Despite living in Alaska my landscape photographs have been, objectively speaking, largely crap. Fantastic views do not automatically translate into fantastic photographs. I have been working on improving my landscapes skills, and think I have made some progress. Criticism and suggestions greatly appreciated.
Hi, Thomas,
They look fine. I am an amateur too and all I can do is repeat tips from my workshops I attend. Are these all very early morning or dusk? That might help. The ice tower could use some backlit sun no matter what time of the day. Did you try one of the highway and mountain shots with the camera resting on the center line of the highway? --Al Marsh, Frederick, Maryland
Ice pictures are particularly difficult (for me at least). On clear days everything is blindingly blue, and it can be nearly impossible to see what is on the LCD screen. On cloudy days, everything is a dull 50% gray. Throw in frozen fingers, severely diminished battery life, very short daylight hours, remote locations, etc, and it gets overwhelming. But this one is better than most of my glacier photos. I get some interesting close ups of ice, but I don't think they fit in the Landscape category.
#3 The Gerkin
I was thinking more bow of the Titanic, but Gherkin is better.
I think they are fine Thomas although the blue ice shot seems to lack definition.A tricky subject. I like the top one best.
If you are having trouble with exposure on your ice shots, try taking multiple exposures and stacking with HDR software. It would help in your ice picture to bring out detail in that dark crevice. I think your pics look great. You can get more out of the pictures with a little more post processing. There are some great tips out there off this site and others like it. I use Lightroom and this video really helped me out. If you aren't using Lightroom, just search for some blogs or tutorials. A few quick edits could darken the sky and bring more detail out on the mountain. I am leaving for Alaska on Friday, so I hope the clouds break long enough for me to get a few nice shots!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ahr6gScmriI
Hope that link works.
thanks!
On a Technical level they are very sound! And i would definitely not use the word crap these images are just fine! My CC would be I find great landscape images generally have a foreground element and something that leads your eye through the photo. This is something I see lacking in these - particularly the bottom two. If you could add this into what you already have I think you could pump out some great photos!!
Oh these are definitely not crap. Most, if not all of my my prior ones are. These are better ones I produced after some practice and thinking about composition. I agree re foreground interest and leading lines, I just have trouble finding them and incorporating into the photograph.