Natural Amphitheater - did I get it right?

[Sailor Don]

On a Labor Day vacation in New Mexico and Colorado, I shot this "postcard" photo of the Natural Amphitheater. Any comments, critique, ideas for improvement?

http://users3.ev1.net/~sailord/Ampitheatre1.jpg

Camera Model Name.........Canon PowerShot Pro1
Shooting Date/Time...........9/1/2004 9:20:44 AM
Shooting Mode...................Program AE
Photo Effect Mode..............Vivid
Tv( Shutter Speed )...........1/800
Av( Aperture Value )..........4.0
Metering Mode...................Center-weighted averaging
Exposure Compensation.....0
ISO Speed........................50
Lens.................................7.2 - 50.8mm
Focal Length......................7.2mm
Digital Zoom.....................None
Image Size.......................3264x2448
Image Quality...................Fine
Flash................................Off
White Balance...................Auto
AF Mode...........................Single AF
Color Space......................sRGB
File Size............................3037KB
Drive Mode.......................Single-frame shooting
Owner's Name...................Sailor Don

[rickc]

Nicely done. I can see this on the cover of a travel brochure or magazine perhaps.
rich..

[Leighow]

DON

It is a nice image... I am amazed at the light for almost 10 am. The sky is SOOOoo blue. The road and on the ground shooting angle hurts a bit ( re perspective) and I thought that you guys always got up early to try to take a sunrise (re sky and color patterns).

How hard was this shot to take Don ?

Anyway, here is a great conrtibutor to the Luminous Landscape who would like to see a Texan on his next workshop. Leave the guns at home (I assume).

http://beautiful-landscape.com/index.html

[Sailor Don]

Howie,

Thanks for the input.

The paved footpath that occupies the center foreground of the picture is a permanent part of the roadside park. I scoped out serveral other shooting angles, but some part of the footpath or picnic areas would always interfere. This is a candidate for PhotoShop editing.

It would have been great to have a higher vantage point, but everything slopes down from the amphitheater.

The shot wasn't hard to take. It was the best from a series of 20. I tried panoramic stitching on some photos, but it didn't work for this particular subject.

The time signature in the EXIF file is misleading in that I don't usually reset my camera time when I travel through time zones. That was 9:20 am Texas time or 8:20 am New Mexico (where the picture was taken) time.

[Leighow]

Well Don it seems to me then that you have a great "photocard" !
However, the light and landscape -- while fine -- do not create an exceptional mood that (in terms of "Luminous Landscape" definitions) would drive it up to a higher level.

That is my critique.

[Sailor Don]

Howie,

Any suggestions as to how to achieve the "higher level" that would create an exceptional mood?

Exposure?
Focus?
Color contrast?
Framing?
Etc.

I'm just an amateur photographer looking for free advice. :)

[imanewbie]

Howdy, Sailor :)

I also own a Pro1. It's a recent purchase, and I'm just getting used to it. I noticed you had it on 'vivid' for this shot (and also your blue flower macro on another thread). In your opinion, when is 'vivid' a good choice? Is that why the sky looks so blue?

thanks

[GenEOS]

The reds/greens and yellow are nice, but in my opinion the blue is too suturated. It is on the fringe of haloing. I am guessing this was shot in jpeg and not RAW. i.e "vivid mode".

Nice shot. It would make a nice post card. I would try to smooth out the blue.

[edsarkiss]

good exposure, focus, etc. but it's boring, if i may be so blunt.

you mentioned that you tried a bunch of angles and such, so maybe this is as good as you can get given park rules, equipment, time, etc.

personally, a more interesting shot for me would be taken closer to the rocks, with a much wider lens, at a time of day with more interesting light/shadows/sky. i think that would get you the drama that would push this to the next level.

maybe next vacation!!! ;-) keep it up!

[Radtech1]

I really like the shot, but I would crop it into an almost panoramic format, cropping out the lion's share of the foreground. The reason for this is that seem to be the only "honest" way of getting rid of the ugly red tool shed (if that is what that is). I suppose that you could clone it out, but the purists might call that too much PSing.

Other than that, I wonder how a bit of warming filter would do with this. I think that the "Exceptional Mood" that Leighow was talking about might be found if this vista were lit by either the sunrise or sunset (depending on N/S orientation). Perhaps a warming filter could help to bring that out.

Speaking of Leighow (or to Leighow, more accurately), Welcome Back. You just missed us that much? :) You decided we had be punished enough by your absence? :( Or you simply forgot that you had abandoned your membership? :confused: Either way, good to have you back on board. :D Perhaps the new fractionated forum set up will help you avoid posts with objectionable content.

Rad

[skifly]

Is this the same amphitheater in this pic? (I think it is)

http://www.txstate.edu/~wh1012/nm.jpg

I took this with my mom's Sony point and shoot last year, from inside the car, while going 70mph. I really wish I could have stopped and gotten out and explored that area as its really beautiful.