Colorado Rockies

[Trankonia]

I am not sure of the contrast on this photo. Composition comments would be helpful. Thanks in advance!

Camera: NIKON D5000
Focal length: 98*mm*(equiv. 147*mm)
Aperture: F18
Exposure time: 1/80"
ISO speed rating: 200/24°
Program: Aperture priority
Metering Mode: Pattern
White Balance: Manual

[SwissJon]

I get the same kinda result with mountians round here.. The atmosphere causes a haze.. Increasing the contrast will actually make the landscape look flatter because it'll bring the background forwards. You could reduce the blues a little, which would help.

Do you have a UV haze filter?

It's a pity you didn't get more sky in, those clouds look fantastic. To be honest, I think that's the problem more than anything, you've used too long a lens which has flattened the image and you have nothing but background with no foreground interest, so no depth. It's a pity there wasn't a tree nearby to capture on the edge of the shot.

[Preeb]

Time of day as a lot to do with it. Morning and evening simply have more dramatic light. A polarizer can also help with color saturation in some cases.

Overall I like the shot. Like SwissJon says, something to draw the eye or frame the landscape never hurts, but it isn't always possible, and you certainly captured the ruggedness of the mountains. If you have PS or PSE, you could play around with the lighting on a layer copy see what you come up with.

If you don't mind me asking, where in Colorado is that? I've spent a lot of time in the northern and central Colorado mountains, but that doesn't look familiar.

[Trankonia]

Rick,

If I remember correctly, this is between Telluride and Oray. I agree that closer with a wider lense might have helped but I was a bit hampered due to time constraints as I would have had to hike quite a bit closer to get that type of shot. Yes, there were no trees close by. I was hoping the colors in the vegetation in the foreground would add enough interest. Apparently not.

Thanks for the feedback!

By the way Rick, I too am out of Littleton, CO

[Preeb]

Originally Posted by Trankonia

Rick,

If I remember correctly, this is between Telluride and Oray. I agree that closer with a wider lense might have helped but I was a bit hampered due to time constraints as I would have had to hike quite a bit closer to get that type of shot. Yes, there were no trees close by. I was hoping the colors in the vegetation in the foreground would add enough interest. Apparently not.

Thanks for the feedback!

By the way Rick, I too am out of Littleton, CO

I would have guessed that it was somewhere in or near the Needles. I'm not familiar with that part of the state.

I still like the shot. Sometimes you just have to take what you can get.

[SwissJon]

Originally Posted by Preeb

I would have guessed that it was somewhere in or near the Needles. I'm not familiar with that part of the state.

I still like the shot. Sometimes you just have to take what you can get.

Never said it was a bad shot.. This is a critique section so I was critiquing, the composition is good, it's just a little flat because of the length of the lens and the distances.

I find the same problem here, shoot across a valley and you have nothing in front of you, you end up with nothing that the observer can relate to, just a huge chasm between you and the next nearest thing, it kinda leaves the observer dislocated and hanging in mid-air. I'm not talking about a near subject, just something to give the observer a sense of place in the photo..

Oh, and I'd still like to have seen more clouds.. They look really ominous, but a little cut off. Perhaps with more clouds, the sky could have been used to bridge the gap.

[Trankonia]

SwissJon,

I always appreciate your insights. The fact that it is flat is an important observation.

Thanks!

[SwissJon]

Sorry.. Didn't mean to jump to a conclusion. I'm used to writing on a motorbike website. I'm not used to people being nice to one another