Tierra del Fuego Steps

[Norm Dulak]

Nikon D7000 w/Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 48mm, hand heldISO 800; f/8, 1/13 sec., MM +0.33PP: PS CS5 levels, curves, saturation boost, sharpen

This image was captured on a gloomy day at Tierra del Fuego National Park, at the southern tip of Argentina. Because of the poor light, reasonable shutter speed was not possible. Still, I find these steps winding through the woods fascinating.

Norm

[Robert Amoruso]

Norm,

The stairs can act as a good leading line and you are on the right track here to build the composition around them. I few things here could have been done to improved the comp. I find the FG portion of the stairs to be terminated in a less than favorable way. Perhaps more room on the bottom is needed, or a move left or right to better position the bottom of the stairs in such a way it invites the viewer to climb then. As presented I find the railing acting as an impasse to doing that.

Lack of a tripod and low light did not allow an aperture low enough to have near to far sharpness. Having the FG of the stairs and the large overhanging branch OOF hurts the impact of the image.

Image also looks over exposed (detailess railing in the FG). The overall look of the image can be improved using a highlight selection using the channels pallet, on background copy creating a mask from the selection and then setting blending mode to multiply and opacity to taste.

[Norm Dulak]

Norm,

The stairs can act as a good leading line and you are on the right track here to build the composition around them. I few things here could have been done to improved the comp. I find the FG portion of the stairs to be terminated in a less than favorable way. Perhaps more room on the bottom is needed, or a move left or right to better position the bottom of the stairs in such a way it invites the viewer to climb then. As presented I find the railing acting as an impasse to doing that.

Lack of a tripod and low light did not allow an aperture low enough to have near to far sharpness. Having the FG of the stairs and the large overhanging branch OOF hurts the impact of the image.

Image also looks over exposed (detailess railing in the FG). The overall look of the image can be improved using a highlight selection using the channels pallet, on background copy creating a mask from the selection and then setting blending mode to multiply and opacity to taste.

Good comments Robert, all much appreciated. :S3: