Amateur first shot

[Morrigan69]

Hello everyone!

I've been browsing your site as well as the forum for days and I just can't get off from it, it's amazing! I've made few shots almost immediately when I bought my camera but according to the rules I'll just have to put 1 (I hope I choose the better one lol).

I don't know what to ask you specifically because I am absolute beginner and don't know much "professional terms" and such stuff. I hope I'll learn all of it here, with your help. Please don't criticize much and kill me at beginning, hehe :P



EXIF:
Canon 500D
ISO: 100
Shutter speed: 1/200s
18-55@55mm

P.S. It has been also edited on computer.. hope that's not a problem because I knew nothing about photography back then when I shot it.

[spider87]

I'm not an expert or anything or even that great but I will state that I don't like the faded border. I like the original image for the most part but the faded border is so overdone.

[dlambert]

Agreed. Less vignetting, please. Maybe play with bumping saturation a bit. I think this has the potential to be a very nice shot.

[Morrigan69]

Originally Posted by spider87

I'm not an expert or anything or even that great but I will state that I don't like the faded border. I like the original image for the most part but the faded border is so overdone.

Yeah, I have the other one without it but I choose this one for critique :/ Anyway, for me, it's effect is representing a idyllic place, like from fairytale or some movie starting
Thanks guys, I appreciate comments!

[Preeb]

I don't mind the faded border. I think that's more a matter of personal taste. The landscape doesn't have a specific subject, so that helps to just focus the eye on the scene as a whole. It is a technique that you want to be careful of because it can be easy to over use it.

What I'm not fond of is the dead branches coming in from the upper left. Especially the fact that they extend down over the mountains. If there is a subject to the image it is those mountains, and the branches are a distraction for me. They aren't particularly interesting or attractive.

[SwissJon]

I think vignetting has its place, but like all the tweaks you make on a computer, you need to be gentle, otherwise you end up with computer art, not photography.

Here, I can understand putting a vignette, but you've gone far to strong. Personally I would put it in so it's barely noticable, so the eye is gently drawn into the picture, rather than being forced.

As for the subject matter, it's very nice, but looks a little faded, you could boost the contrast a little and increase the vibrancy of the colours to make the picture pop a little more. I like the foreground branches, they definitely add to the picture.

[Krusty79]

I'm not a fan of vignetting myself, especially on color shots. Using branches to frame the shot is fine, but I think there's a little too much of that here. You've captured a nice scene here, but I'm not sure what your subject is. Was there anything on the lake shore you could have used for foreground interest? You didn't list what aperture you used, but I noticed that the branches framing the shot are in focus and the trees in the background are not. A circular polarizer probably would give you more vivid colors, but that depends on the angle relative to the sun.