I have not been doing much landscape for awhile. Is there anything I should have done differently here?
Any is fair game 
D 800 , 70-300 mm nikkor at 70mm, ISO 500, 1/125 second f10. Processed in Lightroom , then slight Orton used in photoshop.!
I edited this because I had trouble uploading the photo. A high quality res just would not upload.
This is just lovely as presented, Kathy. I don’t have any critiques. The evergreeen makes such a beautiful contrast with all the yellow foliage.
Thanks Kathy. I have not done any landscape in a year and a half , so am reprocessing some older images and planning to go out into the field. I feel really rusty so appreciate the feedback!
Hey Kathy,
There are some great elements to work with here; the brilliant yellow fall color, the lone evergreen, the swirling mist…you can feel the crisp air. The scene has a great fall mood to it.
If I could’ve been at this location, at the same time, I would’ve tried moving more to the left. The trees on the left side have lost a lot of their fall color, but the ones in the background look much fuller. Maybe framing the shot to remove those thinned-out trees, and highlight the background trees a little more would help.
I like the vertical composition, I think that is a good choice here. Maybe stepping back a bit, and using a longer focal length would compress the scene a bit, and create a more intimate landscape. Just some thoughts…not sure if that would’ve worked or not.
I like the natural lightness of your Lightroom edits, it doesn’t look over saturated or over exposed. Well done.
Thanks Ryan. That’s a good point about those Fuller trees. Appreciate the feedback
Kathy,
Excellent autumn image. I quite like this. As mentioned, the evergreen anchors the nicely framed vertical scene, but it’s the foggy mist and autumn yellows of the aspen and willow that really complete this.
Can’t say I would have done anything differently when capturing this; it’s composed very well. From a presentation point of view, personally I might shave just a smidge off the bottom simply because so much of the beauty here is the in the upper part. By shaving, I’d say a small 1/3 the distance between the bottom of the frame and the bottom of the pine - not much. Also, there are a few dust spots that could be cloned out in the foggy section up top.
Lon
Hey @Kathy_Snead!
I love the scene and think you chose some great elements. The high frequency bushes in the bottom are nicely contrasted and the overall image softened by the low frequency clouds ad foliage. The color palette is great and I love the seemingly lone green tree. It’s obviously hard to tell what the rest of the scene looks like and as such it’s difficult to say whether or not you should have stepped left or right. I DO like the more full trees on the right and I also don’t mind the more barren trees. It showing a nice range of the season and I appreciate that about this photo… though yeah those trees on the right in the rear do like nice and I kind of want to see a photo of just those.
My first instinct on this photo is that I would have stepped right and place the conifer smack in the center (I have a thing for centered subjects) and stepped to the right to place it between the full trees and the barren trees. The repeating patterns in the middle create a little monotony/tension for me and that would solve it. I would also suggest a slight (1.5˚ or so) CW rotation and it feels lightly tilted.
No comments on the processing! I think it’s great!
Lon
Thanks for that feedback. I appreciate it. I will look for those dust spots.
Best
Kathy
Hey TJ,
Thanks for the comments! I looked at your diagram and thought - what is that and then back at the original and , for the first time, saw that annoying little tree top. I see what you mean. I will keep it in mind when taking more pictures this fall.
Best
Kathy
Kathy, the processing here is great, the exposure, contrast and colors are nicely handled. Everyone has different tastes, and while the trees on the right are strong, I actually like that you included the partially bare trees on the left, I think it tells a nice story about autumn to have trees in different stages. I think TJ has given you some great tips on composition, and to be fair this scene has so many good elements that there are a number of compositions that could have been done here. When in doubt, bracket compositions and try several different approaches.
I agree with Lon on cropping a little off the bottom. I might consider a slight crop from the top as well. I like to pay attention to whats at frame edges, and here the bare tree tips are slightly cut off, which I think is a minor distraction. If you had included all of the tree top, I think you would have too much blank sky on the right. I think a little tighter crop on the bare trees would help, and you could still retain the fog on the right. These are minor points, overall nicely done.
Stellar image. The pale yellows and soft light work beautifully. Composition and processing look good. I think it could stand a slight clockwise rotation and I agree with comments on experimenting with taking a smudge off the bottom.
I really like this image. It’s a nice break from all the grand landscapes. I like your idea of this green fir tree amongst all the more pale yellow colors. I think the contrast is nice. As an alternate idea I would make it stand out less but fading out the greens and diminishing the contrast. I know that this is not what you had in mind but I believe that green tree would stand out more ‘nicely’ if it popped out at us a bit less. I would try that and see how it comes out.
Hi All:
Thank you for the great comments on this photo. I appreciate the time you all took to look at it. I am posting the new improved version.
Best to all
Kathy
Kathy, the reposted (cropped) version works better for me. The fir is more prominent, and the lovely color of the background is brought forward.
Nicely done, and thanks for your effort to tweak this.
-p
I like the reworked version, Kathy.
