Kielder water

Lovely part of Northumberland this is a view East down Kielder Reservoir.
Thought i would try to take a few landscape shots today so out with my 350D + 18-55mm kit lens, not much worked but i liked this shot, i normally shoot birds so any C&C welcomed as i would like to develop my landscape abilities.

regards Brian.

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It's a nice photo.

There are a couple of things that could be improved upon though. The branches to the left and the trees to the right are a little disturbance to the whole scene. I like how you placed the island in the frame though.

Another thing is the washed out lower part of the sky. Perhaps a darker exposure could have been layered here and manually masked into the shot. A little more contrast wouldn't hurt either.

All in all a nice shot that could be improved upon.

Thanks Pheelfresh, i actually wanted to include the branches to the left as i thought a little something in the foreground was a requirement to a landscape photo.

I was not too sure about the right hand side of the picture though i can see your viewpoint.

Dont know about a darker exposure though my photoshop skills are very limited , i know i have not produced a landscape pic that reproduces what i see so im open too any comments that move me in that direction.
So i hope a few more will take me to task.

regards brian.

cannylad wrote in post #2650227
Thanks Pheelfresh, i actually wanted to include the branches to the left as i thought a little something in the foreground was a requirement to a landscape photo.

I was not too sure about the right hand side of the picture though i can see your viewpoint.

Dont know about a darker exposure though my photoshop skills are very limited , i know i have not produced a landscape pic that reproduces what i see so im open too any comments that move me in that direction.
So i hope a few more will take me to task.

regards brian.

About foregrounds. I actually think the lower part of the water works well as the foreground. And bare in mind, there aren't any rules or requirements per se, but rather guidelines on how to compose. In your particular photo I believe you don't need any additional foreground. That will just make the photo seem cluttered. This is also personal preference though. I like the more minimalist compositions. Less is more basically.

I'm also thinking about writing up a little tutorial that describes my own post-processing techniques in Photoshop CS2.

In short, when I find that the light is too strong to get a correctly exposed sky (as im most landscape shots) I expose the sky and land/water separately and layer them on top of each other in Photoshop. If shooting in RAW you can do this by adjusting brightness/exposure in whatever RAW editor you're using.

I layer the brightest exposures to the bottom and build it up from there with the darkest on the top. Then, I use a soft eraser with around 20-25 % opacity and flow to mask out the layers. Works pretty much as a graduated neutral density filter would. You get both the sky and the land/water correctly exposed. But I feel you have even more freedom in getting the photo exactly as you want it (especially handy if you are going for the more "artsy" look in your photo).

I hope you understand what I write. This is not my first language.

pheelfresh wrote in post #2652082
About foregrounds. I actually think the lower part of the water works well as the foreground. And bare in mind, there aren't any rules or requirements per se, but rather guidelines on how to compose. In your particular photo I believe you don't need any additional foreground. That will just make the photo seem cluttered. This is also personal preference though. I like the more minimalist compositions. Less is more basically.

I'm also thinking about writing up a little tutorial that describes my own post-processing techniques in Photoshop CS2.

In short, when I find that the light is too strong to get a correctly exposed sky (as im most landscape shots) I expose the sky and land/water separately and layer them on top of each other in Photoshop. If shooting in RAW you can do this by adjusting brightness/exposure in whatever RAW editor you're using.

I layer the brightest exposures to the bottom and build it up from there with the darkest on the top. Then, I use a soft eraser with around 20-25 % opacity and flow to mask out the layers. Works pretty much as a graduated neutral density filter would. You get both the sky and the land/water correctly exposed. But I feel you have even more freedom in getting the photo exactly as you want it (especially handy if you are going for the more "artsy" look in your photo).

I hope you understand what I write. This is not my first language.

I agree with this. A foreground doesn't have to be something additional in the shot. It can be simply be the texture of your water or land etc; if the texture is interesting enough that is

Anyway, I've been to this location a few times and it really is beautiful (my g/f dad lives in a village about 20 minutes away).
You must have an awesome time taking shots of the birdlife up there... the last time I was there (about a month ago), I saw buzzard after buzzard. They are truly big birds.. one had just caught prey near the resevior about 2 minutes before I saw it.

Thanks guys for your input I'm very grateful for you taking the time to comment.

Adam its a raptor paradise, i will spend a lot of time there towards the end of March and early April as birds of prey will start to display then, its a great area to watch Buzzards Goshawk Sparrowhawk, Peregrine strut there stuff, and Merlin, Kestrel, Hen Harrier, Osprey, can also be observed

Nice shot, I'd agree with the comment re the trees at either edge, but I do like the use of the water in the foreground. I hope it's that blue next time I'm up that way.

I don't know which part of Geordieland you're in, but there are some good hides in the Thornley area - about 5 minutes from the MetroCentre. Quite a variety at each, also there were a dozen or more Red Kites over Gibside last weekend. Typically, the best shot coincided with my CF card being full.

Thanks for the tip re. time of the year. Can you suggest a good viewing area, or is it just luck?

I didn't know Hen Harriers and Osprey were up there.. That sounds great, perhaps I'll venture up there more often.
Luckily for me, I get along well with the g/f's old man
I remember seeing a smallish raptor (not sure what it was) ducking and diving along the moors near that area. It was awesome to see, they fly so low and are so quick.