Tree stump.. Focus issues

[SwissJon]

I think I switched my brain off today. The road was solid ice and I'd ended up on my backside 4 times before I took this, and forgot to focus or adjust the aperture to increase the DoF.. I know I could have taken better, and my subject is now slightly out of focus here.. My question is mainly, is it noticable to the detrement of the Photo? What about the two trees in the centre, are they distracting? Would a square crop be better? Any other comments?

Exif:

Camera: SLT-A55V
Lens: Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* DT 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 ZA
Focal length: 16*mm*(equiv. 24*mm)
Aperture: F6.3
Exposure time: 1/25"
ISO speed rating: 100/21°
Program: Aperture priority
Metering Mode: Center-weighted average
White Balance: Auto
Image Stabilizer: Off

[EOBeav]

I hate that when I get home and say "D-ohh, what was I thinking?" when I look at the settings I used. The stump does look a little out of focus, almost like your lens was focusing on the trees immediately behind.

Compositionally, I'm not sure what to say. I actually prefer the trees behind the stump than I do the stump itself. Taken from this angle, it makes for a fairly weak subject, but maybe taken from further away and a little higher up? Just a thought. It's a really cool scene and I think there's a lot of potential here. The ice/snow and fog can add some nice elements to a given shot.

I've been able to make one successful trip out into the snow once this year, but I'm definitely looking for spring, which should start up here in the next month or so where I live. Keep shooting and posting here. I enjoy seeing your shots.

[NgaiHill]

I like the foggy look to this photo, it looks like a great spot to photograph any time of the year. IMHO the trees behind the stump are a bit distracting, they kind of cut the picture in half - any way you can chop them down/clone them out?
Nice shot though - I hope you give it another go with the right settings

[SwissJon]

Originally Posted by EOBeav

I hate that when I get home and say "D-ohh, what was I thinking?" when I look at the settings I used. The stump does look a little out of focus, almost like your lens was focusing on the trees immediately behind.

Yeah, it was a real disappointment.. The road was so slippery so I wasn't thinking.Compose, focus, aperture, exposure, click turned into Ohh, that's nice, click!

Compositionally, I'm not sure what to say. I actually prefer the trees behind the stump than I do the stump itself. Taken from this angle, it makes for a fairly weak subject, but maybe taken from further away and a little higher up? Just a thought. It's a really cool scene and I think there's a lot of potential here. The ice/snow and fog can add some nice elements to a given shot.

My wife thought was mad going out today, but I told her I wanted to go shoot some trees emerging from the mist, I love that depth the clouds give to photos. Unfortunately I couldn't get further away or higher up without a hot air balloon. You can imagine this was on an Ice road with a cliff on the other side.. This was about the best composition I was going to get, movement left or right was about the limit, and even that made me end up on my backside.. LoL.. Even my Labrador, who likes to come out on my shoots with me, ended up doing summersaults today..

I used my B&W film camera on this scene also, I'll be curious to see how that turned out.

I've been able to make one successful trip out into the snow once this year, but I'm definitely looking for spring, which should start up here in the next month or so where I live. Keep shooting and posting here. I enjoy seeing your shots.

Me too.. Don't worry, I'll keep posting, when I look back on my recent photos, there's a deifnite correlation between posting here and improving my shots.

[SwissJon]

Originally Posted by NgaiHill

I like the foggy look to this photo, it looks like a great spot to photograph any time of the year. IMHO the trees behind the stump are a bit distracting, they kind of cut the picture in half - any way you can chop them down/clone them out?
Nice shot though - I hope you give it another go with the right settings

I'll be wearing my crampons on my next outing, should be less dangerous, I think I'll try moving a bit to the camera right, maybe the trees behind will look better if I can compose with them in the right 1/3rd mark. I don't think the locals will look kindly on me if I start chopping down their flora for the sake of a photo

[Sistereinstein]

I really like the mood of this - I thought the trees were useful in guiding the eye into the scene, though I can understand why you may have regrets on it.

Remember the positioning of the sun is going to be important here as well. Depending on what direction you're facing - perhaps there is an opportunity for some sun ray action?

[SwissJon]

Originally Posted by Sistereinstein

I really like the mood of this - I thought the trees were useful in guiding the eye into the scene, though I can understand why you may have regrets on it.

Remember the positioning of the sun is going to be important here as well. Depending on what direction you're facing - perhaps there is an opportunity for some sun ray action?

Thank you Hadn't thought of that. This slope is North facing, which basically means it doesn't see direct sunshine until about June, which is why the road was iced over.. However, I think it might be worth a visit then, it's often in cloud, so I might get lucky, what I lose in snowfall I should gain in sunbeams.. Oh, and the road won't be covered in 20cm of ice, so I might find myself upright more often, and avoid wrist injuries!