Perspective shot of desert island road

[Czrich86]

I took this shot in late afternoon on an island off the coast of San Diego. I did a little post processing on this picture, mainly to increase vibrance, and decrease the brightness of the sky in order to bring out the nice blue and texture in the clouds. I'm looking for critique on the composition, exposure, and my post-processing. Other critiques are highly appreciated as well.

Thanks!

Tech details...
Camera: Canon 50D
Focal Length: 18mm
Exposure Time: 1/125
Aperture: 11
ISO: 100

[briank]

I'm new to photography, but I'll say that the white area in the upper right of the photo grabs too much of my attention. I also think it harms the balance of the composition.

Other than that, I have no complaints. I really like the texture of the road and the way you capture the white and yellow lines in addition to the blacktop. The telephone polls are sweet as well.

Nice job.

[mwatson]

I agree and disagree.

The top right is a little blown out but I can see the horizon so it appears you were taking this shot around sunset. I also think that with this section being having a yellowish tent projects the sun and for that, I think you’re fine. Also, I think the detail of the foreground overpowers the sun.

It would be great if the power lines weren’t in the shot but I like what you did with them. You brought them to the edge and created more lines to draw the eye through the picture.

The shadows on the grass from the sun are what I am not a big fan of. But it works with the shot. Without some sort of HDR or graduated filter, I doubt you could have gotten rid of them completely. If you did an HDR, I really think you would lose this shot to over processing. It already has some great texture.

Did you have a filter on the lens at all?

[Czrich86]

I didn't use any filters on this shot or any sharpening techniques while in photoshop. Mwatson is correct that I took this shot around sunset. The sun was blowing out the light in the haze from the right, but it's also what gave me the nice colors in the foreground. I decreased the brightness in PS to reduce this blowout some, but I couldn't reduce it too much without making it look terrible.

I'm guessing that the grass shadows you are talking about is the shadowy trough that follows the shoulder on the left side of the road? Any ideas on some methods to get rid of them?

The things that made me take this shot were the rich colors from the setting sun though the haze and how everything seemed to go on forever until it converged on the horizon.

[mwatson]

You could maybe dodge them in PS but I wouldn’t do too much of that. You might lose the flow of colors in the grass. I wouldn’t really worry about it. I don’t think they are really that distracting. It works with the shot. It just emphasizes the setting sun.

And you were right to take the photo. The colors are great and the framing really draws your eye throughout the entire picture.

[briank]

May I ask what your focus point was? I'm not asking as a critique -- as I beginner I'm just curious. I really like this shot and I'm wondering where you focused your camera.

[Czrich86]

Thanks for the great comments briank and mwatson. For this shot I just focused dead center on the horizon where the road seemed to converge to and then recomposed the shot to put the horizon at about 1/3 down from the top.

I don't know what type of camera you have/use but it's a pretty nice trick. You may already know how to do it, but in case you don't... you point the camera at your desired focal point, press the shutter button halfway down so that it autofocuses and then while still holding the button halfway you recompose the shot and then press the button all the way to take the shot.

I hope this answered your question and keep on shooting!

[crockny]

I like it -- I think you have done a lot with a little ... doesn't seem like much of a subject but it works ...