A study in texture and colour...

[Morkel Erasmus]

This is yet another image from the South African Highlands Meander. There were so many possible compositions here that I was scampering around frantically to try and capture something worthwhile. This was a sunset shot. The valley where we were staying was sunken between many ridges and hills and therefore the sun had already dipped behind one of them, but it was casting some nice light on the clouds.

Please critique the composition here as I know I've got a lot to learn still and I want to be able to get it right in camera and not have to crop as much. This was cropped slightly from the bottom as I had included the one tripod-foot at this wide focal length :o

I had to save at a quality setting of about 55 here due to the masses of detail in the image :)

Techs:
Canon 7D with 10-22mm USM @ 12mm
f11 @ ISO-160
Kenko Pro CPL
Manual blend of 2 exposures

[Hazel Grant]

Nice shot. I know you are working on leading the eye vertically to the distance beyond, but I do think the large rock at the bottom is just a bit heavy. Maybe trim it a bit?

[Hilary Hann]

Morkel, I love the light and the detail in this but you have asked specifically about the comp so I shall talk about that. Although the foremost rock is magnificent it is overpowering the soft, delicate far ground. I would have look for a closer crop on the rock and tried to find an alternative angle to get your stepping stone to the sky. The difficulty is getting the comp when the best light is there so briefly and I know some of our top landscape photographers here will spend a week in one location camping, just getting their comp and then waiting for the right light. One guy I know spent 3 weeks waiting! Not practical for most of us.

In my view I would look for a foreground subject with detail and structure but not so that it dominates. Only my view and for what it's worth I really like the photo but that is the hyper criticism. Whatever you're doing with the landscapes, on the whole they are top notch and lovely to see.

[David Thomasson]

This is an interesting study in exactly what your title says: texture and color. My instant impression was "shadows/highlights filter," and of course you don't want it to be evident if you did use that filter. Did you need to do a lot to open shadow details?

[Bob Miller]

Hi Morkel....i think you did a fine job with composition but if you wanted to consider cropping some from the bottom and just a tad from the top it might be slightly improved....but as is i like it!

[Ed Cordes]

Well. I'll be the odd man out. I like it very much as presented. To my eye the large lower rock is mirroring the rock outcropping in the distance. The huge amount of detail is just super and the light is pretty good - especially with the color of the clouds the way it is. TFS

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Morkel,
Beware of the tripod shadow too.....once the sun is up! I'm fine with the FG rock too....although for me, the image becomes quite busy. I do think toning down most of the brighter whites on the rock will help minimize that....especially in the MG. Right now, for me the tones overall are a bit flat.....selectively dodging or burning (or any other method) to add more depth will help this overall I think.....worth exploring as the expanded tonal range alone will help add impact.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thank you for the varied comments everyone...all points noted...

Roman - where would you dodge and burn here? I have already dodged the highlights and burned the shadows on the rocks to make them stand out more. By tonal range do you mean brights to darks? I always understood that to mean a wide array of colours?

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Morkel,
I'd go into the grasses. Do a quick lasso of them and see if a levels layer.....add more depth there and seperates the rocks more. I sometimes feel that you need to minimize/tone down certain areas wile emphasizing others more......like making a path and leading us through....make sense? If I get a chance.....I'll give it a go in a few.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Here it is.....do realize...sloppy and quick....saved at 52 again to fit! Mostly Dodging and lessining opacity.....throw in a few levels layers where possible and even a few B/C......gave a bit more sepration in the FG don't you think?

[Roman Kurywczak]

Perhaps too bright....but you get the idea!

[Dave Mills]

Hi Morkel, Due to the large amount of rocks it's not the easiest place to put together a comp. I don't feel the foreground rock is so overpowering that it takes away from the rest. It seems like a good choice for the beginning of the steppingstones which take you to the larger rock formation. I like Romans post which seemed to lighten and define the rocks a bit more. Just enough sky with warmth and interest....

[Charissa]

The grass looks a bit un natural in the second post Morkel. Also like the big rock in front, balance the whole comp out for me. Not a natural landscape photographer, so can only say that the top one is better looking IMO. Nice shot by the way.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks a lot for the work done Roman - I get what you're saying, will play around some more

thanks also Dave and Charissa for the feedback