Submit your best landscape photos for your chance to win a free Fstoppers tutorial
Twenty landscape images were selected from over 1,000 submissions and two special guests were here to give their critique. Do you agree with the feedback?
As the Fstoppers team is wrapping up filming for Photographing the World 4, which will feature advanced landscape photography, it was the perfect opportunity to get feedback from Elia Locardi. Elia was joined by Mike Kelley making this the first episode that didn't include and Fstoppers team member. Their fresh opinions were welcome.
Of the twenty people whose images were chosen, we'd like to congratulate Tor-Ivar Næss for submitting the image that earned the highest community rating and Stas F for being the randomly chosen entrant to win a free Fstoppers original tutorial. Congratulations to both of you. We will be in touch via your Fstoppers' profiles to claim your prize.
If you weren't able to participate in this episode, we invite you to submit your images now to our next live contest featuring adventure photography.
Elia Locardi is going to be at the Fstoppers studio for the next week and a half filming the post processing section for the newest iteration Photographing the World. We figured it's the perfect opportunity to let him critique your images.
We invite you to submit up to two of your best landscape photos between now and September 3rd for your chance to be part of the next episode of Critique the Community. Not only will 20 entrants be given feedback from Elia Locardi, who is one of the most well known landscape photographers on the planet, two lucky winners will also win a free Fstoppers original tutorial. The first winner will be chosen based on the highest community voted image. The second winner will be chosen at random.
If you're just browsing the post or have already entered you're image, we encourage you to scroll through the submissions of fellow community members and give them feedback of your own. Please keep your comments helpful and positive and please rate in accordance with the Fstoppers rating standard which can be viewed below.
Mon, 09/03/2018 - 23:45
This contest has ended.
Click on the thumbnails below to comment and rate each image.
Click here to learn about the Fstoppers rating system and what each star value means.
112 Comments
Thanks for the critique - it seemed like the color was slightly off in the video compared to the original posted in the contest :-)
Elia Locardi I do have this shot taken as horisontal and not zoomed in that much.
https://fstoppers.com/photo/209682
Yeah, as long as it is of a landscape anything goes
Really beautiful capture all-around!
Thank you so much!
Still can't post. I couldn't believe I was gonna be the first one to enter until i realized what was happening :D
Chichen Itza pyramid here.
Agree with Elia and Mike at same time. Over processed but I wouldn't redo anything (maybe blacks are too crushed yeah) - I feel like this is the best I could pull off at those circumstances.
So I had to go there twice from Cancun. First time they took my tripod at the entrance and searched my backback to make sure I don't have a drone (it's not US lol). Apparently it's about $400 to buy permit to bring tripod and you have to do it weeks in advance. So first time I just walked around and tried to find composition, unsuccessfully kinda. I was hoping for a blue hour shot but they close the pyramid before the dusk because jaguars can come at night lmao no thanks. So went one more time few days later and it was raining that day luckily. Getting there is tough btw - 2.5 hour drive each way (5 hours total) plus tolls are ridiculously expensive - $100 round trip, just to pay to drive on that road. Plus gas, plus rental. So plan ahead lol. Don't ask me how but I was able to improvise and figure out the tripod situation and actually took some long exposure shots for the sky. It was right before they were closing for the day (around 7pm) but sun was still too high (sunset was I think around 9pm) and I don't really like how the pyramid is lit but here we are. This was the best angle I could pull off. Agreed with Elia - if you take all this "over processing" away it's just another shot of the pyramid which you can google and there are thousands similar boring ones, so I was purposely pushing it and since I pretty much only post on instagram, here we are again. Not my favorite shot, but it's okay. My fav is my Stonehenge pic which Lee gave 2 stars and he's totally wrong lol. Good episode, good critiques.
The posting glitch is fixed now.
I'm the "tree in front of the sand dune" guy here and I have to say a huge thanks to Mike Kelley for his fantastic words about my picture, I agree that something like an Orix would have made this a much better picture. But that's why I just take pictures on vacation and I'm not a Nat Geo photographer 😂. Thanks also to Elia Locardi I'm a huge fan of you and of your work. BTW Mike Kelley Let me know where I have to send your two printed copies of my image 😁
Just missed ;)
When someone´s voting two stars (needs work), it would be great to know what kind of work or what could be done better! ;-) Just two stars won´t tell me how I can improve my work.
I think you'll never hear constructive suggestions...
I'm making a point of throwing out constructive criticism and praise.
I think the audience here is really harsh.
It is very bad that the authors of the assessments are not visible. I would like to take a look at their work ...
I wouldn't take it too seriously unless there is constructive criticism to go along with it.
It is the internet after all, mate. You know how it is. ;)
I think some ones give one or two stars just to be dicks. 👍
A two star rating isn't saying the photo is trash, it's saying it needs work.
The biggest problem is most people don't read the descriptions of each star's rating. A good photo can be a two star photo but minor details could be revisited to make it three stars.
The scaling of the rating system needs to be addressed because of the ignorance of the community. a 1-10 would serve better purpose and fix this issue as is discussed in every contest.
I was watching my votes and scores and it dropped down so far someone must have given me a 1. Now I 100% accept a 2, but it was a long exposure, with lightning in the background. How can that be a 1? I think someone is going around giving people 1s to bring other people’s votes down so theirs is a little higher. Which is why the highest votes image is usually around 3.5. Do these people not realise that a) the photos aren’t selected based on their vote score except for the highest one, and b) a person who gives 1s just to lower scores will never take the top voted image anyway.
if i give a rating lower tan 4 i make suggestions but if it is noticeably and clearly a poor image i just pass it by...no use in shooting a dead horse
I like to be constructive when giving a 2 star rating, but there is just sooo many pictures.
I agree. Its interesting to see how others like or dislike your photo by rating it however, like you, I was looking for constructive criticism. The votes are in line with what I expected though on my submission.
Yea its Hard to see get 1.5 Stars for a picture cant be a snapshot.
To critic in contant the Most dont think about what is the Theme or what work the Person have to do to got that picture.
The Most have a big Ego and cant give a normal Rating.
Yea i very straight in my view of this Theme but its annoying.
With 1000 images its tough to comment on every 1 or 2
star photo...
For sure it´s hard to give a constructive criticism on every image we´re rating. But let´s be honest who´s really rating all hundreds of images posted here? But at least those who get 2 stars deserve a constructive criticism. You know what I mean?
I rated all of em. I tried to make constructive criticism on the ones that i had something to say...
But i’d argue making it even harder to rate wouldn’t help...i’m pretty sure with the low number of ratings anyone can make enough dummy accounts to boost their photos ratings and destory others ratings (not sure if that’s happening but damn 40 votes isn’t much statistical)...i don’t think its fair to expect people to comment for everytime they rate a 1 or 2, but i do think people should expect their photos to get rates by more than 5-10% of the contests enteries.
For sure it´s hard to give a constructive criticism on every image we´re rating. But let´s be honest who´s really rating all hundreds of images posted here? But at least those who get 2 stars deserve a constructive criticism. You know what I mean?
I CANT POST ?
Thanks for Choosing my Image :) I know it's a bit over processed, But at that time I was just e beginner! That photo is taken about 2 years ago when I first got my DSLR Camera! I was on a trip and decided to take the picture and edited in Lightroom (I barely knew the advanced features then)!!
:) But thanks for selecting and reviewing my Image :)
Appreciate it a lot guys!
They chose cityscape photos, but not a single intimate landscape photo... interesting.
While they did provide some good thoughts here and there, I had a few issues. I don't mean any of these as personal attacks (I'm not angry, they didn't even choose my photo, so I have no pony in this race), but more as a lack of cohesion between the rating system description and how they used it.
First, 'I just don't like it' or 'I'm not a fan of..." isn't a critique, it's a preference. While I agree that photography is subjective, this is called "critique the community" not "The opinion variety hour with to dudes on a casting couch". I personally don't find the works of Dali as amazing as most people, but that doesn't make them 1 or 2 star paintings, it makes them 5 star paintings that don't match my preferences as well as Yokoyama Taikan.
Second, can someone please explain what "emotion" means... I guess I'm in the minority, but I don't recall ever seeing a photo that has made me feel anything other than "oh cool, where is that?" or "that looks nice." I have however, rated several photos 4-5 stars.
Third, a photo doesn't have to be in an unexplored location to be a 5. If that were true the only 5 star photos would be from the Mariana Trench and space. While I agree that some places have way too much exposure (looking at you Iceland), a familiar location shouldn't deduct from the overall quality.
Lastly, please release a tutorial on how to do astro-photography with an iPhone, because you rated those two photos 1 star, which means you must know how to do that.
Apologies if that sounds to negative, but I feel like I'm giving more thoughtful critiques from my futon, sometimes, and I'm just some scrub.
Painful to see how toxic this community is with the majority of voters=self proclaimed experts ( voting 1-2 stars ) with total garbage portfolios as expected:) Mega LOL category
Do you know of any sites that you have to be judged into, to weed out the garbage. I'm trying to improve but the grey area in between the pros and the less than amateur is seemingly small. I just want to be able to learn from the pros and see how they make perfection not be judged by an iPhone tourist. I've also noticed that the contest judging is a joke people are giving way lower scores than what the work deserves I'm assuming to give themselves a better placement ...kind of a dick move.
If you look at photographs enough, you're going to get bored of the same old normie shit. Realism/literalism with perfect color and contrast just doesn't surprise or excite you, conventional beauty gets boring, you've seen nearly every interesting angle of Kirkjufell or Cinque Terre at sunset a hundred times. So you start looking for photographs that might raise questions about the subject, that are shot in a different way using different techniques which create an unexpected result. Photos that have emotion are photos that, to me, raise questions about the subject matter and make me think a little bit beyond the surface level stuff, a little deeper than just the technicals of the photo. Maybe it's even photographs that are so weird that you actually find it cares more about the theme or the message than the subject itself.
Maybe you shoot a landscape in a very quiet, subdued, monochromatic abstract way and try to communicate a sense of sadness. Or perhaps it is using humans placed in a landscape to communicate a narrative of their life that goes beyond pretty photograph. Or you use abstraction to overwhelm the viewer with scale, color, or size - something you can come back to again and again and find something new to discover.
It is definitely true what you are saying. I myself did not join Fstoppers to search for validation or ask for criticism as I have a pretty clear vision of what I want and how I need to execute it. That does not mean that I do not want to improve, there is always room for improvement. I came here to look at some amazing frames and get inspired and support up and coming photographers by encouraging them on their journey. I find it pathetic that so many people just exude negativity here. I can take criticism but not from people who don’t even have a vague idea about basic concepts:)) I am not sure if you mean to primarily improve your technical skill set or the artistic side of your imagery or both but there aren’t many platforms where you can get decent feedback from an expert in your preferred field without monetary investment. A 1 on 1 mentor would be ideal, especially when starting out in your photographic journey. Cheers.
Thanks for taking the time to get back to me, you seem like a pretty busy guy, so I appreciate the time you took to respond to schlub on the internet.
I think the point about getting bored of similar photos changes from person to person, so I can see both sides. I've also seen hundreds of photos from Kirkjufell, but I don't let it detract from the image. To me, if it's a good image, it's a good image, and it's important to look at things with fresh eyes. Just because I've seen it 100 times, doesn't mean everyone else has and it doesn't make the image any worse. I think that's important for forming an unbiased critique vs a personal opinion. I absolutely enjoy new and interesting ideas, but would I snag a photo of Kirkjufell if I happened to be there?.. Absolutely. Like I said, not all of us get to travel and take photos for a living, some of us may be lucky enough to go to Iceland once in our entire lives, so when we get a change to take a safe "iconic" photo or try something new and risk taking a terrible one, a lot of us are going to pick the safest option, and I can totally understand and respect that. Even Elia's photos from Japan, I've seen those photos, compositions and subjects, tons of times, but I still rated them as if I hadn't. I gave them 4-5 stars because it was his take on those particular subjects rather than a 2 because "I've seen it before"(should I go back and re-rate them as 2s or 3s?). But perhaps that's just me, I also stare at Mount Fuji in awe every time I see it from the train (hundreds of times), and I've been here for almost 5 years. I guess it's different perspectives on what photography is. I see landscape photography as more of celebration of our little planet and how beautiful it can be, regardless of how things change or stay the same.
However, I can kind of relate to getting bored, but with people who have a "style". Personally, I can't stick to just one style or subject for too long before getting bored of it, which is why I find it so hard to follow one particular photographer. Even if I look through the portfolio of a professional, if they only take landscape photos (even if it's a different location every time), I'll get bored of their work. However, I don't let that change my judgement of their photos. Nevertheless, I can see where you're coming from.
As for the emotion, I can understand what you're saying, but I guess I just don't have the ability to pick up on "emotions" from landscapes, other than "wow, that's stunning". For example, I love Thomas Heaton, I think I've looked at every single landscape photo he's taken more than anyone on the planet, even him. But I can honestly say I've never felt an "emotion". I've felt other things like " I really want to go there" or "wow he's got a good eye for detail". I'm not sure if those qualify as emotions, though.
Perhaps a Critique the Community on "emotion" would be an interesting idea. I'd like to see other people's perspective on what emotion in photography means.
Thanks again for the response, as I mentioned, I didn't mean to come across as hostile, I'm just worried about people getting discouraged when they see such harsh ratings based on personal opinions and experiences. I always appreciate when an established photographer who still makes time for the little people!
completely understand where your coming from and appreciate the response. this is a good platform to see what people are doing and it's nice to be able to see so many great shots. i might have to look into that 1 on 1 scenario. I don't believe this site is a great method for skill acceleration, just another instagram with nipples.
You can try 1x.com
It is curated by truly good photographers, although there is a slight bias, not towards members, but style of photos and the fact that they don't like to publish plenty of photos of the very same location or thing.
Other than that, there's also a dedicated constructive critique area on that site so you can use both "services", submit your favorite photo to the curators to see if they'll deem it publishable, and also submit it to the Constructive Criticism area where people give constructive criticism to each other.
If you have thin skin, prepare to get burned.
I went to school for illustration my skin is as thick as a rhinos
I personally take a 1-2 star rating as a compliment. It means that someone was so threatened by the mere existence of my photo that they had no choice but to down vote it. It's like when politicians run attack ads.
Haha there might be some truth to that:)))) It’s not like I’m having sleepless nights over such but find these people pathetic....
Youre propably right. In some cases thats true.. I know this sounds really dumb, but I dont rate images. I feel like Im not qualified to give points to pictures. I mean, I know what I like to shoot my self, but I dont feel comfortable giving critique to someone elses work. Sure some pictures need work, but I bet 99% from fstoppers community allready know when they need improvement in their work. And I think finding out some technical issues is not that hard. Creative issues just are things one has to figure out them self.
I think that the user's rating algorithm could reject extreme values - e.g. 20% of the lowest and 20% of the highest ratings and then the average of the ratings could be more adequate - although it would be best to get the assessment from Elia and Fstoppers team :-)
So, did you two enjoy being harassed by Jared Polin on your tour of the NASA rocket factory in Louisiana?
I'm not sure why some of these shots are being rated by the community as 2's. Has anyone read the Fstoppers Rating System description? While there are plenty of images that deserve a low rating, there are others that deserve at least a 3 or 4.
Some of my photos are on Flickr hit in Explore with thousands of views. And here they get an estimate "Snap Shot" :) Funny :)
I get it! I submitted a picture that was recently published by Nat-Geo. Same story there. People here are jealous and frustrated.
That's the difference between a computer algorithm and people
For me, Flickr means nothing.
Same as being popular on 500px.
It's a matter of activity between users, cheaters ( there are those too! ), and luck sometimes.
I've seen TERRIBLE photos in explore, just like I've seen TERRIBLE photos in the top of the 500px popular page.
Now, that doesn't mean they're all cr@p, but some are.
Looking back myself, I had taken several photos that were terrible when I started, and back then, I thought that they were great.
Once I advanced in every single aspect of photography myself, I started to see my weaknesses, the lack of things, the reality that most of the old photos were plainly bad.
Even after we "mature" photographically, sometimes, actually, a whole lot of times, our passion to post & publish still forces some otherwise rejected photos of ours outside.
For example, I've seen plenty of wonderful photos by Matthias Dengler.
I consider him a pretty good landscape photographer.
Just like I do, if I turn the harshness and objectivity setting to the maximum value, I do believe and find that Matthias ( and myself ), have uploaded photos that are far from our top work.
And plenty of times for a while or even a long time, we can stand by and fight for those photos of ours, until we see what's wrong in the future and change our minds.
Wow Bill! What a speech!
That was so honest and it really lifts me up. Thank you so much for that. Somehow, I needed that! :)
About flick'rs and 500px's explore you are right.
Also some of my mediocre pictures have hit explore. So it's not an indicator of quality.
And aother thing is as well that people can still take awesome pictures which can get published anywhere, jsut not on fstoppers. Fstoppers has a very specific style. fstopeprs is not a platform for narrative images or emotions. It's a page for technical photographers who care about grain issues between Iso 50 and 100 and use a tripod for every shot to get maximum sharpness most of the time.
Other approaches are "better having a picture that tells the story, than having no picture". Fstoppers is not for narrative or emotions that pictures evoke in you. It's jsut about technical stuff. It's not a bad thing, but you have to know what kind of pictures to submit to get good ratings here. I could do that, but I don't. I wanted to broaden horizons but it's not going to happen. So people shouldn't take it too harsh when getting rated badly. Fstoppers are most of the time rather technique geeks than artists - without wanting to offend anyone.
I love this thread. Takes me back almost 50 years to first grade. We were drawing, and I was always a good (not great or exceptional) artist. I very distinctly remember the literally snot-nosed kid next to me showing me his work. I knew it was inferior to mine, very inferior, but I smiled and said it was good. (I’ve always been a people pleaser. LOL) I knew mine was great. I can’t imagine what a rudimentary drawing it really was. I mean, maybe it was second-grade level at best. I really wish I could go back in time and see it. Thankfully I know my photography isn’t great. It’s definitely not technically great. I am just shooting for a 2 over a 1. Kinda like I was in grade 1 working at grade 2 level. Haha.
As far as different things that make a photo great, most of my faves are screenshots taken of good times in the past with my kids and what not. There is actually very little need for technical perfection in a photo. Most for me are memory triggers and quality is not a huge factor. I have a terrible memory and am glad for overexposed, out of focus, poorly composed photos if they can take me back to a wonderful place and time. That being said, from thus point forward, if I can do that AND be technically skillful, that’s a win win!!! 🙂
my submission is currently ranked as a 1.65 from 14 people. Its pretty laughable i enjoy the shot and thought other people would. oh well.