[Wynder]

Originally Posted by RoyL

My eye is immediately drawn to the dirty spots in the top right corner

Didn't even notice the one spot, even though I was working on the sky. Bah.

More and more I hear and read about the Rule of Thirds and yet there is nothing ever mentioned about the Golden Rules.

I'll definitely need to read more, then -- I do try to incorporate a lot of things when I compose... repeating elements, leading lines, good horizon placement. Since I took up photography this past November, it's been a lot to learn about.

And as the tree has such dominating color it will not allow your eyes to wonder through the image, which is what you should want your viewer to do I hope.

It definitely is.

I would have found another position without the tree and allow the features I mentioned do their work. Images like this do not need a lot in them to make the really effective.

Try cloning out the tree and see the difference.

I was thinking about it -- there is already another tree that I cloned out... I considered cloning out the stoned area, but I wound up liking it in the end. Don't know if that was a mistake or not. I've read it's always good to have a foreground, a middle ground and a background in your landscapes -- it was hard for me to find an interesting or suitable foreground and that tree was the obvious thing... but it wound up turning it into the subject.

Ah well, live and learn I suppose.

Even though there is movement it all adds to the drama of the shot. I actually think the blur on the tree gives that sense of movement and the rest of the tree is crisp.

Alright, that's definitely good to know -- I think my OCD get's the best of me sometimes when it comes to image sharpness. ;p Thanks again for the thoughts!