Have I improved?

Hello everyone. I have been working with a mentorship group on Google Plus. We are now on week 8 of a 12 week landscape course. This is my best shot so far I think. Any suggestions on what I can further improve on? This is noisier than usual since I upped the ISO so I wouldn't have so much motion blur in the Fox Tails and grass.

No !
The scene / subject improved and that is the secret to improved photo.

I like it a lot! Tell me more about your group, sounds great!

This seems like it should be a nice shot....but things are cut off when they could be the focus point..so ,to me,the feel of the image is "off".

Meaning...the edge of the trail is cut off...so even though my eye wants to follow it...it's cut off, so I feel like I'm starting on a broken path.
The lake is cut off too, so I follow the path to only part of the lake..I feel like I'm missing the lake.
The cloud is cropped so I don't see the whole effect of that either..and again..feel that I'm missing something.
So I then see the fence posts....the dark one in front must be the main subject?..as that seems to be the "point of interest".
However...the fence really isn't "all that" so I find myself looking over it trying to find a better subject....nope...not finding one.
The fence line leads me to the cloud burst that is cut off at the top...but like I said above..the cloud is cut off so I feel that must not be the point of interest either.

I hope I'm making some sense with what I'm saying.
the image is good..but it can be better.
You have things that can line up well and compose well at the right angle. They just aren't lined up very well in this shot.

Colors and lighting are great, composition is good, but as picturepages indicates, there is still room for improvement there. Sometimes elements just aren't in the right places at the right times so you've got to work with what you're given and for the most part it works quite well. I am very much looking forward to spending some time in Montana in mid-September and hope to get shots even near this breathtaking.

This going to sound harsh....if you can't tell you have improved from shot to shot....sell your camera...learn to self critique and you wont have to ask...you will know whats wrong...ask yourself every picture you look at... is it level,in focus, interesting, hows the cropping, is there aspects that need to go.. too dark, too light would I hang it on the wall....

yes you could have picked a better angle....yes you can take out the water tower in the background...

I agree with everything that picturepages said, except the part about the cloud being cut off. That cloud is obviously monstrous and would be hard to get the whole thing in without losing something else. Also, since it is so massive and dark and gloomy, it almost makes more sense to leave part of it out of the frame. Not everything as a whole always has to be in the frame in any given shot. I agree with the fence, lake, and road...but the cloud to me is a little different. For all we know, that same cloud could have gone for a mile overhead/behind the photographer.

A good example of why the cloud is okay is in one of my shots.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/57465123@N08/9​306638644/

ohh I wasn't meaning to get it all (lake, clouds, road, fence) in one shot I was meaning to pick one for a subject....I would guess the cloud has a brim thats not to much farther up...it may of led into other clouds but at least the main one could of been captured....but only if that is to be the main subject.

The cloud could of been a subject...but it's cut off.
The lake could of been..but it's cut off too.
the road could of been..but it's cut off too...

LoneStarlady ..may I ask where this was taken? I was wondering if it's anywhere around the Ninepipes area?

Personally I love it. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I like the picture but I tend to agree with the issues raised by picturepages.
If more of the path was visible, it would also create more space for the rain cloud to move into. As it is, its too central for my liking. Not a major issue, but nonetheless something that would lift it.

I think it's a good photo.. Perhaps moving forward a bit and adjusting your position would have helped with the composition. I hope you don't mind, but I did a little edit for a different perspective..

Not enough time this morning to reply to all the great feedback but I have read each one. Thanks so much for taking the time and I will keep all this in mind for my next trip out that way.

Agree with picturepages on her comments, but I did not like the way it was composed in the photo with the rain cloud being centered. I like the way AP has it composed but there is too much contrast and saturation IMHO in the edited photo. I hate things that are always in the center, they lack interest. I understand many of us are advanced and others are starting out, don't be afraid to ask for CC since that is how you learn. I think it is a wonderful thing to ask, to help yourself get better, and yes in the future you will be able to look at a photo and know what you did wrong or how to improve it, but until that point I would keep asking. Overall this was not a bad shot so keep up the good work.

picturepages wrote in post #16140318
This seems like it should be a nice shot....but things are cut off when they could be the focus point..so ,to me,the feel of the image is "off".

Meaning...the edge of the trail is cut off...so even though my eye wants to follow it...it's cut off, so I feel like I'm starting on a broken path.
The lake is cut off too, so I follow the path to only part of the lake..I feel like I'm missing the lake.
The cloud is cropped so I don't see the whole effect of that either..and again..feel that I'm missing something.
So I then see the fence posts....the dark one in front must be the main subject?..as that seems to be the "point of interest".
However...the fence really isn't "all that" so I find myself looking over it trying to find a better subject....nope...not finding one.
The fence line leads me to the cloud burst that is cut off at the top...but like I said above..the cloud is cut off so I feel that must not be the point of interest either.

I hope I'm making some sense with what I'm saying.
the image is good..but it can be better.
You have things that can line up well and compose well at the right angle. They just aren't lined up very well in this shot.

I respectfully disagree on all points.

I think the lines of the fence and the left side of the cloud make a perfect lead in together and draw in the viewer - that would be me, in this case.

The lake is just part of the landscape and not the subject;
The road is just a prop and really only the right side, which is in the photo, is useful
The cloud is huge and having it "not cut off" would make this a completely different shot.

Now OP

I haven't seen your previous shots so I can't tell you if you are improving over something else.

However I think the shot you have posted is a very good shot and the composition is spot on. There are 100 different ways to frame a landscape shot (do I include the lake, but cut off more of the cloud; do I include the whole cloud but then also that ugly shed to the right, etc.) I think you did a good job deciding what to cut out and what to keep, whether it was conscious or otherwise, and that you've produced a really nice print-worthy landscape photograph there for yourself.

Regards,

For what it's worth. I think it's great