Trying something different - work or not?

Not my 'normal' sort of shot but just trying something different - both taken with the Sigma 50 which is a new arrival. I thought its continued use might make me work at compositions.

With the trees I liked the light that was coming through and the way it was glistening on the wet heather. I also liked the texture of the bark.

Lake shot is a long exposure. I liked the fact that the end of the fence was sitting in some reflected light from a late gap in the clouds.

Critique welcomed - joined this forum to try and keep on the learning curve.

[IMG]http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/kushtibucket/TreesontheBeacon.jpg[/IMG]


[IMG]http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/kushtibucket/Fence.jpg[/IMG]

Very much work
I never have the courage to not photograph the whole thing.

The lake shot is my favourite - lovely work.

The first might benefit from a lift in brightness. A smaller aperture may have got you more detail further out, with a greater depth of field?

number one is nice, the lake shot is excellent!

I like the low-key look of it, and the shallow depth of field gives the shot more depth - just my kind of woodland photo.

Dan

I love the lake image, to improve I would just crop out the top dark bit above the fence, I think the dark is distracting against the grey tones, which I really like by the way.

I like the lake shot best but the unlike Cabstar I think the fence is cropped too closely near the top of the image. It needs more space to bleed away into the hazy distance of water.
David

#1 doesn't do anything for me but I love #2. I think if you crop it any more then the fence will look too crowded against the edge of the shot. What I would do is clone the grey to remove the black. You have some really nice grey gradiants !

#2 is just stunning. #1 is nice but it is lacking something, can't put my finger on it. Like I say it IS nice.

The second is rather nice. I think the fence needs more space too. But I expect you'll produce something with the wow factor from this potential.

The first one is pleasant, but run of the mill to be honest. That is very similar to the kind of scenery we have around these parts, and I haven't taken a good pine woods shot yet. I have been studying others' efforts to try and learn as done well this kind of scene makes a superb photo. Rays of light and mist work well, as does the damp look. There were some PPG approvals recently of some wonderful shots of this nature. The photographer put a trunk prominently in the foreground which really showed the texture of the bark.

Did you use a filter to get the long exposure on shot 2?

Sorry for the later reply - been out on the tops above Buttermere - visibility zero

No1 I think needs a wee bit of something as has been said. Texture and wet heather isn't enough - as DrOrloff says a few rays coming through might have lifted it with maybe a bit of mist. Like he says I've seen some really nice shots from this type of scene. I like it but needs a bit of a zing from somewhere.

No2 was with the B&W 110 so made it into a 30 second exposure - Cropped where it is as the far shore started to intrude and its not as tidy as I'd have liked. Perhaps a better idea might have been to raise the tripod up and get the fence slightly lower down in the shot. I like the idea of cloning out the black - not sure how to do it but I'll have a dabble.