Winter's Sun

[u666u]

Lets try this again.

[Bambi]

yay it worked!

Okay, I like the simpleness of this picture quite a bit. The tree in the right side helps set the perspective and sets a nice lonely mood. Including then fence is also a good compositional decision.

I think with a little more processing though, this photo could really sing (as Marko would say). A bit of brightening at the bottomw, some sharpening and a levels boost should really enhance this photo. I would also crop out the bottom snow bank and have teh photo start at the bottom of the fence.

just my

[casil403]

I'm with Bambi on this...and I'll add I might try to lean this into more of a landscape orientation than the orientation it is now. My eye is travelling across the fence, one side to the other looking at the trees in the background and the contrast in the sky so if it were me I would focus in that direction, I think the sun at the very top can go also..
Again others may differ in their opinions.

[Wicked Dark]

Nice idea, but it needs to be in focus. I can't find anything that is. Also needs a stop or two more exposure (the key to making snow white in photos). You have good instincts though, so keep working on it.

[Mad Aussie]

Good critiques gang. I have nothing to add to that lot.

[u666u]

I shot these for a class at ACAD so I have diff exposure can I post another expos=kkyure dd=one one this day? I'm a rooky.

[u666u]

Nice idea, but it needs to be in focus. I can't find anything that is. Also needs a stop or two more exposure (the key to making snow white in photos). You have good instincts though, so keep working on it.

Not in focus is nasty!! The snow that the sun is on is white that is what I went for. I have other higher exposures they make the snow white. I am still learning but not a complete amature. O... sh.. I thank you but how do I show the light and the sun in the right light? This is hard.

[Mad Aussie]

When you say 'higher exposures' do you mean longer exposures ... ie exposures (photos) that used a longer shutter speed? Or do you mean you have photos that you used a wider aperture setting (lower f-stop value) ? In other words, photos that are brighter all around?

What you are dealing with in a photo like this is a scene with such a large difference in the bright areas and darker areas that the camera can not correctly exposure for it in a single photo. This is called having a large or high dynamic range (HDR).
Your choices in this type of photo include these ...

a) expose for the brightest areas and try to silhouette the darker parts. This keeps detail in those bright clouds as much as possible,

b) try to go an average exposure which will do an average job meaning some parts will be exposed well, some parts won't. Most likely you will have blown out highlights and dark areas without detail,


c) use an HDR Merge process where you take around 3 to 5 photos using a tripod in rapid succession and then use software and processing skills to blend the photos together to produce a photo that retains better exposure throughout,

d) use a Graduated Neutral Density Filter on the lens that allows you to darken the light hitting the lens from the bright parts but still see the darker areas as normal. This allows the filter/lens combination to even up the HDR and take a single photo.
Note: In some cases a Circular Polarizer will do this job as well if the HDR isn't too great.