Glencoe Lone House Landscape

[mpaul73]

Let me know what you think :)

thanks,
Martin.


http://www.imgmag.org/images/mpaul73/Glencoe.jpg

[RbnDave]

Nice colors and compostion. I like the purple flowers in the forground.

The house seems to be overexposed. Also, no part of the photo is in sharp focus. Maybe you could fix this with some sharpening.

[Mark Kemp]

Yep I think rbndave has just about covered it - tiny bit overexposed and in need of a little sharpening.

Very nice shot though, nice composition, good sky and good colours.

[Conk]

On contrary to past comment I believe this image has been over sharpend to try and alleviate a poorly focused photo.
The lines are evident between the landscape and the sky that there has been editing done.

[ryuwulf]

Looks good, but again i agree there seems an aspect of it that is overdone.

either way still looks nice

[phidong]

It looks much too busy without any real focus. For some reason the whole picture looks bit out of focus to me. Maybe you need to sharpen some of it up? Little bit over exposed. The whole picture looks good though.. maybe you can take it again with less flowers perhaps..

[eland]

Hello Martin
You certainly live in a lovely part of the world.

I think your image is very very good indeed.

Having read the comments here and elsewhere, as a professional photographer
I find them frustrating and though well meant, even irritating.

There seems to be far too much concern about sharpness and not enough about CONTENT, LIGHT & COMPOSITION.

We all know that photos can be sharpened to a degree but sharpness is not the be all and end all.

Rembrandt's paintings are not sharp.
Van Goch's paintings are not sharp.
Neither are those of Monet or Seurat or Reubens.

In fact the works of Seurat on this or other forums would be howled down
as being FULL OF NOISE.
They are made up of Dots !
But try to buy one for under a million dollars.

Because of this most works of art need to be viewed from a distance
of some feet or even yards, before the effect becomes apparent.

On your image Martin the exposure is fine.

A white cottage at that distance in soft light is going to
be white with no detail. That is what you have.
How would changing the exposure change that ??
It could only turn it into a Gray Cottage.

Painting this composition, a Water-colorist actually would leave the cottage UNPAINTED.
To show the bright white cottage the water-colour painter
would use the white paper underneath to show brightness. No detaill at all. Just like the cottage walls in your composition.

On your composition I have only one reservation, and it has not been mentioned at all.
The path or track cuts your composition in half, IMO.
There are two ways out of this.

1) Cut the image off above the track, making the photograph into a horizontal composition or
2) Fill in the ungrassed area using your Clone Tool.

I would urge people making critiques to go beyond the very basic beginners' comments of
Not Sharp, Wrong Exposure, and Too Much Noise, oversharpened.

Ask youself ......
* Is the Composition pleasing ?
* Is the Light right for this type of image ?
* Is there something in the composition that is spoiling the effect ?
ie. Is there some obvious defect in the composition ?
eg the sandy strip in this picture.

And a final comment.
Make your Critiques CONSTRUCTIVE.
Say something encouraging and helpful

If you can't do that, then rather pass and say nothing.

Saying "This photo does nothing for me " is not helpful at all and is hurtful.
Rather tell the photographer what, in your opinion, would improve the photograph.

Saying "Quite Nice" is not helpful either. In fact it's insulting. Rather say what would make it a better photograph.

People put their pictures on this forum mainly to LEARN.
( There are a few exceptions. )
Make your comments worthy of their trust in you, so that they come away saying

" This is a great forum.
The folks are helpful and considerate.
I'm learning so much here. "

eland

[Conk]

In light of reading Elands last post I think it only appropriate that I add that the above photo is very beautiful despite the points I have mentioned. In no way did I intend to come across as being hurtful or insensitive.
Sincerely.