Untitled

Tunnel View, Yosemite Valley. El Capitan guards the entrance on the left, with Cathedral

Rocks and Bridalveil Fall to the right. Beyond are Sentinel Rock, Half Dome, and Cloud's

Rest.

Maybe a little too much blacked out. I would like to explore the surroundings!

Tree on the left is is very distracting - intruding in, but not adding any visual interest. Exposure of foreground is way off - totally devoid of detail. What's the story you are trying to tell here?

Use posted this and asked for critiques, so I am assuming that is what you want, not just people telling you who much they like or dislike your image.

First let me say first I have visited Yosemite twice and it can be so overwelming with all the beauty in the park, how do you capture that in a photo. Please take this as a honest critique I am offering to help you improve your images, not to knock down your work.

 

First thing it looks like this was taken a little to late in morning because the light is a little harsh. You have a lot of just plain blue sky in the image, but that is just dead space in an image, it doesn't offer anything to the composition. Then in the foreground you have all that pure blacked out area with NO detail at all, which again is just dead space in an image and doesn't offer anything to the composition. Also that tree on left again doesn't look like it belongs there, was just in way when you took the photo, I would have cropped that totally out when shooting the shot. In the highlight areas of the shot you have no pure blacks at all, which make them look flat. You need pure blacks in an image to give it that micro detail and give it little more of three dimensional look. You have pure blacks in the image, but in all the wrong places. Remember when taking a trip to a park like this if you spend 5-7 days there and come away with 3-5 keepers you have done well. Keep going back to a area and wait for the right moment, when there is beautiful sky, stormy clouds or lots of color. Catch that late evening warm light hitting the peaks just before it goes down. Those are the kind of moments you want to capture to really get a stricking image.

 

I hope with my critique, you don't take it personally because it was not meant to knock your work, but instead give you suggestions to improve your images. Really study the work of some great photographers and you will see what I am talking about. Then compare that to your work and see what areas you need to improve on to make your work stronger. Good luck Lars, keeping shooting and enjoy it while you do and if your objective when your out taking pictures is to just get some vacation shots, then that is ok to. That is the great thing about photography, it can be Art or just to capture memories for a scrap book.