Stalker and eratic

A post card perfect day Castle stalker, Scotland on the same day as a

previous upload but this time with prominence paid to the foreground.

Must say I'm becoming a fan of your work and of the others at Timecatcher!

 

I don't think this is your best image but hey, still a 7. However just yet, as I would have liked the castle a bit more bigger (in the picture that is not in real life dimension :) )

Somehow many other photo's on your site seem to have a bit better composition. Hard to explain with my limited English vocabulary but here the big boulder in front, the oen behind it in middle of the frame and the castle are in one line which is just left of the centre. Every time I look at the image it seem si jsut skup the right part of the image. How to say it? it leans/hangs/focusses quite a lot to the left for me with no balancing element on the right. Tjeee what a wawawa from me. overall it's a very nice image after all! keep them coming. Cheers

Excellent colors and composition again Ian!, I love how you work all grounds and the fine textures you render, the quality in your photos is certainly fantastic!

I agree with Mr.(?) Wijngaard - the right hand side seems a little too open and I think it's the centrally placed rock in the foreground. If you'd taken just a small step to the left to place the rock just right of centre I think it would have worked better. Oh - and maybe use a slightly longer focal length lens so that the apparent size ratio of the castle to the rock is a little more balanced in the castle's favour. It makes the difference between "a picture of a rock with a castle in the background" and "a picture of a castle with a rock in the foreground". Other than that, the composition is perfect.

 

Looks like an interesting place. I think I recognise it as a location in more than one Hollywood movie.

Thanks for all your comments everyone. I really appreciate the feedback and it is fascinating to see how a minor change of viewpoint can change peoples opinion of a shot. Just for the record and I am certainly not saying I am right and everyone else is wrong. I saw the rocks as stepping stones to the castle. The foreground rock probably has more textural interest than the rather dull square block of castle itself, so that is why I chose to feature it so prominently. I agree the rock is a little bit central, trouble is a small step left meant that some of the rocks poking through the surface of the water interrupted the reflection of the castle which I didn't want as the castle is quite small already. Believe me it was very difficult to find a composition that worked and yet didn't mess with the castles reflection. I guess what I am saying is that this is the best I could find before I was engulfed by the rising tide.

I'll disagree with the others here. I like this much better than the other version, which I found a bit distant and cold. The curve created by the three major rocks takes my eye naturally to the right and the hills. I have to force my eyes left the castle, but despite this I find myself exploring a large area of the frame, with few empty areas that matter. As for the proportions... I prefer some environmental context in these, and there's nothing wrong with a rock with castle background. Its the opposite of what you'd expect. More interesting.

 

Criticisms? I get the impression its tilted every so slightly to the right, but it isn't... so not sure why. And purely personally, the colour of the sky is far too much for me. I find it's taking attention away from the ground rather than complementing it. Clouds are nice, though :-)

Another Lovely Picture.

Thanks Ian for sharing them with us.

 

DK.

Hi Dear Cameron,

 

Excellent comp., colours, reflection, cong.

Very nice reflection, color, and use of wide angle. I only wish that the mid-ground rock is not lined up perpendicular to the castle. Still, very lovely.

I do like this shot ... a classic Stalker castle from a very unique view ... and you actually had the sky working with you rather than a more typical uniform gray. The sky and the reflection really adds to the shot :-)

I might agree with MI that the stone of the foreground would be better placed slightly to the right, and with Steven about the sky. I admire the DOF and the peaceful Scottish atmosphere. So typical!

Unfortunatly I missed this castle during my last trip in Scotland, I hope to see next time. It's a real pleasure can see it here. Your shot is very nice even if for my taste the sky has too much magenta color (probably a scan setting).
Bye
Domenico

Lovely depth, blue tone and reflection, nice work.