Coastal Walking today.

Kp and DA* 11-18mm and CPL, around midday so the light was harsh, SOOC.

1.



2.



3.



4.

I'm getting envious of your nice lens. Nice set and, bright or not, you got the best out of the light.

Thank you David.
This lens has been described as a great piece of engineering, or something like that. I can see why, internal focus, internal zoom, the elements, filter compatible, some FF at 16 to 18mm etc and sharpness everywhere. Not too heavy, AW resistance, Star rated. I've just got to hopefully get somewhere near it's performance level LOL.

these are not working for me I am afraid. The light was too harsh, as you admitted.

Go back at sunrise or sunset.

Why 'too harsh', Peter? (Serious question.) Learning for me from this.

Harsh light isn't a problem for me, but the sloping horizon in No. 3 is... Having said that, the others don't quite work for me either - they seem a bit flat while at the same time the foreground and distance pull in different directions. I hope you don't mind, but I've experimented with different crops and giving more contrast by adjusting curves. Here are the results. But as always, it's all a matter of personal preference.










Steve

Thank you all peeps for the comments.
Steve, I have corrected the horizon on number 3 (hopefully, whoops).
No problem with your editing, crop away etc. I was reasonably happy with the shadows in my rocks in numbers 3 and 4, and close up in No. 4 especially, but your added contrast does improve it, and yes No.1 looks better cropped.
Here's the level horizon (hopefully,- I have one leg longer than the other)



Here's another POV of the same and this would definitely benefit from a crop I suspect;




Peter, going back at ideal times are not always possible at least not without a Pass from the 'Boss

"Why 'too harsh', Peter? (Serious question.) Learning for me from this."
Me too,

As Steve has commented, it is personal preference and in 3 and 4 I would prefer to see more detail by lifting the shadows. In an image like number 1, I would try to enhance the sky:



Cheers.
Philip

The trouble with bright sunshine when it is high in the sky is that you can get high contrast images with a lot of shadow areas that record little or no detail. Harsh direct lighting also fails to give subjects "form" or shape (think single flash). You can also suffer from blown out or specular highlights, although this is not evident here as LOT has exposed these very well.

Strong lighting especially when the sun is lower can bring out texture however. The bottom right corner of 3 is an example of this. I would have been inclined to do a close up image of this area where the texture is the main element.

I realise we all have to work with the time of day we are at and the lighting conditions that are present, and sometimes it is not possible to return at a different hour. in these circumstances taking bracketed shots and merging them in HDR software (or in camera) can be beneficial.

Thank you, Peter, appreciated. Really useful info especially the 'bracketed shots and merging them in HDR...' Great stuff.

There's an interesting book by Joe Cornish, title 'First Light', subtitle 'A Landscape Photographer's Art'. For each of the main pictures, there's a second that he took of the same or similar subject in different light, time of day, weather etc.. Most importantly, he explains why he prefers the main picture to the second one. You don't have to agree with his preferences but his reasons make you think about how you look at your own pictures and how you might do better. It isn't always a matter of waiting for the 'right' weather or time of day. Sometimes just a shift in position or even using a suitable filter can make all the difference (he was using film so for digital replace 'filter' by 'post-processing' :wink.

Steve

Lubbyman, what an absolutely cracking post. Thank you, Steve. I've just ordered the book, from Abe Books, £3.29 or £3.56p from Amazon. FYI, I always look at Abe Books first, it's one of my alternative for books when I don't want to buy new. Recommended by the way. One continues to learn, don't we? (Do you ever stop?) 96% 4 and 5* feedback reviews on Amazon.

Pic 3 for me - with the corrected horizon!