Hi everyone! I didn't realize I got the replies. Now it's been almost a year I couldn't recall what is it I was talking about. Hopefully I can answer your questions correctly..
Here I'll hand out the DNG files now for reference. ( It's actually composed of 2 images, click next to view the next image ):
OneDrive Quote: It may look better from the top of the other mountain
Woah, I've never thought of this! Maybe I should go there...someday.
Quote: Perhaps the issue is - what are you trying to focus on and show in the image? There's a lot of sky and a lot of foreground that kind of distract from the stated subject of the village. You could try cropping to see if leads the eye to focus more on the village.
Secondly, some levels and contrast adjustments could be done to reduce the impact of the haze.
Personally I find the bright sky a bit distracting, so if it was my image I would consider reducing the exposure a little just on the top third or so. If you use Lightroom, the graduated filter is handy here.
I think I was trying to show the village with the mountain and the sky LOL. but I don't know how to show them all. I tried to crop it in various ways but still couldn't get a satisfying result. So this is just a bad composition I guess.
Quote: You could shoot this with a polarizing filter to remove most of the haze.
I probably would have shot this with with a film camera loaded with Velvia 50, which does very well with greens. I would still use a polarizer.
Quote: In post, you could try removing some of the haze and enhance the colors.
Oh I didn't know polarizer could remove haze. I'll need to buy some and try it next time. Yes I could remove the haze and enhance the colors in post....but I think it's still lacking of something:\
Quote: The buildings look a bit soft, is it due to usage of a film lens?
No, this lens is quite sharp. Actually it's one of my sharpest lens on par with some of the "professional lens" I bought.
- It's soft because of the fog present at the time iirc
- It's also soft mainly because of my noobiness and not knowing how to take photos properly
- Maybe I've overdone the denoise post-process
Quote: I think there is nothing really wrong with the photo, the problem is there is nothing to catch attention or to tell why exactly the photo was taken. So an object in the foreground could help or framing by some branches... And different part of day with more interesting light or some interesting fog or clouds or lights of a lone car in the evening... Just something more.
Yeah I agree, it's lacking something that I couldn't tell. Thanks for pointing that out!
Quote: The first thing I ask myself when a picture is reviewed is - will pay money to blow this picture up and get it printed and put it on my wall - if the answer is no - it goes to the bin.
Welp, I guess to the bin then.