Mountain Snow

[sissy123]

I took this in the Blue Mountains in Eastern Oregon Last Sunday 03-27-11. It had been snowing hard all day, then the sun finally decided to show itself. I used vingerette to softn the edges as I have not learned my wide angle to well yet. I have one of the more simple cameras a cannon powershot sx110is.
F/8
1/2500
ISO 1600
I quite like it but just seems something is missing. Please feel free to critique as I am learning.

[milosh]

Hello,

I think you have a nice image here. I like your processing, the lower point of view together with the vignette helps keep the viewer focused towards the center of the frame, I like it personally. The one thing it's missing is a real subject, something my eyes to settle on. Right now they settle on the Sun since it's the brightest point and it's in the center of the frame, and it isn't the best subject. It doesn't have to be anything special, for example even a pair of skies left in vertical position in the snow, slightly crossed and ideally with the frame moved a bit either to the right or left and the skies placed in the opposite 1/3 from the Sun would be great.

[JaxD]

Hi sissy123

I'm no expert but having just read the thread in General Chit-Chat about how we should all step up and critique more as it helps our own photography.. here goes!

I like the almost monochromatic colour of the shot as it does emphasise the isolation of the location, the focus is sharp and the exposure is pretty good considering the challenges of snow, sun and sky.

However, the shot seems to be lacking a focal point or main subject. Maybe shooting from a lower angle would emphasis more of the texture/ contrast in the snow and hide the lens flare behind the trees a bit more? My eye is obviously drawn to the lens flare but it is unfortunately very blown out. Perhaps if it was not so centred, it would also improve the shot. I'm not a fan of the vignette but that's just personal opinion. TFS

[UlpilotSC]

Personally Im not a fan of vignettes under most situations, but thats just me.

I think if you ditched the vignette, and cut off some of the right side, letting the sun fall off-center while leaving us some trees, it might be an improvement. The others suggested a re-shoot, which is good if you are still around. Skis or a sled or even a snowman (with a bright red scarf?) would help give something to the scene, but if you are trying to fix THIS image, and not just reshoot it, I'm not sure what else would improve it other than a crop. Its almost monochromatic as it is, why not try converting to B&W?

[Dodge]

Pretty much what the others have said really.

My only other suggestion would be, if your aim was to capture the sun breaking through the tree line, you could have maybe moved closer and cut out a lot of the empty foreground and catch more tree detail, maybe even turn the camera 90 degrees and shoot it in portrait, allowing you to get closer still....... although of course moving closer would change your angle to the sun so you may get a completely different effect.

My advice at this point would really be, when taking any shot, move around a lot and experiment, taking a lot of pics of the subject. Memory card space costs nothing and once you get home, upload the pics and you'll soon learn what works and what doesn't by simply looking at them and finding the ones that you like. Remember too, you can always crop an image to improve the composition.

I love shooting all kinds of stuff with a wide angle, but you really do need something up close in the foreground to lead the viewer into the scene.

Here's an example, really just to illustrate what I mean


The tractor could have been anything, a seal, a rock, a tuft of grass shot from low down etc, but it gives a focal point to the image as well as 'telling a story' if you like, if you can find the right subject. Point being, take away the tractor and there's pretty much not a lot else there, but with it, the rest of the subject matter becomes relevant to something...........gawd, I hope that makes sense?

That's more general composition advice really though, less specific to the actual picture.

[SwissJon]

Just a quick comment here.. Everyone is right about the lack of subject. I think you could have hapilly had a trail of footsteps leading into the forest to give you some interest. If you don't have something there for you, get creative! Also, I think the sun did you no favours.. i'm not too keen on the lens flare you've achieved..

I'm not at all sure why you shot at ISO 1600.. Is your camera on AutoISO? You should set it to much lower.. Here, given that you shot a static subject at 1/2500 you could have easily shot at ISO100 and still had the camera at 1/200 which would have given you the desired results.

The horizon basically cuts your photo in half.. Not a good idea unless you have a really strong subject.. If your subject is the sky or the detail in the forground, that needs to take up about 2/3rds of the photo.

I'm not sure, but I think the trees are out of focus and the foreground in focus.. Again, that's not a good thing.. You've lost a lot of the foreground with the vignette, and since it's the only thing in focus, it's a mistake to use the vignette. If you do use a vignette, (and I don't always thing they're bad) you should go lightly and JUST darken the borders enough to push the attention to the centre without making it obvious that you're doing it.. Yours isn't the worst I've seen, but you could do with being a little lighter with it.

Because of the differences between the distances with the foreground and background, I'd have used a smaller aperture, something over f/11, maybe even going as far as f/22 with the speeds you have in this shot, and the corresponding reduction as you shrank the aperture, you could still do that hand held, and if you then set the focus to the hyperfocal distance, your whole picture would be in focus.

LoL.. "Quick Comment"

[sissy123]

Thanks everyone so much. I new there was something missing, just couldn't put my finger on it. Basically I was trying to get the sun from the trees simply because it was the first time we saw it that day. I shot several pics in different apatures but just couldn't seem to get it right. Well that and my fingers were frozen solid. I will definatley put a focal point in next time. The tractor pic is fantastic Dodge. I am still learning even how to use the apature, shutter, and ISO and taking lots of note. I truley appritiate all of your imput.
When I get home I will have to try B&W.
Thanks again
Sissy

[danbaileyphoto]

When shooting scenes like this, ask yourself, "What's the picture about?" Really figure out what draws YOU into the scene and then try to translate that into your composition so that I know what you were trying to portray when I look at the shot. A subject is the "what that draws the viewer in and starts to tell the narrative of your image."