Field at golden hour

[montezma110]

my first real attempt at landscape phography. please, how do you think i can improve.



shutter 1/60
aperture f/9
iso 400

thankyou

[fotoworx]

You should be happy with this photo for your first attempt. Rule of thirds and framing used, a good shot for your first!!! Keep shooting.


Photography Tips

[navcom]

I agree. Not a bad first attempt. Rule of thirds, use of lines, straight horizon...all good. You are trying to "see" as a photographer. Couple quick items. On composition, the field lines appear to be slanting downwards. Well...that's because they are but it does kind of disturb the equalibrium of the photo. Obviously you can't go out there and straighten the field but it might help to try a different location in the field where the lines are more in line with the horizon.

Also, it really helps to have a more defined main subject. If the field lines are the subject, it might actually help to eliminate the sky and eliminate anything that competes with it. This might also mean a different location or angle. Another idea might be to look straight down the lines of the field so you can see the perspective (wide lines in the foreground that taper to the horizon). With this type of orientation, it would add a ton to have the lines pointing to something...pretty sunset, cool tree, incoming storm, etc. as lines tend to lead the eye to something. The current photo just kind of leads the eyes down and to the right where there isn't anything interesting lying in wait.

Hope that helps!

[danbaileyphoto]

As navcom said, the first thing to really ask yourself is "what am I taking a picture of?" What is your main subject? Every great photo has to have a main subject. I can also have a secondary subject element that plays off of the main subject in some way. In this case, the lines of the field can act as your secondary subject, so you want to find a way to really accentuate them as they lead towards your main subject element.

Also, ask yourself "what needs to be in the shot, and what doesn't?" I'd probably lose that bit of tree on the upper right, it doesn't really do anything for the shot.

Landscape photography is all about just being out there in the world, looking at your environments and responding to whatever it is that excites or inspires you. It takes lots of practice and studying the works of others to see what compositional techniques are most effective.

Keep at it!

[montezma110]

Thanks for the advice, i will take it on board and get out and shoot some more.

[Michael_2010]

I think the plowed rows in the field make the shot.

Did you use a tripod? If so, you could have dropped the ISO to 100 and closed the aperture down to about 13. A circular polarizer would have also been a nice addition to make the sky pop a little.

This kind of shot is also a good candidate for bracketing the EV. You may get home and be completely happy with one shot, but it is always nice to have the flexibility to combine several and explore that strange world of High Dynamic Range.

Keep Shootin' and thanks for sharing!