The Kenley & Caterham Valleys

Rob, Andrew & Andrew, (and all the others earlier as well) thanks again for the thoughtful and helpful advice, which I have taken on board & will absolutely be trying hard to apply in future ...

Now then, this is all coming together .... I think I've got it all now... so I need to start with 2 cowslips in the near foreground, off centre of course, then the main point of interest, say a sign pointing to the nearest public toilets, or maybe a dog walkers pooper bin .... then I'll have the hills in the background (that would be the woods not the trees), then I need to decide on the optimum aperture for the best hyperfocal distance between the cowslips & pooper bin, set the best apertures (most likely f13 before diffraction kicks in), set the correct exposure correction (probably -1.7 stops)to just make sure that no yellow colour noise creeps into the blacks under the woods in the distance, and make sure with all this that I keep using the left side of my brain only - or was it right? - never mind, that should have it nailed .... there ... I'm finally getting to grips with all the artistic side of it!

Well of course not. But there is a very good point to this thread. And that is what is the purpose of a photograph? Not all photographs have to be great. There is nothing wrong with OK images to give a sense of place and time, the type of images that are well suited to a blog. As you said, if these were comissioned by a tourist board then there might be a different interpretation. There is a place for the hang it on the wall shot, a place for the this is how it was when I turned up shot, a place for a commissioned image, a place for a documentary shot, a place for a snapshot. There is a place for everything and how it is received will depend upon how you manage a viewer's expectations.

You're right Gareth, that is the clear message. Luckily I did also have the telezoom in action that eveneing as well, and there are plenty more shots in the bag to come. The time of day was certainly into the 'golden hour' - most of these were taken at about 7pm. In April here I am starting to lose the light after that.