single photos To Pastures New (View Large)

You may well ask why ISO 1600 .........hmm well simple really I Just

forgot to check it!

This is a like an opposite of my previous posting. Your thoughts and

comments are always appreciated!

Thank You

Wow, first comment on two of your photos.  I'm either impressed with my timing or admitting that, with my wife out of town, I'm having a really slow Friday night ;-).  

What a difference a little light makes with the difference between this and the reciprocal shot.  Each has it's own character but I'm a sucker for fog, mist and clouds.  This is still a superior bucolic scene.  Very well done.  Oh yes, thanks for admitting that you forgot the ISO setting... It's therapeutic for us old folks ;-)....  Mike

Very good light, and I'm glad you caught that band of blue (or gray?) across most of the top.  I don't know if that's sky or a different band of clouds, but it's very good for the upper portion of the photograph.

Another beautiful shot with very nice lighting, Alf!

Alf,

  Beautiful scene with amazing clarity, colors & lighting.  Take care, Patsy

Hi Alf. Nice and calm place. The composition works for me - however, I am left behind a bit helpless, because I cannot make out a main subject here. There are several objects that draw my attention, but none of them really stands out.

Colors and light are mastered brilliantly. Am I right that capturing the interplay of greens/gray/blue tones was your main intention?

Have a nice weekend! Alex

Hi Alf,

A lovely scene , especially for "day dreamers"  who want to escape to a more peaceful place than what they often have to contend with on a daily basis.

Your clarity level remains very good because of the F/5.6 setting employed with that particular lens. 

The higher ISO is of no negative consequence because the Nikon D800 senor package is one of the very best and the lighting levels are great enough that any noise is lost in the components of the scene itself.

Best Regards my friend, Mike

Hey Mike I'm impressed too, your obviously stalking me!

The light does indeed make a huge difference to the mood. The photo's were taken about a week apart and in different locations in North Wales.

The misty one was in the evening and this one at dawn, so I tried to show the opposite characteristics.

As for the ISO setting  hmmmm .........I took some amazing shots and it was only when I had near completed my tour of the lake that I noticed ......I did manage to get the last 4 shots with normal ISO 200.

Thats the second time I've done that in 5 years, if the frequency increases I'll sign myself over to a carer : - )

Many Thanks Mike, much appreciated!

Alf

STEPHEN

Many Thanks for your interest and thoughtful comments.

The darker area at the top was indeed a different band of clouds. I did accentuate it slightly with a digital ND grad in lightroom.

Cheers!

Alf

RUUD

Many Thanks for your visit and kind words, much appreciated!

Alf

PATSY

Thank you so much!

The light was very good, clear and calm conditions. Very good for photography, not so good for the photographer that was constantly being eaten by midges!

Best Regards

Alf

ALEX

Sincere Thanks for your thoughtful feedback and questions.

My main intention was to capture the colour, but also to allow the viewer a sense of a journey over that ladder looking thing known in the UK as a "Stye" perhaps you have them too?

So I guess my main subject would be the stye.   Now it isn't placed in the frame in a thirds position as I would usually try to place my main subject. But thats because I wanted it to balance with the foreground stones and the lake, and also allow the viewer to visually climb the stye and walk along the edge of the lake, as I did in reality. But maybe I was being a bit optimistic there : - )

Have a great weekend too Alex!

Alf

MIKE P

Well I can empathise with any "day dreamers" I'm very good at that. If there had been A level day dreaming in school I would have walked it! : - )

Interesting thing regarding the ISO setting Mike, although I employed F 5.6 and ISO 1600 from dawn for most of the time I was there, (About 3 hours) the noise level decreased noticeabley as the day got lighter.

This was one of the last images I shot before I noticed my error. Some of the earlier shots were unusable.

Sincere Thanks my friend!

Alf

Hi Alf,

Every sensor has noise. Every ISO has noise.

The one aspect of imaging that helps us to disguise "noise" is the background and froeground levels present at the time the image is taken. The color variations and range of tones required to develop a scene accurately also influence how the noise reveals itself.

At least at 1/2000 second, your hand holding skills were adequate enough with a short focal length lens setting..........just a joke my friend. I am confident that with some practice you could throw away your tripod and still capture the same beautiful scenes that you do.

Best Regards, Mike

Hi Alf

Everything is natural to the extent that I feel that I am in the place. I like such impression in photography. best regards

Simple, elegant and more importantly: beautiful.alfredo

Hi Alf,

A lovely tranquil capture and somewhere which looks really inviting to sit and watch the world go by. Really nice light too. Best wishes. Sarah.

Beautiful landscape with great light and colors! Such a tranquil scene and mood presented here; the only thing missing are a few cows or horses, but we can't always have it all, can we? ;) Perhaps they are over the next hill... Excellent work, as usual! Thank you for sharing. :)

Hi Alf. My first thoughts were the same as one of your other commenters - what is the subject. I am glad you added a comment telling what your intent was. Given what you wanted to achieve, I would have tried some different angles, probably moved to the right if that was possible, in order to get the stye off the edge. Where it is and the way it is pointing to the right, it feels like I am walking out of the image instead of around the lake. I like the path before the stye and would ensure keeping it in the image. I see the balance you were trying to get with the rocks, but IMO that hurts the impact of the desired goal. Maybe moving to the right would allow you to also keep the balance. Not being there, I can not know if there was a better POV. My 2 cents worth. Happy shooting.

While I am not really 'well versed' at Landscape Photography, I did sell a lot of Limited Edition Prints while we had our Art Gallery, and I KNOW this image would have SOLD! I like how I am drawn into the image; the Stye on the right does not bother me at all where it is within the composition. Even if you could have gone farther to the right, I feel you would not have achieved the wonderful view that I am seeing now. My eyes see the lovely detail in the foreground, then wanders to the Stye, the rocks and fencing, but then move on to the lovely mountains in the distance. Such beautiful colors in the Pasture and foothills that make lovely reflections in the water. I especially like the big bolder with the moss growing on it in the foreground. It seems to be the point where my eyes and mind are introduced to the landscape, if that makes any sense.

One of the wonderful things about Photography- there are 'rules', and there are those who take 'chances', possibly introducing a NEW POINT OF VIEW. From where I am sitting the view is breathtaking!

I starting a come back to photo net and I am happy to see that some of my favorite photographers are still posting some very nice pictures. I like the lines and the composition in this landscape. There is a foreground, middle and background. Well done;

Ben

Interesting information in relation to noise Mike. It would seem its a case of relativity to the background and light levels as to the visibility of noise.

Yes you are right.......at 1/2000 of a second I managed to a sharp picture....shame about the previous 4 that were blurred : - )

Joking aside though, when it is a crucial moment and I want to make sure, I will always use a tripod.  When you get up at 2.00 am and travel 200 miles or more to find the perfect light the only way for me to be certain of the shot is use a tripod.  I learned the hard way after getting back home and on several occassions and viewing the results to find that they were just not sharp enough taken hand held.  Thats not to say it can't be done, but I like to make sure!

Mnay Thanks Mike!

Kind Regards

Alf

MUSEEB

It is most gratifying to read that the image allows the impression of being there, for that is always what i intend.

Sincere Thanks

Alf

ALFREDO

They say there is beauty in simplicity, and it is very pleasing to read that you find it so in this image.

Thank you so much!

Alf

SARAH

It was indeed a beautiful morning!  The lake was calm, there was a few scattered clouds, and the sun was beginning to make an appearance.  Unfortunately someone invited the midges to breakfast on me.....literally!

My Sincere Thanks & Best Regards

Alf

TRISHA

Many Thanks for your thoughts and kind words.

There were a few cattle in the field behind me, but for the most part this area is dominated by sheep. (You can see a few in the larger view, 2 on the green slope) its a good point though, very rarely do you get a good landscape shot with a quantity of pastoral animals in the right places.

Best Regards

Alf

DAVE

I did try a few angles as I approached the wall. But you make a good point about walking out of the shot.

Perhaps because I have the knowledge of the area, it clouded my judgement somewhat. 

I will go back to the RAW folder and see if I have come up with any better compositions.

Sincere Thanks for your thoughtful critique & Best Regards

Alf

GAIL

Many Thanks for your thoughtful feedback and kind words.

I guess its a question of balance and what works for the individual.  I quite like the balance myself, but then I can see where Dave was coming from too.

I think the word "rules" should be barred from being used in photographic terminology, and instead be replaced with "rough guidelines"

I sometimes wonder just how many great images have been lost by people too busy following "rules" so yes, you are quite right, we should all take a chance more often!

I'm so pleased you enjoyed this one!

Warm Regards

Alf

BEN

Good to hear from you and welcome back!

I had hoped to create a balance and a route through the image, I think I might have failed with the latter though.

Sincere Thanks & Best Regards

Alf

Hi Alf,

Your setup should reflect what is comfortable for yourself to use. Tripods, monopods and other support systems are fine, and I do use them from time to time as well.

Over the years, I have practiced my skills at hand holding most any lens made without compromise. These efforts have paid off on many occasions , but I recognize that they certainly do not work for everyone.

I was once at an outdoor evening event away from home,  when the sky cleared up in time for some star gazing. Some people setup their sophisticated telescopes and tracking systems to make some captures, while I watched on. A fellow next to me joked and said " I do not think you can do much with that Nikon D7000 and that small lens on your camera hand holding it toward the sky ".I laughed and said watch this, and I proceeded to lay the back of the camera on the ground, and set the exposure to 30 seconds. The use of the self timer allowed me to clear away from the extreme wide angle of the lens. The camera was set to ISO 1600 and the lens was the excellent 10.5 mm F/2.8 Nikkor Fisheye.

Since a 30 second time exposure would show the stars stationary because of the very short focal length used, the colors and star numbers were rather impressive upon enlarging the final image onto a big screen.

The Milky Way image obtained won me First Prize in a group vote of all that were in attendance. The prize was a new tripod !!!

Best Regards my friend, Mike

Its a good and very entertaining story and just underlines the importance of a steady platform, wether it be your hands or another means.

I have used all kinds of things to steady my camera, walls church pews, benches and fences.

One of my earliest mistakes was buying a flimsy tripod when I first started taking photographs. I didn't realise until some time later that even the light pressure used to depress the shutter made the legs flex slightly on the tripod and consequently the results were less than satisfactory.

Many Thanks Mike!

Best Regards

Alf

Hi Alf, I like this image very much, after looking at both this and the last image I'm in total agreement with MLMs' comments. A wonderful composition with great color for this lovely scene. Take care.

BR,

Holger

Compliments for this wonderful landscape!

Lovely!!

Many Thanks for your interest and thoughtful feedback.

Yes, I agree the light makes all the difference!  Same subject, different mood entirely.

Best Regards

Alf

MAURIZIO

Thank you so much for your interest and kind words!

Best Regards

Alf

ALBERTO

Many Thanks my friend!

Alf

Alf, beautiful landscape image with rich and natural  colors, I like the reflection and the clear water here. Very well done as always!!!!

Warm regards,

LuDa

A most marvelous landscape this is indeed. I'm thinking a pair of waterproof boots would be a must in this environment :=} Love the lush greens and the soft light over the whole of the scene!

-r-