In the Garden 2

Any thoughts or advice on how to improve this would be greatly

appreciated. I was using a sturdy tri-pod but the wind was blowing the

leaves in the trees around. What do you do? Wait for another day?

Thanks for looking.

Lovely! Best regards, Ilkka

Linda,

  Beautiful peaceful scene with great atmosphere.  I think I would try again on a cloudy day or maybe a different time of day. Take care, Patsy

A beautiful composition of colors. A refreshing image with suitable color tones. Imho, the focus is too soft to make it a perfect shot. Best regards.

Linda, either wait another day with more dramatic sky or pose longer and use the wind to introduce some motion blur in the tree :)

IMO, it's really difficult to get a good photograph that incorporates wind, especially if parts of the photo are affected by the wind and other parts are perfectly sharp.  I saw a photo taken by Art Wolfe that attempted to capture the sense of wind, and to my eyes it just looked like a blurry photo.  I think it will take some special composition or some special elements to show wind in a still photo, and I don't know what those special elements might be.  I would wait for another day (which is why early mornings are so nice).  On another note, you've included a corner of a set of stairs.  I'd suggest that you find a composition that either excludes them entirely or that makes them a more significant part of the photo.  Personally, I could go either way; stairs are often attractive elements in a garden scene, but they should be shown as more than an accidental intrusion (IMO).

I can sympathise with your predicament, wind can be a dam nuisance at times. However my advice is not to wait for another day, but simply wait for dawn or dusk, I don't know why, but for some reason, the wind usually drops even for just a few moments at these times. In addition there is the bonus of the light being less harsh which in turn accentuates the colours. Of course there are exceptions and it blows for 24 hours non stop, and then it is a case of "another day"

Kind Regards

Alf

I apologize in advance for the poor job I have made of adjusting your image, however since the wind has already introduced some motion blur and overall sharpness is not possible it might be beneficial to increase the softness by decreasing the clarity and adding a dark vignette.  The overall impression your image gives is one of beauty and peace so perhaps the element of softness would simply add to this.

Jim

Nice photo, i like the dreamy effect caused by the highlight in the background.  Regarding your question about the wind, i noticed in your exif, that you took this shot at f/3.5 and 1/50 sec.  Given that you had plenty of light you may have consider taking the photo had a higher shutter speed of say 1/200 or even 1/500 by opening the aperture to f/11 or f/16.  This would have helped freeze the movement of the leaves (and given you a deeper DOF).  On another point i agree with the previous comment that it would be better to include more of the steps as a compositional element (or exclude them from the photo all together). I hope this helps.  Regards always - michel

I agree with those who say composition would be a key to utilizing some of the blur from the wind, if that's what you'd like. Or, as has been mentioned, the alternative would be a much faster shutter speed to try to freeze everything. If the blur looks haphazard and like it was being fought, it usually won't work. On the other hand, if you go with it and really allow it to move, it has potential. A strong focus somewhere around which the blur can work is often helpful. Perhaps, if the viewer has a sense that he is seeing through a layer of blur to something a little more fixed, that can be effective. There isn't a strong sense of layering here, so the blur seems to be straining to incorporate itself into the whole. I think focusing on the tree trunks themselves instead of the foreground might have been interesting even here. But I think a composition and perspective that made use of what you had would be the way to go. This looks like it was shot as if you wanted there to be no wind, hoping to make the best of a less-than-ideal situation for what you really wanted. Was there a way you could have adapted more to what was going on and maybe not gotten the shot you originally wanted but gotten a shot more in tune with the day. I wonder what it would have been like to get much closer to the tree from a different angle and use that as an establishing point of solidity against which trails of blur might have made more of intentional statement? Just one possibility.

I am always so grateful for the advice I get here on PN. I am usually not the best judge of my own work. It is great when somewhen suggest something that  I haven't thought of. I am going to do some work with this in Photoshp. If it wasn't for the rain we have been having today I would have gone back and tried again. 

I recently bought a new Manfrotto tri-pod. I was using it here. I want to eventually try to get some images that will give me good results with Photoshop's HDR process. So far I have had no success at all, nothing that I would post. I thought this and some others shot on the same day had some promise.

Sometimes the wind can give you an interesting effect, but most often it is an annoying unpredictable problem.

Thank you all again for your helpful advice.

Warm wishes,

Linda

I wrote my previous note at 5 am yesterday (about 24 hours ago) and i realize i must have been sleeping still when i wrote it.  I meant opening up your lens to f/2 or f/1.8 (not f/11 - f/16 that would be closing it) to increase your shutter speed.  If f/3.5 is as far as your lens will go, you can increase your ISO (you shot this at ISO100) to 400 or even 800 this would be the equivalent of 3 f-stops, or in this case a faster shutter speed of 1/400 sec. Sorry for the confusion yesterday i should learn (but apparently i dont) that my brain cannot function so well before my first cup of coffee. Which reminds me...  

cheers

An absolutely stunning garden that has been well captured. Many very talented photographers have provided constructive input on this image. I wondered what I could offer and it did not seem that I could add any more narrative. I decided to 'go artistic' on this one just to show another possibility. I used the photoshop Filter/distort/Ocean ripple on a duplicate layer and then painted back in the mono color sharp grass.

For what it is worth, I was attracted to the soft light pastel colors in the background which almost had a misty appearance.

Best regards,

Linda, I've read it all, and everyone has tried to give you any help they can. The photo itself could be better, but because of the conditions, I understand the problems involved....but it is basically a very lovely composition.  I had a shot similar but it was during those really 'dog days of summer'.....all too 'brilliant'  in the full sun, But I was focusing on a part of the photo that was in shade, and a lot of the background was in the full sun.

In hindesight, I guess I should have used 'exposure compensation' but didn't think of it at the time.  But you've done quite well despite what appears to be a 'lack of pixelsl' due to a very sunny day in the background?? I could be totally wrong.  Despite it all I've enjoyed your garden series very much.  Talk soon, Gail

Thank you all for your input. It is very much appreciated.  

I have reworked this in Photoshop several times, and I just can't get it right dispite all the excellent advice.

Michel, I have trouble when I  write my comments late at night when brain function is fading. Thank you so much for your added advice. My camera has a bracketing system that I am getting familiar with. Three exposures for the price of one. I think that even if they don't work out for HDR I still get three different exposures.  I am still learning about the different possiblilities, a slow process for me.

Tony, thanks! You are so right, there are so many very talented and knowledgable photographers with excellent advice here. I think your artistic version would make a great painting, I love it.

Gail, thank you. There wasn't a lot of sunshine this day. It was late in the afternoon, long shadows, when the sun did peak out if was very bright. Good to hear from you. I'm glad you like this series. I have really enjoyed working on it.

Warm wishes,

Linda

Nice composition and colours!

Regards(Bobby).

This is beautiful, Linda.  I think that the composition works because there is a semi-circle that includes the tree, steps, and bottom foreground.  Whatever it is, it works!

--Lannie