Leicestershire

This was taken late one afternoon in Leicestershire, about 90 mins before sunset, earlier this month. I hoped to capture the sense of space, and the sense of the landscape dissolving into gentle haze in the distance, and something of the light. It was quite a lovely scene to the naked eye, but the image I captured looks dismal. So I'd welcome any tips for landscape photography. Is it because I was shooting toward the sun, perhaps?

I'd love to do this scene justice sometime.

This was taken with a K100D Super with a Pentax-F 28-80 attached. 'AUTOPICT' mode. Image quality set to highest JPEG.




Grateful for any suggestions or comments.

Well, a pleasant enough view. A tad under-exposed. You could have more control shooting in aperture priority,rather than be at the mercy of the K100D'S auto setting. I believe your camera starts at iso200, was this the setting for this shot.? Does this shot capture your feelings about the scene and what it represents to you?
?
Regards

Chris

nd gradual filter and a tripod or even a polariser filter would have helped

as you said it dose not represents the image you thought you was taking.
the eye is very good at this.

try adding one on your own software photoshop can help if you have it.

good effort thought



James

Thanks for the comments; useful to hear. Yes, it was taken at ISO200, f13, 1/499 sec according to the EXIF data. In fact I'll post all the EXIF data in case anything I've not mentioned is significant or of interest.

The shot definitely doesn't capture the scene that I saw, for me. Just from looking at the pic I think it would be hard to imagine whey I wanted to take the photo, but there's something really beautiful about the view there for me, in that afternoon light. It feels so open and spacious. One problem with the pic is that I don't get a sense of distance. I mean - I realise it's a 2D medium, but it looks 'compressed'. Another is that it was taken in hazy sunshine, but the scenery looks as though it was overcast. Gloomy, almost.

Manufacturer |PENTAX Corporation
Model |PENTAX K100D Super
Orientation |top - left
x-Resolution |72.00
y-Resolution |72.00
Resolution Unit |Inch
Software |K100D Super Ver 1.00
Date and Time |2009:11:15 13:58:10
YCbCr Positioning |co-sited
Unknown |
Compression |JPEG compression
x-Resolution |72.00
y-Resolution |72.00
Resolution Unit |Inch
Exposure Time |1/499 sec.
FNumber |f/13.0
ExposureProgram |Landscape
ISO Speed Ratings |200
Exif Version |Exif Version 2.21
Date and Time (origi|2009:11:15 13:58:10
Date and Time (digit|2009:11:15 13:58:10
ComponentsConfigurat|Y Cb Cr -
Exposure Bias |0.00 EV
Metering Mode |Pattern
Flash |Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode.
Focal Length |50.0 mm
Maker Note |51200 bytes unknown data
FlashPixVersion |FlashPix Version 1.0
Colour Space |sRGB
PixelXDimension |3008
PixelYDimension |2000
Sensing Method |One-chip colour area sensor
File Source |DSC
Scene Type |1
Custom Rendered |Normal process
Exposure Mode |Auto exposure
White Balance |Auto white balance
Focal Length In 35mm|75
Scene Capture Type |Landscape
Contrast |Normal
Saturation |Normal
Sharpness |Normal
Subject Distance Ran|Distant view
InteroperabilityInde|R98
InteroperabilityVers|0100

I think shooting into the sun has definitely affected your photo - it's reduced the contrast, and given it a hazy appearance.

I also think the sky needs to be much bluer, or have more defined clouds. A circular polariser might help with the blue (and also not shooting into the sun).

Part of the problem is the sky is so much brighter than the land, so one or the other will get good exposure. At the moment your sky is over exposed a little and your ground is underexposed a little. If you expose for the sky (thus making it less bright and bluer with clouds that are easier to see) the ground will all be very dark. If you expose for the ground the sky will be completely white. This is difficult to fix, a graduated ND filter is useful when the horizon is nice and flat like this. Alternatively you should look into an HDR shot, but you will need a tripod for that.

Also the hedge in the foreground isn't adding anything, it needs to go! Either move to a higher spot or stand on the other side of the hedge At the moment your landscape consists of 50% sky (and not very interesting sky to boot), 25% landscape, and 25% hedge, I think thats a fundamental problem with this image.

Sorry if this all sounds a bit negative I think the location has potential, you just need to make a few adjustments.

Is this maybe more what you had in mind? I know its a bit crude at the horizon but I spent less than two minutes on it. If the answer is 'yes' then I'll do a better job and explain.

Apart from the conspicuously grey horizon, that image actually does evoke the atmosphere I wanted to capture! And Tim, thanks for your comments too - I see what you mean about the hedge, especially after seeing Ken's image. Unfortunately it wasn't possible to climb over it. The best I could possibly have done would have been to climb on top of the wife's Polo, and shoot over it

Well, it seems that Ken was a bit quicker. Here's my suggestion:
[IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t5/Prieni/lscape1.jpg[/IMG]

Prieni

Two more efforts in a similar vein. Quite happy with these.

Actually not any more. Photomatix Pro will align pictures using features in the picture. I use the "Take all the bracketed photos with one push of the shutter button" feature on the K20D to minimise camera movement between shots and it is fine. I usually use a tripod as more often than not I am doing a building interior and want to make sure everything is square (and have quite long exposures).

Freequently, however, I end up not using HDR but just taking whichever picture is "closest to the right" (i.e., the brightest exposure but with no or minimal blown highlights) and then using the "fill light" slider in Lightroom to lighten the dark areas without blowing the highlights. Provided the difference is not too extreme this will often work without too much noise.

In terms of this photograph, I find that it is very difficult to convey the beauty of gently rolling or flatish landscapes. It is no accident that "Outdoor Photography" tends to be full of shots of mountainous landscapes or rocky coastlines, it is much easier to convey the appropriate feeling! The main piece of advice I can think of is to always try and find something interesting to go in the foreground as well as the interest given by the view and the skies. There are lovely bits of Hertfordshire landscape where I have never managed to get a shot I am happy with because the light wasn't right, or there wasn't anything interesting in the foreground, or the sky was bland, etc. I just keep going back in the hope that one day all the elements will come together.

Hope this helps! K.

I've only tried a few handheld HDR shots using Photomatix's feature alignment function, e.g. here, but in my limited testing it didn't always work so well. In the full size version of my example shot you can see some odd artifacts near the bright spots on the ground near the ramp on the right, and also around the window frames. (Perhaps it doesn't do so well in high contrast areas?)

Living in a very flat part of Essex I completely sympathise with the difficulty of getting any sort of interesting landscape shot!

My entry in the stairs comp was a hand held HDR. I agree, however, that if you have the option you are better off using a tripod.

Best wishes, K.