Tal Y Llyn Lake, Wales

[bbtom10]

Here is a photo I took last week in the Snowdonia National Park in Wales (UK).

I have had a gentle fiddle using OnOne PhotoTune and added an ND Grad filter in Lightroom which I can't decide if it's ruined the picture or not.

Composition is quite square but I like how everything points to the lake.

So, comments on the ND Grad/Exposure and the Composition are much appreciated.

For some reason I've lost the EXIF on importing to Flickr so will add later when I'm back in Lightroom.



Thanks
Tom

[NgaiHill]

I like this shot. Composition wise, I can't see how else you could've taken it. Doesn't look like you had any room to move left or right off the road and if you'd tried to offset the lake left or right you'd have ended up having those hills dominate the scene. I like that the road leads the eye right down to the lake. Makes me want to travel down it and see the lake closer up.
Can't really comment on the use of the ND grad filter except that perhaps without it your sky would've been quite washed out - pity there wasn't some interesting clouds in there though

[Jinks]

It's never cloudy in Wales (HAH!).

Nice shot. I drove along that road a couple of weeks ago and actually thought it would make a good capture and you've pretty well nailed it.

[Doug Sundseth]

I don't think a gradient is the right tool here. The tops of the hills look awfully dark to me (though if that's the effect you were going for...). I'd use an adjustment brush and just hit the sky to darken it. Alternatively, you could probably bring down the brightness of the blues (using the HSL panel) and not really affect anything but the sky and lake.

I'm afraid that for me the road (particularly the retaining wall) dominates the picture to the detriment of the composition. From the place you shot this, a longer lens would lose some of the hills but would increase the relative size of the lake and might work. If that doesn't work, depending on how the topography sets up, you might consider shooting from farther back with a longer lens to maintain a similar look while reducing the impact of the road.

[bbtom10]

Thanks for the comments.

Doug, I agree that the ND has affected the hills to the detriment of the overall image - I will try with the adjustment brush. I am trying to get a deeper blue in the sky as without any clouds it is pretty dull as previously mentioned by NgaiHill.

I think my title is perhaps mis-leading, the lake is not the main subject here, rather the curve of the road driving into the valley, but the lake does seem to be the focal point, of not the subject, so perhaps my title is misleading?

Thanks again.

Tom

[Doug Sundseth]

Sorry, my error. If the road is the primary subject, I think you need to get up higher so that you can see the curve. I think you're too low to get the feel of "winding road" here.

FWIW, I really have had very good luck making skies prettier by reducing the brightness in the blues. It will tend to enhance apparent saturation without some of the artifacts of pushing the saturation sliders up. I usually use gradients when the horizon is nearly flat, adjustment brushes when the sky is very gray (to pull detail out of threating clouds, for instance), and blue-brightness reduction when I want to make the sky bluer and there isn't something else that will be hurt by the change.

[bbtom10]

Originally Posted by Doug Sundseth

Sorry, my error. If the road is the primary subject, I think you need to get up higher so that you can see the curve. I think you're too low to get the feel of "winding road" here.

FWIW, I really have had very good luck making skies prettier by reducing the brightness in the blues. It will tend to enhance apparent saturation without some of the artifacts of pushing the saturation sliders up. I usually use gradients when the horizon is nearly flat, adjustment brushes when the sky is very gray (to pull detail out of threating clouds, for instance), and blue-brightness reduction when I want to make the sky bluer and there isn't something else that will be hurt by the change.

Thanks for the sky tips - can't wait to give it a try later. Might also try and find some clouds to drop in!