Natural Texture

[WriterBarb]

[jiminyClickit]

WriterBarb, Welcome

After 5 minutes of searching for words to fit the photo, I have to admit landscapes are tough to appreciate. In general, rougher skies would help, while also giving countryside less vibrance and detail. Getting horizon level, or the perspective going in a way that doesn't feel like you're falling out of the photo, is also desired.

Your windmills on Flickr are distinct subjects, while this photo is about grass, plants, trees, distant hills, smooth blue. Not to discourage you, just to suggest another way of choosing what to shoot, or how to shoot it. Texture is fascinating in Macro photos. Here it's so general, I'd have to be there to appreciate what you saw.

As to the photography, you are recording scenes adequately. Are most of your photos shot in Auto mode?

[WriterBarb]

Thank you for your thoughtful feedback.

I'm not sure what you mean by "rougher skies." Do you mean skies with clouds?

The windmills were taken by a Pentex K100 (which I don't have anymore.) My current camera is digital Olympus D-540 Zoom. I'd like to get a more sophisticated one, but can't afford it at present.

[clockdoc]

Hi WriterBarb. Welcome to the group. Was this a cropped version od a single frame or a panoramic made up of several images stitched together? I agree with Jiminy regarding the sky. Always helps to have some stock cloud files for bald skies such as this one. In viewing the shot, which is technically well done, I can't find a subject or point-of-interest for my eye to land on.

[WriterBarb]

Thanks for your feedback and welcome.

The picture was cropped. I crop a lot of landscapes that way because I take the pictures from a moving car and sometimes I get blurred weeds. I also do it because I like the effect.

I understand what you both are talking about in terms of the clouds. I agree it would have made the picture more interesting. How can I put stock files into a picture? Do I use a special editing program?

[xxpinballxx]

okay maybe its me put I find myself gazing into the right hand side of this photo. From front to back you can sense the distance. I can see as it goes back the photo getting more and more muted. I kind of like the way that all looks. seem to be looking at it for subjects of interest though. Not that the hillside isn't interesting but a large barn off to one side or the house in full view might have been a bit better. The skies like jiminy said could be more dramatic but hey thats what was there and thats what you saw. afterall photos are a way to record what we see.....
was ther anything else around maybe a lone tree close up or anything along those lines that could be a focal point?

[clockdoc]

Here's a quick little example of adding some stock clouds. First you find your stock clouds and extract the part you want to add to your image.

Then in Photoshop I layered the two and "erased" the clouds from the part covering your foreground. I am just a beginner with Photoshop so there are probably better ways to do this so I'll defer to the experts. Here is the quick result:

There are several things to think about when adding clouds such as the size and position in the sky as well as the direction of light illuminating the clouds.

[WriterBarb]

Originally Posted by xxpinballxx

okay maybe its me put I find myself gazing into the right hand side of this photo. From front to back you can sense the distance. I can see as it goes back the photo getting more and more muted. I kind of like the way that all looks. seem to be looking at it for subjects of interest though. Not that the hillside isn't interesting but a large barn off to one side or the house in full view might have been a bit better. The skies like jiminy said could be more dramatic but hey thats what was there and thats what you saw. afterall photos are a way to record what we see.....
was ther anything else around maybe a lone tree close up or anything along those lines that could be a focal point?

Thanks for your feedback.

I took the picture because I liked the way the early morning light created shadows in the crevices of the mountains, and brought out the textrue.

I don't remember anything in the area I could have used for a focal point. Next time we go out that way I'll be sure and check it out though.

[WriterBarb]

Originally Posted by clockdoc

Here's a quick little example of adding some stock clouds. First you find your stock clouds and extract the part you want to add to your image.

Then in Photoshop I layered the two and "erased" the clouds from the part covering your foreground. I am just a beginner with Photoshop so there are probably better ways to do this so I'll defer to the experts. Here is the quick result:

There are several things to think about when adding clouds such as the size and position in the sky as well as the direction of light illuminating the clouds.

I see how the clouds make a difference.

Is there a special version of photoshop that does this type editing? How much is it?

[clockdoc]

Hi,
I used an older version of PS (7.0). There are newer versions out that run about $649. Discounts are available for students. You can probably do the same thing with a version of PhotoShop Elements at less than $100 but I'll have to see if there are any Elements users out there that can confirm this. I am sure there are many other software programs that allow you to do this same thing.