Getting landscapes to the next level

I'm looking for advice, comment, suggestions, opinions, and any other things I may not have listed that can help my landscape photographs get to "the next level." I've currently got some landscapes that I think are good, I've got a few that a friend insisted on purchasing for his wall, and I've got several that lots of people "like" on Facebook (take that with a grain of salt).

I'm having trouble describing what I want out of my landscapes. I guess I'm looking for the "pop" and wow factor, along with the crispness and perfect color with just the right amount of highlights and shadows. When I peruse the photo sharing section of POTN I see a definite difference between my photos and the photos of some members. One user that comes to mind (mainly because of his Vader avatar) is jdizzle; but he isn't the only one.

I'll go ahead and post a few of what I think are my best from Flickr just so you can see what have. I'm looking for all kinds advice that can help me improve. Do I need more filters, if so what. Do I need to change up some camera settings? Am I reaching the limits of my kit lens? Have I missed focus slightly or am I getting diffraction with my lens? Am I missing something with my post processing (I have Lightroom 3.5)? Anything at all.

I do have a good tripod, a remote trigger and a HiTech 3-stop ND with a Cokin P holder. I routinely use live view 10x to focus.

One thing to note: I'm not on a calibrated monitor, so my colors may look a little funky to you.

This is one of my favorites. Its got a little too much pink on my monitor, but I have it as a 16x24 on metallic paper on my wall and its awesome.

ISO 100 18mm f/22 1.0 sec

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/61875474@N06/6​233409076/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/61875474@N06/6​233461344/

I'm actually in about the same position as you, I know exactly what you mean when you talk about the pop and "wow" factor, I'm sure I've seen the same images you have. I don't really see anything wrong with the colours in your photos per se, but do you do any sharpening? Also, composition seems a bit off in both shots. Final point, don't use f22, diffraction sets in, and on crop, there really isn't much point in using such a small aperture as you don't need it to get the DOF you want. Other than that, I can't really help much, but I will be following this thread

I like the 2nd one the most.

Keep your photo simple, add some LIVE person into a landscape shoot will be more memorable IMHO.

Happy shooting...

Sirrith wrote in post #13233462
I'm actually in about the same position as you, I know exactly what you mean when you talk about the pop and "wow" factor, I'm sure I've seen the same images you have. I don't really see anything wrong with the colours in your photos per se, but do you do any sharpening? Also, composition seems a bit off in both shots. Final point, don't use f22, diffraction sets in, and on crop, there really isn't much point in using such a small aperture as you don't need it to get the DOF you want. Other than that, I can't really help much, but I will be following this thread

I just wanna share my 2 cents worth...I am far from good and my composition is anything but good as well but what I noticed immediately was the lack of sharpness on both photos specially the first one. so I think you should first determine how to get em sharp with your tripod and filters and camera then go from there.

as for colors...I should not comment on it, I am known to saturate things just look at my title

This question probably has an obvious answer, but all the "rules" of sharpening say a bird apply to a landscape? All I've been doing is bumping the clarity slider in Lightroom.

And instead of using such a small aperture, where should I have it set at? F/8-11? Smaller? Larger?

imsellingmyfoot wrote in post #13234156
This question probably has an obvious answer, but all the "rules" of sharpening say a bird apply to a landscape? All I've been doing is bumping the clarity slider in Lightroom.

And instead of using such a small aperture, where should I have it set at? F/8-11? Smaller? Larger?

as for aperture, I use anything from f/8-f16.

if you have lightroom... instead of using Clarity... on the lower portion, you can see the Sharpening sliders

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monk3y wrote in post #13234196
as for aperture, I use anything from f/8-f16.

if you have lightroom... instead of using Clarity... on the lower portion, you can see the Sharpening sliders

Thanks. I'm familiar with lightroom, I just never thought to use the sharpening sliders on landscapes for some reason.

I personally do my sharpening "manually" in photoshop. I use an edge sharpening technique, followed by some USM if needed.

Sirrith wrote in post #13234515
I personally do my sharpening "manually" in photoshop. I use an edge sharpening technique, followed by some USM if needed.

I saw the awesome benefits of sharpening in photoshop (elements) verses just sharpening in Lightroom when I had the trial and I was going through my hummingbird phase.

So far the biggest recommendation has been to learn how to sharpen properly.

x_tan wrote in post #13233474
I like the 2nd one the most. ...

I agree. If his colors are funky, then I like funky! Nice work.

Sirrith wrote in post #13234515
I personally do my sharpening "manually" in photoshop. I use an edge sharpening technique, followed by some USM if needed.

imsellingmyfoot wrote in post #13237326
I saw the awesome benefits of sharpening in photoshop (elements) verses just sharpening in Lightroom when I had the trial and I was going through my hummingbird phase.

So far the biggest recommendation has been to learn how to sharpen properly.

if that's the case I need to learn it too

monk3y wrote in post #13237427
if that's the case I need to learn it too

I think that Julian recommend Zeiss rather than photoshop

x_tan wrote in post #13237674
I think that Julian recommend Zeiss rather than photoshop

Yeah I can dream. College student making ~$200 a month. Not going to happen.

imsellingmyfoot wrote in post #13237704
Yeah I can dream. College student making ~$200 a month. Not going to happen.

Your 70-200L is more than capable lens - just use tripod, set ISO to 100, and f/8 - f/16 as Steve said, and you'll be fine

LR3, DPP & CS5 can do some degrees of sharpen; but step down is more important to get it right in the 1st place.

x_tan wrote in post #13237674
I think that Julian recommend Zeiss rather than photoshop

hahahaha yeah and I am not falling for it

x_tan wrote in post #13237787
Your 70-200L is more than capable lens - just use tripod, set ISO to 100, and f/8 - f/16 as Steve said, and you'll be fine

LR3, DPP & CS5 can do some degrees of sharpen; but step down is more important to get it right in the 1st place.

+100