Findley State Park...need opinions please

[Walczak Photo]

Hey Folks,
Now that I've got my new PC, I'm going back and starting to process the past couple months worth of shots that I hadn't really worked on because my old system was so slow.

This shot here I got last month while my wife and I were out camping at Findley State Park. I think it's a decent shot, but it just doesn't seem to have a serious "wow" factor for me and I'm not sure if it's something with the shot itself or if it's just that I've been out to Findley sooooooooooo many times over the years now that it's just "old hat".





The image was shot with my new 40D and my old Tamron 70-300mm...with a CP obviously and I processed it in PS CS3. Feel free to read the EXIT data for any other relevant info.

Technically speaking it seems like a good shot...rule of thirds, interesting foreground element, nice colors, yadda, yadda, yadda. I think it's a "pretty" picture too...at least in my humble opinion and I'm fairly sure that it simply doesn't "just suck"...so what is it about this shot that's really leaving me a little flat? Is it just that it looks like a generic calender or post card shot or something? Lack of balance in the clouds? Am I really just that burned out from shooting at Findley? Any suggestions for improvement?

Comments and opinions are certainly most welcome here!

Peace,
Jim

[aspiringphotos]

It needs a "purpose" for lack of a better word. I think it's a nice shot that would be better if the people in the canoes were closer and had more detail. If there were some emotion in their faces, they look like they're having a lot of fun or relaxing it would give the shot more interest.

Just my tuppence.

[KarlosDaJackal]

Looks like a great place. The sky looks fantastic.

Problem could be too much empty space although you need some of that to show the scale of the place.

The simple plan
Crop it closer to the boat

The complex plan
Move the boat to the left of the image and crop out that line of trees on the right. The background is more varied on the left but it needs the boat in front of it. Also the texture of the water on the left shows up better with the cloud reflections in it. The background on the right closes in and makes the shot feel a little claustrophobic on that side. The result might be more interesting to look at, but it would not be a wide shot anymore.

[chauncey]

Try this for grins:

Flip the image, make the boat face the right, the eye generally travels from the left to the right (same way that we read).

Crop the trees, as Karlos suggested, and get rid of some sky and maybe end up with a 4x3 crop if you keep the water as it is.

[Walczak Photo]

Well, I've been playing around with the crop a bit and I do kind of like this false pano, but it still just doesn't have that wow factor for me.....







I really am starting to think that part of it is really just me and that I am a bit burned out on these shots from Findley. It really is a beautiful park and I love going out there and all but I've just shot this lake sooooo many times now that I think it's starting to loose it's interest for me from a photography view point.

I dunno...I guess I'll play with it a little more later when I have more time and see what I come up with.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions, I'm grateful!

Jim

[chauncey]

You might try shooting at dawn or dusk for better light and not at noon.
Also a longer lens may allow you to be selective in subscenes of interest.

[Walczak Photo]

Originally Posted by chauncey

You might try shooting at dawn or dusk for better light and not at noon.
Also a longer lens may allow you to be selective in subscenes of interest.

hey Chauncey,
I do certainly appreciate your comments here. I have tried some sunsets out at Findley but again most of my results there have left me a little flat as of late. I don't do sunrises...even when we were camping out there, I just couldn't drag my carcass out of the ol' sleeping bag early enough to catch the sunrise! LOL!!! Me and mornings just don't mix well.

As for the longer lens thing and isolating individual scenes, yes...certainly I've done that. Actually he's a shot I got from that same trip...




This was actually taken from in the canoe (with my wife and -3- dogs in the canoe with us!) with my old Sony H1...I will -NOT- take either of my DSLRs out in the canoe! LOL!. Considering this is the first time I've tried to shoot from the canoe and considering this was also shot in the shade and with my cheapy Sony...I can't really complain at all here.

The point of the first shot was to try and...well...I guess capture "the grandeur of the lake" as it were. I also have to admit that, at the time at least, I really liked the effect that I was getting from the afternoon sky with the CP. Perhaps part of the problem here is simply that while Findley is a wonderful state park and certainly has it's beauties, it's simply not comparable to something like Yellowstone for example. In other words, it is what it is.

Anyways, again thanks for the comments!
Peace,
Jim

[chauncey]

Nice shot of a GB, ya musta been close to use the 40mm glass.
I like to wait them out and catch them in flight, they are graceful birds.

[Walczak Photo]

Originally Posted by chauncey

Nice shot of a GB, ya musta been close to use the 40mm glass.
I like to wait them out and catch them in flight, they are graceful birds.

We were fairly close, but probably not as close as you might think. That Sony has a really dinky little sensor and I'm sure that "47.1mm" focal length in the EXIF data doesn't really reflect the crop factor at all. The camera specs list it as a "12X zoom with 36-432mm 35mm equivalent" but if I'm not mistaken, the physical focal length of the lens is only 72mm at the long end. In other words, given the massive crop factor with the small sensor I was probably really shooting around 200mm or so equivalent.

I really would have liked to get a shot of him taking off but...well...by the time he started to move, we were already past him...we didn't hang around too long as the dogs were getting really antsy about that really big bird on the shore! LOL! Basically there was no way for me to turn around to capture it without capsizing the canoe.

I do agree that they are incredible birds however and I'm quite happy to have gotten this shot that I did. I've gotten some much nicer (and closer) shots of herons up at Lake Erie this last summer including some really nice in flight shots, but...I dunno...this one was just kind of special to me. Nice little memento of the camping trip I guess . One of these days I'm going to head back out there and rent a flat bottom boat and then I'll be able to take a little more time "chasing the herons" and the boat will be a little more stable than our canoe as well.

Peace,
Jim