I think that your composition of this attractive photo is just right, Stan. The viewpoint draws the eyes up towards the clouds over the distant mountains, and the bigger sky benefits this landscape by enhancing the impressions of height and space - a letterbox format would be claustrophobic, and therefore inappropriate here. It looks like bright, middle of day sunlight there, so for me the brightness and contrast could do with a slight boost. Just my opinions, of course.

Philip

Thank you for viewing and commenting, Stuart - I'm pleased that you like them.

Philip

Whether by "crop" you mean that you are cutting out part of the image, or you mean that you are reducing the pixel dimensions of the whole image (i.e. making it smaller), the effect will be similar. Here is an analogy (ignoring, for simplicity, the effects of screen, printer and processing).

Just as one might cut out part of a picture from the page of a magazine, the quality you see depends on how it is viewed. When you simply look at the cut out piece from the magazine, then it will have the same quality as the rest of the page, but if you look at that same piece through a magnifying glass, then the quality seems poor.

Similarly, if you crop a small area of a digital image (or make the whole image much smaller), and then expand the result to fill the screen (or print at e.g. A4 size) its quality will look inferior to the original image viewed at the same size.

Philip

(Apologies if this response is too simplistic, or if it falls short of the technical expertise of experienced photographers.)

#1 and #2 are simply wonderful.

Philip

A good set, Stuart. If I had to pick one, top for me would be No.5 for its composition, colours, geology, history, and human influence, all well combined in the one image.

Philip

Thank you for viewing and commenting, Peter. It is a wonderful church, particularly the stained glass windows. I have visited Hughenden several times, but have not yet done the tour inside the manor.

Philip

Hughenden Church Window (from a 2012 visit):

There was a wonderful blue sky yesterday as I wandered around the grounds of Hughenden Manor in Bucks:

1 Hughenden Church:



2 The Vicarage:



3 Pots and Statues:



4 The Manor 1:



5 The Manor 2:



K-5 and DA 21mm Ltd.

Philip

Could this be another field of imaging technology in which Pentax start at the bottom and work their way up?

Philip

I like all of them, but the reflections of Cuppin Street are great - the reflected building also looks interesting.

Philip

Given the crowded situation and limited time, there are some good shots there, and the set makes a good historical record of the event. As for the other issue, life`s far too short, even one as long as MT`s.

Philip