of a building.


There is still the issue of the light being unflattering. You could HDR to bring up the shadows, or you could simply do a B&W conversion and celebrate the big contrasts. :-)


And is it just the contour of the land, or is the horizontal a little off? If the former, you can cheat and rotate the camera to level the treeline, and we'll never know, because there isn't a foreground object.

Well sir, I thank you sincerely for your input. I do not have as yet, PPE software sophisticated enough to do HDR. I thought of bringing a laptop with me, take the shots without any filters, upload them and see what they look like. Then I would use a CPL or even a ND with a low number, upload them and also see what they look like. I believe that would at least provide me with enough data to make an intelligent decision on what is required in handling harsh sunlight. Here in the Great Pacific Northwest we have to contend with what we call a Monsoon Season which begins the third week of October and lasts sometimes into middle of July. Therefore, we have to make hay while the sun shines as they say. I did do a previsualization and I liked the sky conditions with the light, whispy clouds, the tall pine trees and the grape arbors and the road providing some perspective. Yes, there is a slope of the land, so perhaps I had done too much taste testing? Just kidding of course.

Again, many thanks for your assistance.

Rgds,

Tony

[NS_Sailor]

Again another fine effort. I also noticed that your horizon doesn't seem to be quite level. I know it is difficult, especially when looking through the viewfinder and standing on uneven ground to judge the horizon in a shot like this. If you use the vertical reference grid lines in the viewfinder or even the side of the viewfinder and use for example the trees in the background as a vertical reference, as trees in a grove such as that will grow close to vertical even on the side of a hill, you will get a shot that would be closer to the proper horizontal plain.
I would also have tried to get closer to the center line of the path between the rows and again use the reference lines inside the viewfinder to balance the shot between the rows of vines on either side of the path.
Don't despair you can always straighten and center the photo later

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Last edited by NS_Sailor; 09-14-2016 at 05:49 AM.

[Tonytee]

Again another fine effort. I also noticed that your horizon doesn't seem to be quite level. I know it is difficult, especially when looking through the viewfinder and standing on uneven ground to judge the horizon in a shot like this. If you use the vertical reference grid lines in the viewfinder or even the side of the viewfinder and use for example the trees in the background as a vertical reference, as trees in a grove such as that will grow close to vertical even on the side of a hill, you will get a shot that would be closer to the proper horizontal plain.
I would also have tried to get closer to the center line of the path between the rows and again use the reference lines inside the viewfinder to balance the shot between the rows of vines on either side of the path.
Don't despair you can always straighten and center the photo later

Yes, you are correct, I should have paid better attention to the sloping land. I do have FastStones Image Viewer's most recent version and it does a pretty good job with many useful features. I will certainly make a note of it in the future.

Many thanks for your assistance.

Antonio

[normhead]

It's go really heavy contrast and really harsh hard light.... that's killing you.

[aleonx3]

Just looking at the EXIF, I can tell that it is not from a Pentax camera as I am so accustom to it by now. I am not good at giving critiques but I did learn some neat tips from a good friend of mine who taught photo-critique class in our community few years ago. The first thing I learned from him was to first ask myself this question: what do I like/dislike about the photo and why? Only then he would offer his opinion and comments either agree or disagree. Another point he made which I still remember well is that: don't over-analyse too much... just keep moving on, there will always be another (better) shot to explore and learn from.

I am not sure what to say here (as I think you have tried very hard) except that I feel that this shot appears to be missing something to anchor/draw my interest when I am looking at it. It is hard to say what is wrong (if there is any). It could be the color (I prefer Pentax color ), the lighting and contrast, the (lack of) details, the (lack of) sharpness, or simply a lack of (an interesting) subject. This type of photos without attention grabber can easily slipped into the bottom of the pile without being noticed, as my friend would say without too much comment.

OTOH, if your intent is to improve this photo, then, I think you have already some pretty good advice from other posters.

[Bruce Clark]

Hi Tony

One of the more important aspects of landscape is composition. Rules such as the "Rule of Thirds" come into play. Other considerations are fore ground, middle ground and back ground. What elements of the photo belong in which part and what is their relationship to each other. Yet another is balance in its many guises. Lines are important, horizontal vertical and diagonal. All this without even considering the quality of the light.

I find the hardest part is getting the composition right. The process of turning the three dimensional scene before my eyes into an image on a two dimensional piece of paper is not straightforward. This is where the rules of composition help. In this image I can not determine foreground, or background. To me it appears all middle and therefore flat. The line of trees and the sky have no interest and do not really qualify as background to me. This is a trap I fall into all the time. An interesting scene in the flesh does always not translate into the photograph. Your earlier vineyard photo did have elements of foreground (the barrel), middle ground (the vines) and background (the house). A far better image in my opinion even if no perfect.

I hope my comments are of some help as are the other contributions. Keep them coming.

[Tonytee]

Hi Tony

One of the more important aspects of landscape is composition. Rules such as the "Rule of Thirds" come into play. Other considerations are fore ground, middle ground and back ground. What elements of the photo belong in which part and what is their relationship to each other. Yet another is balance in its many guises. Lines are important, horizontal vertical and diagonal. All this without even considering the quality of the light.

I find the hardest part is getting the composition right. The process of turning the three dimensional scene before my eyes into an image on a two dimensional piece of paper is not straightforward. This is where the rules of composition help. In this image I can not determine foreground, or background. To me it appears all middle and therefore flat. The line of trees and the sky have no interest and do not really qualify as background to me. This is a trap I fall into all the time. An interesting scene in the flesh does always not translate into the photograph. Your earlier vineyard photo did have elements of foreground (the barrel), middle ground (the vines) and background (the house). A far better image in my opinion even if no perfect.

I hope my comments are of some help as are the other contributions. Keep them coming.

Yes, your comments are always very helpful (educational as well) and always greatly appreciated. I can see I have my work cut out for me regarding landscape photography. I have never been a quitter and I am not about to start now. Perhaps, Too dumb to know better. )

Many thanks,

Antonio

[Bruce Clark]

Yes, your comments are always very helpful (educational as well) and always greatly appreciated. I can see I have my work cut out for me regarding landscape photography. I have never been a quitter and I am not about to start now. Perhaps, Too dumb to know better. )

Many thanks,

Antonio

We all had to start somewhere. I look back on some of my early efforts and cringe. This forum is the best place to get honest advice that I have ever found.

Cheers