Vineyard Plantings, Carter Mountain, Albemarle County, Virginia 2004 (1470)

I like that the pattern of posts is "not-so-regular": the eye keeps popping here and there instead of following predefined geometrical directions.

There's something a bit strange going on around the top center on the clouds. Might be some JPEG artefact, somehow distracting.

This location is the closest I could find to answer Italy's Tuscany region.

 

I've loaded a larger image file, saved at maximum jpg value. Viewing the large image should get rid of whatever it is you're noticing, unless it's something other than compression.

gorgeous.. the jpeg stuff ruins it :(

 

some nice ones in this folder, D. i'll check back when i get home..

the jpg stuff is still evident?

very much.

in the sky area.

#*@#*@! $##%*

Hey Doug,

 

The ground looks beautiful on this one, but I feel that the sky doesn't quite live up. The alternating light/dark of the ground with those stakes popping up is just so impressive, but as my eye travels up it meets some very average clouds. It just feels incongruous. I think I would like it better with just a tiny strip of sky at the top instead of these big swathes of grey and black.

Hi Scott.

I can do that, reduce the sky, it would sure save me from this jpg problem I can't see, but how come a big sky worked so well for this picture?

Another file loaded over the second file which was loaded over the first file which Stefano identified as having possible jpeg artifacts. I'm planning to return here over the next few days to make silver negatives. This is a digital test shot which I made on a scouting trip yesterday. My camera tends to not be very faithful in the wide, even toned areas such as a sky like this. Maybe the sky will be better.

Hey Doug,

 

If I could definitively answer that question, I would quit my job and go into full-time landscape photography.

 

However, my lack of a definitive answer won't stop me from taking a guess. I think the thing I don't like here is the lack of texture in the sky. That sky just looks so flat compared to the vibrancy of the foreground.

 

I must admit that the more I look at the photo, the more I come around to the sky. But I still feel that my eye longs for something a little more inspiring.

Doug, since maybe it's not clear to you where I think the problem is, I have outlined the zone in the attachment. It's still evident even in the bigger size upload.

Scott, I'll have more to show you a little later, with other clouds, other compositions on the sticks, etc. And Stefano, you are tough, man. I can barely notice that stuff. It's a digital image from start to finish, so I'll check the original file and see what's going on. Thanks for catching it.

I'm planning to return here over the next few days to make silver negatives

That should be a very interesting comparison to make. Of course weather conditions, including the cloud formations, might vary. Nonetheless, I'am waiting... :)

I was there yesterday, but the clouds were not as good. Made several more digital exposures, and shot some old kodachrome (vintage 1992). Will keep returning until they kick me off the mountian, or throw me out of my house for coming home late every night.

Scott, it will please you to know that I am following your suggestion. I'll be cropping this picture for a smaller sky, which also moves the horizon higher in the frame.

I think that this picture owes a great deal to the horizontal alternating dark and light shades of grass and straw which balance with the rows of upright poles.

A repetition of intersecting lines!

I've rescrinted the digital file, taking a different crop after Scott's suggestion, and making sure the jpg compression didn't mess with the clouds. What you see now is a wispy section of cloud (I think). What's loaded up top is the new file. Attached here, or somewhere, is the original that was posted and received all the afore posted comments.

I prefer this new crop to the original one. Still I can see what I thought was a jpeg artifacts, but now I am prone to think that Mother Nature is just making fun of me, mimicking a ditigally altered cloud!

Wow, Doug, I'm honored. I do like this new crop better.

Scott, trust your instincts. Sometimes you will be wrong, but other times you will be right, and with flashes of genius.