In an English Country Garden

[Mr-Merlin]

Hi Everyone,

This photo was taken with a Canon G3, this evening. I'm new to photography as an art from, but have been reading the forums for a couple of weeks now.
No post-processing has been done.
Please let me know what you think of it

http://mulder.dreamcity.org.uk/~simon/photolinks/countryhouse.jpg

All comments are welcome
Thanks,
Simon ;)

[Leighow]

SIMON

I love your English country gardens -- and I explored many in Susex and Kent last month.

This feels very English, but I do miss the color of the flowers. Are we at a 'Trust" site?

Otherwise, well done. You have a great camera.

HOWIE

[eland]

I totally agree with Howie.
"In an English Country Garden" I expect and hope to see Colour !
Alas, only sepia tone.
It's the colour and the softness that make the English gardens
so charming.

A couple of other points to watch.
Your camera was not horizontal when you took the shot.
When one tilts buildings and verticals it must be intentional for effect.
Here I cannot see any advantage gained from the tilt.

When you are more comfortable with a little post processing, on a picture like this with an almost white sky,
it helps a lot to put a thin black or here, brown line around the image.

It will "hold in" the whites at the top of your image.
On the buff coloured background of this site it is hard to see
where your picture ends. A thin line would solve that.
Also, the sky does not help your picture.
If you crop it to just above the roof, the viewer's eyes
rest more easily on the garden and house.
Try it by scrolling up till the sky disappears.

Regards and welcome. Have a happy stay
eland

[Laziferous]

Very nice. Beautiful image.

I would make a selection around everything excluding the sky... then bump the contrast a bit. Then maybe choose inverse, and tone down the brightness of the sky.

[Mr-Merlin]

Thanks for all your comments.

Howie, no it's not a trust site. It's actually in a park, opposite to where I live, here in England.

I specifically chose not to take the photo in colour for two reasons. Firstly, I was wanting the old-fashioned look, thus the use of sepia and secondly, the photo was taken at 9p.m. during low light levels and the flowers didn't look all that good.

In hindsight, I guess I should have just taken in colour and then used post-processing for the exact look that I wanted. When I get the chance to re-take the photo, I'll post the colour one for you to see.

I aimed to take the photo with a straight horizon, though the camera was held in an awkward position over the flowerbed and I was doing my best not to stand on it.

eland, many thanks for your constructive advise, though I'm not too sure about cutting out the sky completely. I think the sky assists in balancing out the flower bed. What do other people think?

Anyhow, a friend of mine has assisted me with some post-processing and I think it's big improvement. What do you all think to this?: -

http://mulder.dreamcity.org.uk/~simon/photolinks/countryhouse_double.jpg