Road Less Taken

[jankcl]

I've recently got into photography and this is one of my early photo attempts. I took this shot on Rottnest Island, off the coast of Western Australia, on a fairly sunny day which i think washed out the colours a bit, so this shot was edited in lightroom to hopefully make it "pop" a little more.

I'm just wondering how I can improve it further, in terms of composition or anything else you might think.



Taken with Sony NEX-5
f/11.0
Shutter speed 1/400
20 mm focal length
ISO 200

cheers! Janice

[VeryBeginner]

Hi Jankcl,

I think the composition of this image is good, I like the road leading off into the distance. Its a shame the colours are washed out, can you try fixing that in PP? Otherwise can you return when the light is not so harsh?

How did you get the dark corners on the top of the image?

Simon

[graciousness]

Originally Posted by VeryBeginner

Hi Jankcl,

How did you get the dark corners on the top of the image?

Simon

Vignetting. Which to my opinion, is way too much. Some vignetting is ok, but this is just too much. If you have to use vignette to fill the frame, then the purpose is lost.

In such a bright day like this one, ISO of 200 is just too much. As far as composition, whilst the little trail provided some leading line to the image, it basically leads to nowhere, though. It's a trail to nowhere, so the image has become lacking.

Perhaps to make this shot more interesting is to have gone down lower on the ground. Then you would see a bit more texture from the sand/soil and may add more depth to the image. Center position doesn't help much, either and it further adds to the issue of the trail leading nowhere.

I was going to say to chop the top and bottom as that much sky and foreground isn't really adding anything to the image. But then I don't know, it won't improve this shot much even if that is done.

It's really hard to take such scenes like this one here in Australia on a bright, sunny day because the bushes and trees do tend to look more brown/copper in the sun in our eyes. And of course as you would imagine, it would translate the same way on camera. I don't know if you've done a saturation or colour treatment on this, but i think whatever it is, it didn't help. Perhaps try bringing out the greens more in those bushes as in reality, they're not that yellow.

I'm sorry I can't really give anymore than what I've written. Perhaps someone else will come along and provide more constructive advice as far as how to make this better.

Cheers and welcome to photography! It's good to see that you eye for lines in your scenes as when done right, makes very strong images. Keep shooting and hone that vision!

Cheers,

Grace

[Krusty79]

Welcome to DPS. I would scrap the vignetting and start shooting in the golden hours. You're going to constantly battle washed out skies and bright spots shooting in the afternoon. If you shoot in the golden hours instead, you won't have as much dynamic range to contend with and the light will be softer.

As for this particular image, I like the use of a leading line, but I still think you need a subject or focal point. Someone walking down the trail would be nice. I think you could have moved up the trail a bit where the trail looks more established for the foreground. I'm glad you didn't place the horizon in the middle of the image. You're on the right track and you should notice some improvement just by shooting in the golden hours.

[milosh]

I would just second what Gracie and Krusty said, they basically said it all.
If this was shot in a different time of day and if it included a point of interest, it would have been a great shot. Maybe you could have placed something up there yourself (anything, a person standing on a bike at the end of that trail for example).

[jankcl]

Hi everyone,Thanks for all the helpful critique, especially graciousness for such a thorough advice!

I certainly agree with you all in terms of the lighting. From memory it was taken around midday on a sunny day, which i believe is a terrible time to take photos, making everything look washed out. I tried playing around with colour, saturation and vignetting to get a more creative shot, certainly wasn't suppose to be a reflection of reality as such

I specifically chose this photo for critique as i wasn't entirely happy with it and wanted more feedback. If anyone has a few more minutes free, this is the link to the rest of the photos taken on Rottnest. It would be very kind of you guys to see what you reckon worked or didn't work well generally or specifically (I hope i'm allowed to ask this :S)

I've attached the 2 re edited photos, taking on board some of the things you said. I just cropped & reduced the vignetting of the old version of the photo so that the path isn't so centre. I also undid the colour changes for the second image and only tweaked it slightly to look less washed out and more "green".

While i don't expect "editing" a photo to turn a bad photo into a good one, I find its a great learning tool to discuss it with people So any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

thanks again, Janice

[Krusty79]

I looked at your other shots and you do have a lot of nice beach scenes, but they could use more of a definite subject/focal point. It's tough to get evenly exposed images, but shooting in midday makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible. A circular polarizer can help, depending on your angle relative to the sun.

Also, it appears that most of your shots were taken at or near eye level. I would encourage you to experiment with different angles, especially getting low to the ground. A tripod will help.

There are some more tips here - http://www.livermorevalleycameraclub...omposition.pdf

[jankcl]

Originally Posted by Krusty79

I looked at your other shots and you do have a lot of nice beach scenes, but they could use more of a definite subject/focal point. It's tough to get evenly exposed images, but shooting in midday makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible. A circular polarizer can help, depending on your angle relative to the sun.

Also, it appears that most of your shots were taken at or near eye level. I would encourage you to experiment with different angles, especially getting low to the ground. A tripod will help.

There are some more tips here - http://www.livermorevalleycameraclub...omposition.pdf

Thanks for the feedback Krusty79, Yes you're correct to say most of the shot were taken at eye level, I would certainly experiment with different angles next time. What would be considered the "golden hours" of the day, as someone here mentioned? And can anyone recommend a good & affordable tripod for a beginner?

cheers
Janice

[graciousness]

Hi Janice,

Think of the "golden hours" as the time when the sun is near the horizon, i.e. just after sunrise and before sunset. When the sun is not above you, those are the best times to take the photos and gets only better the closer it gets to the horizon.

For me, I take photos at any time of the day and I don't let the position of the sun stop me from taking photos. It's just a matter of camera settings and looking for where the sun is, and looking for where the light hits. Lately, I use a polariser (a circular polariser to be precise) with almost all my daytime shots. The only times I don't use it is night time, of course, and if I am taking photos of people. It will make skin tones darker if you use a polariser, but it's pretty amazing when you use it for landscapes in daytime. It reduces reflections and adds warmth to my images, I find. Not everyone is for using filters with their cameras; this is something you need to determine for yourself if you like them or not.

With tripods, just scout for something that is sturdy. I use a Velbon Sherpa and it's around $150. It's pretty sturdy, not as light as what pro's would like it to be, but quite decent as a beginner's tripod. I'm looking for an upgrade in the near future, though, as my gears are getting a bit heavy for this tripod (more of, my heavy telephoto lens) so it will probably be the more expensive but heavy duty Manfrotto.

You'll have to research for tripods more, as I'm not the best person to advice you on this. I can only advice from my limited experience. Technicalities scrambles my brain

Now, go out there and take photos really early in the morning or before sunset and take your landscape photos. You'll be amazed at what you will shoot......

Cheers,

Grace

[jankcl]

Thanks for the advice graciousness! I will keep shooting and experimenting