Smokey Mountains

[Adams Serra]

Well, this is my first posting here. I have no clue about landscaping photography,
I would appreciate any comments and your input about composition and everything else.
Looking forward to learning from the forum members.

20D
F 22
1.6sec
+1/3
Iso 100
Focal lens 28mm

[Robert Amoruso]

Adams,

I think you did great here. You framed it nicely on the left with the tree and at its base we have a nice flow of water over the roots. The boulders in the river have visual interest and are well placed - I know you did not do that but you chose the spot to stand. Plus you created this image on either an overcast day or early/late in the day as the contrast is low and light soft.

About this only thing I am not too crazy about at the two vertical trees on the far bank - they seem to lead your eye out of the frame. This is not a biggie and of course in a forest it is hard to not include trees in the image so don't sweat it - it is the way it is.

I like the foliage on the far bank - nice color and light on them. Shutter speed just right for the flowing affect. And the river exists the image at a diagonal at the lower left corner - again a good compositional choice.

You did very well.

[Gayle Clement]

I love the way the water seems to spill over the lower edge of the photo. You did a great job here.
My only suggestion would be to consider burning in a little over the tree on the left and the background, not a lot, just a little to darken them and focus attention on that beautiful flow of water.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Adams,
I agree that you chose your composition carefully and did very well with it.......and the lighting is also beautiful. I have 2 possible recommendations...........first would be to saturate the greens a bit more.......they are nice (and probably natural looking).........but the extra saturation will give it more of a Velvia film look........but this is a personal preference............the second is that you should look into a circular polariser if you are going to be doing landscapes..........this would cut the glare off the rocks................which in this case isn't too bad.........but if you had many more rocks in the FG and they were wet..........it does become distracting..........just something to think about for the future as I agree that this was well done!

[Adams Serra]

Thank you, Robert, Gayle and Roman for taking the time and commenting on my picture.I have a question.In bird photography you look for the light angle,head turn, eye contact, background. What are the basic elements for a good landscape picture?
Thank you again,
Adams

[Robert Amoruso]

That is an involved question Adams.

The short answer is technique, composition and lighting. For composition you are looking for a center of interest - in this case the water. Then you are looking to arrange other elements in the image to complement and balance the center of interest. FG is very important and having an interesting FG is good. Case in point, good looking bush or field of flowers in the FG and a grand mountain in the background.

Contrast is next. Soft light generally best as you can get the full tonal range recorded in one image (HDR if the tonal range is exceeded). We spend time manipulating the mid-tones. Probably more then bird images. Whereas I can process a bird image in 5 minutes, a landscape can take hours. Local contrast enhancement, bleeding modes, masks, layers and a host of other tools are used. Such as Gayle's comments on bringing down the foliage to concentrate on the water or Roman's comments on saturating the greens more. Both are worth investigating.

Technique includes using a tripod, mirror lockup, filters as Roman suggested here. First thing I noticed was that the rock glare was OK because there was not too much of it so did not mention it (had to let Roman say something :)), but seriously, Roman's comment may sound simple, but eliminating glare saves a ton of time in PS. Using Neutral density filters to get slow shutter speeds and Roman's favorite a graduated neutral density filter.

This is why I like moderating this forum. I find it more interesting then light-angle, head-turn, eye contact and BG. I love making bird images but designing a near-perfect landscape image is a thing of beauty IMO.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Adams,
In landscapes...............DOF............focus from front to back............dramatic lighting...............& composition.........are all important as a basic starting points.............while dramatic lighting.........is usually what seperates the VG from the extroardinary!.........but all must be present for that to be accomplished. this is a very simplistic explanation........while making excelent bird images.................you probably have a few hours ..........for landscapes..........you may have a few minutes to as little as a few seconds! Usually 1/2 hour before or after sunrise or sunset provide us this opportunity.............but storms can change all the "rules"..........as in your image..........overcast works extremely well for waterfalls and such! Without clouds......we usually don't have dramatic sunrises or sunsets!..........too much or too little......can greatly alter the results..............therefore we get up every morning.......and wait for the promise!
Hope this helps and doesn't confuse.........and I hope you keep trying!
PS.........I was typing this as Robert was replying.........I do love my split ND filter!

[Brian Wong]

That is an involved question Adams.

The short answer is technique, composition and lighting. For composition you are looking for a center of interest - in this case the water. Then you are looking to arrange other elements in the image to complement and balance the center of interest. FG is very important and having an interesting FG is good. Case in point, good looking bush or field of flowers in the FG and a grand mountain in the background.

Contrast is next. Soft light generally best as you can get the full tonal range recorded in one image (HDR if the tonal range is exceeded). We spend time manipulating the mid-tones. Probably more then bird images. Whereas I can process a bird image in 5 minutes, a landscape can take hours. Local contrast enhancement, bleeding modes, masks, layers and a host of other tools are used. Such as Gayle's comments on bringing down the foliage to concentrate on the water or Roman's comments on saturating the greens more. Both are worth investigating.

Technique includes using a tripod, mirror lockup, filters as Roman suggested here. First thing I noticed was that the rock glare was OK because there was not too much of it so did not mention it (had to let Roman say something :)), but seriously, Roman's comment may sound simple, but eliminating glare saves a ton of time in PS. Using Neutral density filters to get slow shutter speeds and Roman's favorite a graduated neutral density filter.

This is why I like moderating this forum. I find it more interesting then light-angle, head-turn, eye contact and BG. I love making bird images but designing a near-perfect landscape image is a thing of beauty IMO.

Thank you for the question Adams, and thank you for the reply Robert! I feel like I'm in the same boat, and really appreciate all the help and guidelines. For myself, I wish I could contribute and participate more ... but at least I am learning a ton here just by looking and reading all the posts. edit: and you too Roman (and everyone else), seems like we posted at the same time!

[Adams Serra]

Thank you all for the comments.
Adams

[Maxis Gamez]

Adam,

I only have another suggestion. Get in the water! :)