Wide angle landscapes

I do agree with Andrew. For wide shots it's a MUST to include some foreground interest and details, otherwise the eye is not lead into and through the shot. The wider the lens, the more important this is. Andrew is a master of such things which is one of the reasons why his shots get so many views in the Gallery. I also try to be conscious of this with every landscape image I take.

Andrew's shot also exhibits a mastery of exposure and even lighting, except for the bit at the very bottom right where it's a bit dark, but it's in the corner and doesn't really matter too much.

Regards
David

Andrew, to me this is not hyper-critical. On reflection, it's a fundamental element of this type of photography to lead the eye into the scene, as David says. I'm a little embarrassed that I didn't see that for myself, though in my defense I would say that I was thinking more about the technical aspects of the camera and the lens and not as much about composition as I should have been! The next ones will be better!

Thanks for making a completely valid observation!

If it's any consolation, John, I've been operating way outside of my comfort zone recently: street photography. It looks easy, I mean, you take pictures of people in the street, right? But the results have been uniformly banal and pointless.

Back to the drawing-board.

Hi John - I have had a 10-20 for a few months now and have struggled a little to get to grips with it, but hopefully I am improving

For landscapes I too prefer longer focal lengths but have forced myself to use it for landscapes to make sure I learn how to use it and not leave it on the shelf.

A few weeks ago whilst on holiday I used it a lot and whilst I have not finished processing my shots I have done a few and noticed a few things about this lens which are as follows (I am very busy so it will be a few weeks before I am ready to post 'holiday' examples)

1. The corners are soft particularly at 10mm and appear to suffer more from the shift in focus so to speak, for example if your focus is mid way into the scene the corners appear to suffer more than if you focus is nearer to the corners (more so than longer focal length lenses), as such any foreground interest is best placed in the centre of the shot and focus kept on an object close to the edge of the frame - not sure I have explained that well

2. Blue yet cloudy skies almost look polarised without the use of a polariser - not sure why that is but I like it

3. As I was advised when I ask for help with this lens it is often best used on images with an object close to the lens, it's pretty good for classic cars .

4. Flare and chromatic aberrations are well controlled.

5. I am experimenting with the angle the lens is used, with a longer focal length I point it straight at the landscape on most occasions yet with the 10 - 20 it works well at 10mm pointed down a little offering a different perspective.

6. Not tried this yet but I suspect it's best use may be seascapes with long exposures with the focal point/ point of interest nearer the centre with the corners occupied by 'misty' looking long exposure water and sky to negate the corner softness

I hope this helps, however, my work with this lens is still a work in progress with much to learn from my point of view.

Regards



Stu

Thanks, Stu, I'm sure of one thing, namely that there's a lot more to getting good results with a wide angle lens than I naively imagined! Good fun learning though!
Cheers

ps. Andrew, I can't see myself ever having the nerve to take pictures of strangers in the street! I've seen some amazing shots on the forum from people who do this regularly - it would be interesting to know how they approach their subjects. If anyone approached me, I'm pretty sure what my reaction would be - but then I'm a pretty nondescript man in the street, so unlikely to attract attention - I hope!

I made the naïve assumption that it would be easy how wrong I was but after some great advice from fellow members I am hopefully progressing with this lens