Spring in Northern Ontario

[Jackie Schuknecht]

I originally posted this in ETL and was looking for any further comments on how to improve this shot.
Comments are appreciated. This is a shot from last year.
A two stitch photo, cropped a little from the left for composition.
20D
f9
17-55 @33
ISO 100
1/50s
Tripod
Polarizing filter

Thanks for looking!

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Jackie,
I think you handled the scene as well as you could have. I might be tempted to go with a smaller f-stop....but for this scene it really wasn't necessary. So.....you have perfect exposure.....pretty good comp with the presented scene.....so in the field you have to ask yourself "what would Paul do:D? Although I am partially kidding....Paul has a tough time down in S. florida with landscapes...as does Robert a bit farther N......and the scene you have here is very similar to what they face.....not a real strong center of interest in the entire scene.....what to do??? ...as Paul often does.....find one....even if it's a rock. If you study what he and other landscape photographers do.....they often find very strong FG elements to carry an often mundane scene......or as Robert often does.....eliminate all distractions and use layers of color to add depth to a scene. Think about it....a rock....a bush....a log.....not the most glamorous subjects....but given a feautured role.....they shine!...and the rest of the scene compliments them. I see you progressing with your thought process.....now comes the extra effort to get out really early/stay very late for the most dramatic light....this alone will bring an image up a few notches......then work a scene until you find something to add interest.....eliminate all distracting elements......and you will have a winner. Keep that in mind!
Now I have to stop......before they get a big head:p.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Thanks for the great advice Roman.

[Paul Marcellini]

Roman, I have imagined a shot with a panther as my foreground element but it is yet to be executed. =) Don't worry, no big head here.

Jackie, Roman did give you some good advice. Here's an idea I had for this particular image. cropped a touch on right and bw done with the bw adjustment layer. r-92 y-122 g-(-77) c-(-7) b-(-48) m-(-33) as a starting point. Some good light always makes a scene more attractive. =)

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Thanks for working on it Paul. I like what you have done, and never quite knew how to go about working on a BW conversion from scratch. Gives me a good idea and I really like the B and W.

[Robert Amoruso]

Jackie,

I think you did a good job by balancing the tall trees on the left with the mountain on the right BG. I would have suggested moving right to eliminate the bush in the lower left FG.