This is one of my earliest pictures taken since I took up photography as a hobby in it’s own right. I’ve re-edited it a few times as I’ve progressed and would be interested in some general critique.
The picture was taken from a small hill adjacent to Loch Lomond. It was a very wet afternoon and we were lucky to catch this light as the rain clouds passed overhead.
Specific Feedback Requested
Composition and editing.
My original edit was much darker and more saturated. In my re-edit I’ve tried to have a lighter touch, opening up the shadows more but retaining enough contrast. I’ve also tried to keep the colours natural although the RAW file was very grey/ dark by comparison.
Hi Brian, I really love the atmosphere of this photo. I like how beyond the clouds and darkness of the scene the sun is shining on the distant hills and even reflecting in the water. And even though the clouds are low and dark it looks like they are lifting. It has a hopeful feeling.
Welcome to NPN, Brian. This is lovely. The light on the water is beautiful, and you have nice detail in the shadows. I love the little village at the bottom foreground - gives us a impressive sense of scale. The one thing that is distracting for me is the lightness of the water at the left edge of the frame. I want to leave the frame there. I think gently burning just the lights/midtones in the water near the left edge would eliminate that without affecting the overall mood.
The mood is fantastic here Brian. I love the spotlight effect on the sunlit mountain, and the glow it creates on the loch. Another nice small touch that I like is the row of bare trees on the right that are silhouetted by the water. The processing of the clouds and the mountains looks great, but I would agree with @Michael_Lowe that I would try to add a bit more shadow detail, especially in the lower right corner (LRC), where you have some interesting color and detail. I wouldn’t add a lot of shadow lifting, but I think you could tease out a slight bit more detail there.
Moody and mysterious! This is wonderful, Brian. The drama with the dark clouds and light on the BG peaks isjust beautiful. I also like the light being reflected on the water of the loch. My only suggestion would be the alraedy mentioned opening of the shadows just a bit more. Wonderful image.
Thanks all for the comments. I’ll definitely have a go at lifting the foreground shadows a little more and bringing down the highlights a little on that left side. Very helpful as I was struggling to put this one to bed, so thanks again to everyone for taking the time to comment.
