My first set of LF photos and then the next set

[Paul Arthur]

Hi there,

I've posted five images here, the first three are from a trip to Northumberland in March that was the first time I took anything, and then the last two are from early May, which was the next time.

Any comments would be welcome.

Paul



This is of white sand in full shade under a blue sky. The early morning sun was just kissing the tops of the grasses giving that nice colour.



This was taken because I wasn't interested in walking over to the castle at Lindesfarne. I hung around to see what I could see.



A very cold morning indeed - the sand was frozen solid to the degree that you could walk on it and not leave footprints at all! Taken about 10 feet from the picture at the top, but 1/2 hour earlier.



I'd camped outside the Kings House Hotel on my home from a wet week in Skye and wandered along the bank. Deliberately a little underexposed to keep mood in the sky.



Perhaps the only successful image I made whilst on Skye that week - ahh well.[/code]

[Dave Tolcher]

Absolutely love the first image, simply wonderful colour harmony. Green (or is that blue) with envy. 3rd is my cup of tea too.....

Others do less for me, lack that extra sparkle of the Northumberland duo.

[Joanna Carter]

Personally, I like the second and last images best. I know that's not really a critique but, hey, we're not that insecure around here

[joolsb]

3, 1, 5, 4, 2. In that order.

The anchor really doesn't do it for me. It's got 'punch' and great colours but the comp isn't quite as coherent as with the others. 4 is rather too dark (there's moody and there's underexposed - this veers a touch too close to the latter for my tastes). I've commented on 5 elsewhere which only leaves 1 and 3 which are both bloody brilliant (only 3 is a tad more bloody brilliant than 1 (comp is a touch more 'resolved', as JC would say)).

Well, you wanted critique....

[Patrick Dixon]

I like 3 the best - nice plumage and the composition leads the eye to the light.

I like the composition of 4, but the foreground is too dark for me.

But I'd have been happy enough to take any of them ...

[dave_whatever]

the top one and the bottom one are winners for me. nice work.

[jennym]

Hi Paul,

If these are your first LF images, I can only wait in anticipation of what lies ahead! Fantastic. Very well seen, lovely colours and good use of light. I also think you are doing extremely well to be catching the light already. I still spend my time missing the magic moment! 5 wins it for me -lovely colour, shape, form and movement. 1 is also very well seen with the blue of the sand complimenting the colour of the sun kissing the grasses. I like the simplicity of the image and beautiful light although for me the balance isn't quite right. 3 also has lovely light. I agree that 4 is a bit too underexposed. I rather like your snake anchor - rich colours and I like the form but personally might not have cropped so tight on the snake's head. Do you have a preference for leaving more space at the bottom than the top of your 'inner landscapes'?

Look forward to seeing more!

Cheers,

Jenny

[Paul Arthur]

Hi Jenny

That's interesting - I've never considered whether I have a preference for leaving more space at the bottom than the top.... I suspect that I do.

I know that when I was thinking about your work, I wondered how I would have taken the pictures and concluded that I would have made much tighter compositions. I think I tend towards that when I compose "inner landscapes' as you put it.

As for whether I leave more space at the bottom than the top = yes, probably. I'm not sure why though. Interestingly it was the other way around before switching to LF so it must be that when I see compositions on the GG or in the viewfinder I prefer there to be some space around my subject at the top as I see it. This must be a compromise to allow tight compositions whilst keeping some context.

[jennym]

Hi Paul,

I think the use of space in the image is an interesting one and I don't really consider it when taking the image which I should. There is a big difference between dead space and active space, and how to use space (with its colour) to achieve balance, context, and a sense of leading the viewer. I'm not personally qualified to speak about space (understatement!), but I think David Ward's use of space in his closer images is absolutely fantastic. For more general landscape shots I have found myself going in phases of closer and then backing off again because I haven't achieved a sense of space. I'm currently trying a 'wider and closer' approach to see if that works better.

Keep up the good work. I think you have a great eye, and all those images look nice and sharp!

Jenny

[Sean Lewis]

Hi Paul,

I concur with Jenny there when she says "I can only wait in anticipation of what lies ahead", very impressive first LF images indeed! The first and the last are my favourites. The first has a great mastery of light, the sunlit grass harmonizes well with the sky reflected sand all married in to a superbly crafted composition. I like the last one because I can almost hear the cool fresh water rushing and swirling over the rock, a great example of an evocative image although I'd like to see a version with a more diffused light and saturated colours. Then again I really like image 3 as well, subtle with a good sense of depth.

Keep em coming

Sean

[Paul Arthur]

Thanks for all your comments everyone. I'm having trouble finding the time to get out with the camera much, but I'm off to Gower this weekend and then Eigg after the summer rush, so there should be some more coming.