Five in a row - Russ

Nigel very kindly passed the baton to me for the next Five in a Row. Without a doubt the most terrifying thing i've done.....have you seen the photos the previous nominees posted up....gulp.

Unfortunately i can't post anything too recent as i am laid up with a bad back. Frustratingly unable to get out and about...grrrr

So my first image from my extensive portfolio:

The Beacon Hill South Downs

Possibly my favourite spot in Hampshire. Not far from the village of Warnford, over looking the most amazing rolling landscape. Early morning sun creates some beautiful light and soft shadows. There's an old bowser on the track which i just love. I placed it on the third intersection and then those stunning row of trees i placed on the top horizontal third. I shot into the sun so the light bleached the top part of the image.

Pentax K5 - May 2014

I think that this is great in terms of the lighting.

Regarding the composition I there are two areas of interest areas of interest which are separated by a large block green. That causes a problem as the eye is not encouraged to flow through the picture...

Well done for taking up the challenge!!!! I hope your back recovers quickly so you can get out and about again.
Dave

I like this image but I think you could crop a section from the bottom to just above where the path meets the bottom edge. This would make the row of trees the focus of attention and highlight the lovely misty background.

Thanks for the comments. I see what you mean about there being two points of interest.

Would suggest a much tighter crop to lose the green field and just concentrate on the trees, like this:

Personally I'd have the left side of the road exactly centered, but now I'm nit picking. It's a good shot whatever.

The lighting is lovely..I live not far from Warnford, but haven't been there for a while, the whole Meon Valley has some great locations...
back to the photo, I like the original crop but would have possibly included a bit more sky to balance up the darker bottom. Like the shot a lot though, taken with the 16-45??

Thanks Stephen. The original i shot was with more sky and more foreground to the right. The track with the bowser actually goes upto the line of trees. So i thought it would lead the eye but somehow when i viewed it later it looked too messy and cluttered. And the sky was completely bleached out. I'll dig out the original later.
Sorry yes it was taken with the wonderful 16-45.

Thanks Russ. You're right, should be centered.

Apologies to Nigel, i started my Five in a row too early. Will post my next image on Monday

Aaaaaargh! I've missed a whole weekend!

Lovely lighting and a great start to your set !

Regards
Nigel

For me the original composition is by far the best, it's a very unusual photo and all the better for it. However, I do have one problem and that is the very thing that everyone else has mentioned, i.e. the lighting. This shot has a savage dynamic range, from very bright to very dark and the sensor hasn't coped with it. The bright area is too bright for me, to the point where you have burn-out and a loss of all detail. It may well have been impossible to avoid this, but if so I would b=have cropped it harder at the top so that there was some visible detail near the top of the frame.

This might sound harsh, but that's how I see it, so I'm just giving an honest view.

Regards
David

Okay first image was not a great start. My second offering is Beaulieu River early in the morning. Not long after sunrise. I was pleased with it but will be interesting to see what others think.

Taken with the Pentax K5 and Sigma DC 18-125:

Looks good to me. I think comments on this are going boil down to personal preference. Maybe a bit could be cropped of the bottom to give more weight to the house.

Personal preference? More of the house in the reflection, the chimney has been lost! And maybe a vertical orientation. I like the use of long exposure to bring out the reflection of the house in the fast flowing water!