Why do I suck at landscapes?

[Booshanky]

I dont know why, but i'm never happy with landscape type pictures that I take. And i've tried hard.

Here's a picture of a light down the coast from where i live. Sorry it's larger than is usually acceptable for this site.

http://www.markmatich.com/images/coast/IMG_0804lighthouse.jpg

I just wasnt thrilled with it. Not only because there isnt really a very good subject to it, but even technically it doesnt "pop" for me.

I thought maybe it was the light, so i went back and took pics yesterday during sunset. This is the best i could come up with, and this was with a considerable ammount of photoshop.

http://pics.markmatich.com/random/IMG_4931worked.jpg

What could i do? Are there filters that can help me out in sunlight? tips? Tricks? I just feel so much better when i'm working with really diffused sunlight or completely artificial light. But direct sunlight just kills me.

[sugar_babygirli]

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:


DUDE!! Those *SO* do not suck! Gosh I'd be thrilled to take a photo that great of a landscape! (not really my thing). Uh...I honestly don't have any tips because I'm very new to this myself, but just wanted to say not to be so harsh on yourself. Those photos are impressive! (to me anyway)

[skatesnow686]

i live in pv...i think thats a nice shot

[slin100]

Those definitely do not suck. Keep your eye on the horizon; it is tilted in both shots.

You could, perhaps, play with the images a bit in Photoshop. The first one could use a contrast boost. A little extra saturation could also add some more pop. The tree poking on the left side should probably be cropped out.

If I may, also, recommend a book, I've found the book, The Fundamentals of Drawing Landscapes, very insightful. As the title belies, it's a book about drawing, but it really covers the basics of constructing a landscape. At less than $7, you can't go wrong with it. I think we photographers could learn quite a bit from the various art-technique books.

[RockOne]

They look good to me. Only thing is the horizon is dipping to the left slightly - a very common occurence in my landscapes too :-) !

[Chazs]

Those are great shots. As others said, a little straightening, and contrast for "pop" an it's superb. Here's a feable attempt on my part. Hope you don't mind.

[ssim]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I like the shots that you posted. Sure it would have been nice if the hills in the background had been more visible.

I think that you are being a little overly tough on yourself. I don't care who you are, we always can see something in our shots that we would like to improve. The good thing about digital is that we are able to tackle alot of this in post processing.

Shoot alot and have fun. Your shots are a far cry from where you think they are.

[jfrancho]

I think if straighten out the horizon, your good. But if you aren't feeling it, try something with Shadow/Highlight... dialog on the first pic. Maybe if you brought out the detail of the cliff shadow area, you'd get some pop from the grass and the water. Otherwise, keep pushing and keep shooting. These are nice pics.

[mdm]

I like no. 2

[HJMinard]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I like the shots that you posted. Sure it would have been nice if the hills in the background had been more visible.

Proving your point, Sheldon ... I very much like the way the background hills are sort of shrouded in mist.

These are very good shots. What would make them great? I dunno ... warmer light, perhaps (even your sunset shot lacks warmth ... at least on my laptop screen). Try playing with white balance settings ... using cloudy or shade can add warmth.

Something else I would try to do is find an interesting foreground element like rocks, flowers, etc.

[VegasGeorge]

Mine tend to look better when I increase contrast a little, increase saturation a little. Often, I selectively increase saturation, for instance greens and blues in your lighthouse shot. Try using a polarizing filter for deeper colors and contrast in the "negative." I think you're struggling with a subjective problem more than anything else. Your shots look good to me, you just need to tweak them till they look good to you too!

PS: You need to decide on the subject of each shot. Your first shot seems to be of the cliff side, because it predominates in the photograph. That's certainly OK, if that was what you were after. Maybe you're dissatisfied because what you were really after was a shot of the lighthouse? Your second shot seems to fill that bill.

[Booshanky]

i live in pv...i think thats a nice shot

So you know the lighthouse i'm talking about right?

I'm wondering if maybe it's all the pollution that's getting in the way. I think i'm gonna try and get a picture of it when there's a SUPER clear day out. After it rains or something.

[rdenney]

Lighthouses are a tough subject, because they are so often over-dramatized on calendars and postcards.

I've been making pictures of landscapes for 30 years, and I'm getting to the point where I don't always have to depend on luck. I'm learning that the key to a powerful landscape is to simplify, simplify, simplify. What is it about the scene that speak to you? If it doesn't speak to you, then move on. There are lots of scenes with plenty of scenery value, but that won't make good photos because there is no compelling theme. If it does move you, then why? Is it the loneliness of the place? The sense of isolation? The other-worldliness of it? The sheer drama of the setting? The silence? The noise? Those are the things you have to figure out, and only then can craft take over.

The craft is in manipulating composition, exposure, and printing to isolate that powerful element from those elements that will distract from that power. That usually means cropping tighter, or going for compositions that just have less stuff in them, in addition to managing the light (either in the camera or later) to emphasis those important elements.

Your first image is a case in point. It's an excellent image from a technical point of view, and I think would look good in any calendar. But I don't really feel what you might have felt at the time. The second image is much better in that regard, despite that technically you had to push it too hard in Photoshop. I get a sense of the lighthouse as lonely sentry. But the profusion of plants and their tropical complexity competed for my attention.

Here is one of my own feeble lighthouse attempts.

http://www.rickdenney.com/images/1007-lighthouse-and-clouds-.jpg

Even though I used a 14mm lens (on a 10D), I still positioned myself to exclude scenery stuff that distracted from what seemed to me the isolation of the place. Did I succeed? I don't think I can say for sure. I have two other pictures of lighthouses on my web page, but frankly I like both of yours better.

Rick "trying to understand the awe of a magnificent scene without being clouded by it" Denney

[mbze430]

Taking landscape pictures that really pops will require you to get dramatic lighting. Usually you want to shoot during the "golden hours". 1st scene lacks is the seperation of the ocean and the sky. Yes you can tell which is what, but the blue are also close to each other. The 2nd one it looks like it might still have 1.5-2 hours before the actual sunset.

The first looks like it might be either around 11am or later 1-2pm.

During this time of the year, there is another 30mins after the sun actually set in to the horizon that still have sun light, but you gotta work fast within these 30mins because it changes soooo fast.

Color filters will give more dramatic lighting.

Than the composition. What are you trying to say to your audience. Trying to capture a message within your photo is more compelling.

[sixshot]

I'd be pleased if I'd taken these. Especially after a little work in PS.

[PhotosGuy]

I like #2. In #1, I'd have waited 'till the boat reached the right 1/3rd of the frame. These aren't bad. I tend to want to shoot that kind of stuff in the early AM or late PM for less contrast & "golden" light.

[2goldens]

I think those photographs are fine. We all are very critical of our own photography. When I take pictures and look at them I think to myself, I only like one picture out of 200 what the H_ _ _ was I thinking when I took those shots.

Then my wife or another person looks at them and they tell me they love the pictures It about knocks me to the floor. I wonder if they know what they are looking at.

What is most important is that you like it.

[VegasGeorge]

Hey rdenny, that's a great shot of a lighthouse! You posted a perfect example of what I meant when I said " PS: You need to decide on the subject of each shot." Everything in your photo points to the lighthouse, my eye is drawn right to it. There is no escaping the fact that the lighthouse is the subject of your photograph. Fabulous work!

[Jraun]

I'm in awe - I my coments unworthy - Thanks

[CyberDyneSystems]

I think I would have taken the first picture exactly the same way that you did Boo..

I've only attacked one lighthouse,. took about 3 billion shots,. and this is one of two I ever got around to running through photoshop and uploading...

Notice how despite different lenses,. different perspectives/distances,. I framed it very similar to yours? (sort of mirror image)

http://images.fotopic.net/?iid=ysibg6&outx=800&quality=70&original=1&noresize=1&nostamp=1

I'm not too happy with mine either,. in fact I wish I had gotten closer and used a wider lens to get more detail... more like yours. I merely had some nice atmosphere,. this is the only saving grace IMHO.

What the hell was I doing leaving all that forground crap at the bottom in there?
My tendency is to go too wide I guess,. just like Rick cautions against.

Looking at it now,. it looks like I should have jogged about 100 feet to my right,. and move forward a lot... Oh well.

[intechpcx]

One thing I've found is that I generally never like my pictures as much as someone else. With the time I spend post processing in Photoshop, I end up looking at it so much that it doesn't wow me. However, once I post it on Flickr or somewhere else I hear all sorts of compliments. That's why the critique board here is so cool.

As far as your shots, they don't suck at all. I like the first one best, the only critique I would have is that the frame is almost too tight. If there were more of the horizon to the right and more land to the left I think it would be ideal (thinking of the rule of thirds here), however what you've got is spectacular in it's own right.

[Titus213]

I dont know why, but i'm never happy with landscape type pictures that I take. And i've tried hard.

What could i do? Are there filters that can help me out in sunlight? tips? Tricks? I just feel so much better when i'm working with really diffused sunlight or completely artificial light. But direct sunlight just kills me.

I would say your landscapes here are a long way from sucking. Nice stuff that just needs a little more contrast maybe.

I use a polarizer on this type of shot (and my landscapes really suck). But the polarizer helps a lot under the right conditions - angle relative to the sun, etc. And I like lots of contrast in my images.

[rdenney]

I'm not too happy with mine either,. in fact I wish I had gotten closer and used a wider lens to get more detail... more like yours. I merely had some nice atmosphere,. this is the only saving grace IMHO.


CDS, there's nothing wrong with the atmosphere, and I think the position was fine. I might have zoomed in a bit. But if the foreground offends you, cut it off!

Clarity of purpose is far more important than clarity of focus. What distracts me is that there is stuff in your shot that competes with that atmosphere, including the bright sky above the wall cloud and the foreground. Both these make the lighthouse fade into the shot, so that one isn't sure it's a picture of a lighthouse.

I took the liberty of fiddling a bit with your photo. All I did was crop off the unnecessary foreground and burn in the bright sky to bring it down. If I'd had the original, I'd have dodged the lighthouse a bit to make it pop more, but that's all. Of course, it may not look better to you, heh, heh.

We photographers confuse optical clarity with subject clarity. I'm the worst of the lot, but I'm trying to reform.

Rick "who finds clarity the hardest thing to achieve" Denney

[rdenney]

Hey rdenny, that's a great shot of a lighthouse! You posted a perfect example of what I meant when I said " PS: You need to decide on the subject of each shot." Everything in your photo points to the lighthouse, my eye is drawn right to it. There is no escaping the fact that the lighthouse is the subject of your photograph. Fabulous work!

[Blush}

Thanks. I love wide angles, but I tend to put too much into them. I'm preaching mostly to myself here.

Rick "who thinks subject isolation starts with subject identification and understanding" Denney

[azkul]

One think I find is that if I start feeling like my pictures suck, I look at others to get new ideas. For landscapes, you could try looking through this gallery:

http://www.thelensflare.com/photolandscape.php

[Onwuma]

Personally, i think those are very good. If you aren't satisfied, maybe some modifications to saturation and contrast. Play around in Photoshop or Paint shop pro.

[Croasdail]

Try using a polarizing filter next too to control missbehaving light conditions. It will be help with the haze and get your sky to pop.

[KnobCreek]

Booshanky, that picture did not suck at all, but I really just wanted to thank you for posting it; I use to live in one of the 3 houses next to that lighthouse in RPV. My dad was in the Coast Guard and we lived in the Admirals quarters while stationed there. Now we live in Ohio and miss the West Coast.

[Andy_T]

I think that all the landscapes posted in this thread look great :D

My favourite is Rdenney's CDS crop ... very moody. But then, you can't always wait for the fog to set in :wink:

I also like Steven's recommendation of a book on landscape drawing.
Here's a website to that effect : http://www.currys.com/knowledge/landscape.asp

Best regards,
Andy

[mkh]

I think they look pretty good.

I would crop the tree branch out of the first one and straigten the horizon in both as others have suggeted. I would also run them (especially the second one) through a noise filter as they look a little noisy to me.

[d'homme]

I think those are GREAT pics...

[sf_1857]

What I like about the first one is strong backlighting. It highlights the lighthouse and grass, dimishes the dirt on the cliff and gives separation between the cliff and water.

Other than the few tweaks already mentioned, I really like it.