I really like this image, but I'm biased by my positive memory of the shoot itself. The composition was quite tricky, and I'm not sure if cutting off the palm trees was the right move. All ideas for improvement are welcome!
I really like this image, but I'm biased by my positive memory of the shoot itself. The composition was quite tricky, and I'm not sure if cutting off the palm trees was the right move. All ideas for improvement are welcome!
When I saw this thumbnail I opened the image to see the rest of the top of the picture. I was disappointed. I think that what you could have done would have been to shoot vertical so that the 2 tall palm trees would still frame the subject but we would be able to see all of them. Also the palm coming in from the left needs to go away. Alternately, you could have moved a little closer and eliminated the 2 tall palms
Thanks for your feedback John! In hindsight, I do agree that cutting the palm trees in half wasn't the best decision. If I shot this vertically though I think there would be too much sky for my liking. I tried moving closer also (to eliminate the 2 tall palms), but there was always an issue with trees cutting into the mountain's silhouette in a distracting way. I agree that the palm on the left should be removed, that I can definitely do. I probably should have just kept looking for a better assembly of trees for the foreground tbh.
Hi Lukas! I agree with John about the trees, echoing your doubts. We're probably all familiar with this kind of issue, where for one reason or another, faced with an apparently promising scene, we find ourselves unable to come up with the image we'd hoped would do justice to the scene. You're probably right in your final remark. Landscape photogrpaphy often requires patience (and sometimes responding quickly, if not in split seconds). Sometimes, though, a beautiful scene does not lend itself automatically to a beautiful image. Then, we can still enjoy the scene for ourselves.
Hey Chris, thanks for your comment! I certainly agree with you that not ever pretty landscape is also photogenic. I'd usually consider myself pretty good at taking my time with location & composition scouting (I had been in the area for over a week for this shot), but yeah, it didn't quite work out on this occasion. Although I can't quite believe that it's a location issue in this case. I think I just settled for a composition that I shouldn't have. Regardless, shooting this will always stay an amazing memory, and as you said, that's definitely the more important part.
PS I'll take a wild guess and say Scotland. I recall hearing that the Gulf Stream brings remarkably warm weather to parts of the west coast. But it is a wild guess, as the butte and palms suggest generally warmer countries, but you live not far away from the very area I'm talking about!
I can tell that you've never been to Scotland haha, it's definitely not warm enough for palm trees over here. I'll DM you the country, in case anyone else want's to have a guess.
It WAS a wild guess. And yes, I've never been to Scotland.
Hey Lukas, while I largely agree with the others here that cutting off the top of the palms isn't ideal, I think it's still a nice shot. Is it going to be the first shot in your portfolio? probably not. Would I still be happy with this shot as a reminder of a beautiful place on what looks to be a beautiful morning (evening?) spent in the outdoors? Yes, definitely.
I think the light and is good, and the wispy clouds add just enough color and interest in the sky. The editing is well done generally.
As for problem solving with this composition, I'm not sure if this is what John was referring to, but I might have shot this as a vertical pano (maybe after I captured this single frame to start with). That way you can capture the full trees, but you have plenty of pixels to play with to crop in post. If you end up liking a version that cuts off the tops of the palm trees, then you have enough resolution in a multi-shot pano to do that. If you like the version that includes the full trees, then you have that option.
One other note on the framing that hasn't already been mentioned--it took me a while to notice it at all, but once I did the out of focus leaves in the bottom right corner bugged me a little bit. Not major--again, I didn't even notice them at first--but maybe possible to just hold that branch of the bush back since it doesn't seem like it needs to move much to be out of frame (obviously don't know what was actually feasible on location in the moment).
As for the country, my gut is saying Australia for the combination of red rock and palms. South Africa also sticks out as a possibility for some reason. Maybe southeast Asia somewhere? I've never been to any of these places, so could be way off.
Hey Josh, thanks for your thoughts! It was an evening shot. Yeah, shooting it as a pano would have definitely given me more flexibility with the crop. I don't think I considered that at the time.
Regarding the out-of-focus leaves, I don't mind them actually. Kinda adds a little more depth without being too distracting I thought. There was originally quite bit more of the plant in the frame though, and this was about far as I could bend the bush without destroying it completely lol.
I could definitely see this scene existing in Australia or SA somewhere, but this shot is actually from Bolivia. So your guesses were pretty far away, but a similar climate and latitude (I think).
Fair enough on the leaves--very much subjective personal preference, and you work with what you have on location. And definitely not in favor of destroying the bush!
Ha, yeah I was off by a continent or 3 on the location. Very interesting--I'm not sure why, but not what I imagined Bolivia looked like in terms of the rock formations. Beautiful spot!
Lukas Bornheim For the discussion of composition. For me some frame is for art to straighten some lines.