Landscape of a ruin.

[abhijith.rao]

Hi,
I got a D80 pretty recently (my first DSLR) and I've been shooting as much as possible with it. I use a 18-135mm lens for all landscapes and images like the one below are from the same combination.


I am thinking of picking up a Sigma 10-20mm lens to further improve the wide angle range. Is this a good desicion?

[ShaunHawk]

Hey first off the composition of your shot is cool - follows the rules of framing by thirds and the effect of the clouds is just mesmerizing. The Sigma 10-20mm will allow you to get really up close to the ruins and shoot it from a totally different perspective. For instance depending on the angle at which you take the picture you can portray the height of the ruins and the depth of field behind it. It will really make the image more 3d-ish than this one.

The key is obviously to get compose the shot with an interesting foreground to portray the wide-angle, the depth or the height of something. If taken in much the same manner as this one it would have more of a postcard like effect.

Hope this helps

-S

[Elmo]

Nice shot!!

The 10-22 might be a great addition. I know little about the Sigma but love my Canon like it. I suspect this shot was shot at 18mm or close looking upward (building is falling back). This adds to this capture.

Shooting wider is an exciting experience but has a learning curve: How to avoid distortion, how to use distortion effectively and so on.

Again great shot nice post processing (some spots a little obvious). AS for the UWA try it you will like it.

[abhijith.rao]

Thank you for your replies Shaun and Elmo! I think your replies have helped me inch closer to that 10-20.

Originally Posted by ShaunHawk

The key is obviously to get compose the shot with an interesting foreground to portray the wide-angle, the depth or the height of something. If taken in much the same manner as this one it would have more of a postcard like effect.

Shaun: By interesting foreground, do you mean that if I shoot using a 10-20 from much closer, the building would fill up the shot more while getting a good view of the sky?

Originally Posted by Elmo

Nice shot!!

The 10-22 might be a great addition. I know little about the Sigma but love my Canon like it. I suspect this shot was shot at 18mm or close looking upward (building is falling back). This adds to this capture.

Shooting wider is an exciting experience but has a learning curve: How to avoid distortion, how to use distortion effectively and so on.

Again great shot nice post processing (some spots a little obvious). AS for the UWA try it you will like it.

Yes, this was shot at 18mm, closer to the ground. No tripod, so had to straigten out the image a bit while post processing. I have the original sized image with me, so I should give it another pass sometime, because now that I see after a couple of days of processing it, I find obvious errors(?) too.

[ckodonne]

Originally Posted by abhijith.rao

Thank you for your replies Shaun and Elmo! I think your replies have helped me inch closer to that 10-20.


Shaun: By interesting foreground, do you mean that if I shoot using a 10-20 from much closer, the building would fill up the shot more while getting a good view of the sky?


Yes, this was shot at 18mm, closer to the ground. No tripod, so had to straigten out the image a bit while post processing. I have the original sized image with me, so I should give it another pass sometime, because now that I see after a couple of days of processing it, I find obvious errors(?) too.

This is a great shot...very interesting. I think what Shaun meant by interesting foreground is that you can capture this exact photo with a wider lens, but since there will be less distance between you and your focal point (the building), the bokeh (quality of the blur) in the foreground and background will be much better...it will make the building the focal point while giving the rest of the photo more interest.

You did go a little heavy on the post process though...looks like the building is glowing. Might want to blend that out a little more or increase the exposure for the sky....looks a tad too underexposed to me.

[Teppo Chestislav]

I live in the desert and I have one similar. You're going to have to remove the rocks in the area (at least one foot around the outside perimiter of the pool). Then you have to level the area, and then put sand on it. On top of that, you really need more ground cover than comes with the pool. Still, it's worth it to me. Mine lasted 3 years, the kids love it. The one I'm buying this year I'll cut up the old pool as it's pretty heavy and use that as the ground cover.

[Ottor]

Originally Posted by Teppo Chestislav

I live in the desert and I have one similar. You're going to have to remove the rocks in the area (at least one foot around the outside perimiter of the pool). Then you have to level the area, and then put sand on it. On top of that, you really need more ground cover than comes with the pool. Still, it's worth it to me. Mine lasted 3 years, the kids love it. The one I'm buying this year I'll cut up the old pool as it's pretty heavy and use that as the ground cover.

WHAT ????

[dcclark]

Originally Posted by Ottor

WHAT ????

Spam spam spam spam spammity spam!

Back to the photo -- I love it! I think that you would do very well with the Sigma 10-20 (or any other ultrawide).

One important comment: ultrawides have less bokeh than what you currently have -- because they have enormous depth of field. The main advantage of an ultrawide will be that you can emphasize perspective to a greater extent. By getting closer to the ruin, you can really give us the feeling of being up close and personal with a huge, towering ruin, while keeping the dramatic sky in the photo.

As a compositional detail, the "halo" around the ruin is very annoying to me. I suspect it's an HDR artifact, and it really makes things feel a bit artificial. If that's avoidable, it would really make the shot stand out for me!

Keep up the good work -- and let us see what you get with the 10-20!

[SheMorz]

This photo is amazing!

[wal]

nice photo and PP technique.