High Cup Nick, Cumbria

[hollerz]

Had a walk to High Cup Nick today, a huge U-Shaped valley in the North Pennines, England. These are the first landscape shots I've took that I've been pretty happy with, so looking to you guys to bring me down and tell me whats wrong with them! :)

http://www.leeholliday.co.uk/IMG_2021.jpg

http://www.leeholliday.co.uk/IMG_2039.jpg

http://www.leeholliday.co.uk/IMG_2055.jpg

http://www.leeholliday.co.uk/IMG_2060.jpg

[Dimitri_V]

Hmmm,to start with,the place looks stunning.
I`ll comment on the 1st picture.
It looks to me a bit flat with no good colouration and clarity,although your comp.is pretty good.
As you have image editing OK , thats how i think your image would look its best,thats only MHO of cours.

[hollerz]

Thanks! Exactly what I was looking for, and after comparing, mine definitely looks flat against yours. What did you do to it?

Anything I could of done differently in camera (apart from composition, which I'm sure could be better)? (EXIF is still intact)

Sorry for all the questions!

[Lesmac]

I like the 4th one, particularly how the stream leads you through the image, like Dimitri, it needs a bit of tweaking.

[Lesmac]

My apologies, I realised I suggested Dimitri needs tweaking, he's fine as he is :)

[hollerz]

Cheers, def looks better aswell!

Another question if you don't mind ;) The sky was really white, and was blowing out when I used what the camera thought was the right exposure, I don't have any ND filters yet, so I just underexposed a bit untill the sky stopped blinking and then brightened the ground up a bit in Photoshop (obviously not well enough though ;)). Was this the right thing to do or should I have done something differently?

[Lesmac]

Cheers, def looks better aswell!

Another question if you don't mind ;) The sky was really white, and was blowing out when I used what the camera thought was the right exposure, I don't have any ND filters yet, so I just underexposed a bit untill the sky stopped blinking and then brightened the ground up a bit in Photoshop (obviously not well enough though ;)). Was this the right thing to do or should I have done something differently?
Yes, as long as the exposure difference between land and sky is not too extreme, then you can pull back midtone/shadow detail after exposing for the sky.
Alternatively you can take two similar shots (expose for sky in one, expose for land in other) and blend in PS.

The best option is to invest in a set of grads.

[Dimitri_V]

My apologies, I realised I suggested Dimitri needs tweaking, he's fine as he is :)

Thank god for that Les,you got me worried there for a minute.:lol::lol::lol:

[Dimitri_V]

Thanks! Exactly what I was looking for, and after comparing, mine definitely looks flat against yours. What did you do to it?
I increased the contrast in levels to bring out he colours and use a bit of local sharpenning.
After resizing for web,all images lose quality,you need to use some USM to get it up to scratch again.
Anything I could of done differently in camera (apart from composition, which I'm sure could be better)? (EXIF is still intact)
As Les suggested...if you serious about photography,invest in a good tripod and nd grad filters.
Sorry for all the questions!
Not to worry,thats what we are here for,to help each other.;)