Dark Cloud at Black Rock (Click for larger view)

One of those mornings when you think the rain will never stop ........but then it did!

Your thoughts and comments are always appreciated. Thank You!

Alf,

a very nice capture.  I think the tones and colors are just perfect.  Bravo for another fine image. This should be hanging on someone's wall. 

Hi Alf,  Beautiful scene, the light is marvelous with the slight dappling effect created by the clouds. You can see by the blue sky it should be clear sailing ahead. Great wide angle landscape.

Best Regards,  Holger

A pleasant return to Black Rock.  This would be a fantastic landscape without the house but with it's inclusion, and particularly the red door, there is context and a story.  As always, excellent stuff... Mike

Another well put together image Alf. I like the lead in of rocks and grass, the amber colors are favorable. Grabbing our attention is the white house to cut through and shine, alone.

Thje dramatic sky makes itself know to all who view.

As you probably know by now, I'm a huge fan of your landscape work.  This image falls in line with the others that have given me hours and hours of jaw-dropping viewing.  

The tonal differences in this image are right on the money.  I love how the dark cloud complements the mountains, the roof, and the foreground area.  As Mike said, the house provides additional points of interest.  Yet, I'm a bit ambivalent about its inclusion.  Although the image is extraordinary as it stands,  I feel like the house is an intruder on nature's territory - not so much the fence that encircles the trees in the center.

My best always,

michael

It's a lovely scene, melodramatically presented. The rock in the foreground helps anchor it. The sharpening effects where the hills/mountains meet the sky are a bit unfortunate, IMO. It creates a strong white outline at that junction which undermines the natural sense of landscape, especially along with the strong colors.

An excellent composition with beautiful colours . I agree with previous comment re : the white out line , it spoils an otherwise marvelous landscape . I'm not sure what you can do about it . Bill

Hi Alf,

  Beautiful scene with magical colors, lighting & composition.  Take care, Patsy

When it comes to landscapes you're the master my friend! Excellent, I do not have anything else to add, the picture speaks and says it all!  (I also see a white outline where the hills meet the sky but I am not sure where this came from.  I suspect from post processing the photo).  Cheers!

Wonderful capture Alf! I love the drama and atmosphere the dark clouds provide against that blue sky! The golden light is gorgeous! I really can't wait until the day I can plan my trip over there to the UK and hopefully I will be able to see for myself some of these lovely places you have photographed so beautifully! I love the white house nestled in at the base of the hills - I can just imagine a nice hot cup of tea waiting for me when I walk through the door! Very well done and beautiful as always! Thank you for sharing. :)

Hi Alf,  What powerful light.  The foreground and background are effectively balanced, and the building adds a living touch to make this more than just a landscape.   The image has a somewhat eerie mood that is balanced by the warm orange light from the sun.  Alf, when viewed large, i notice a white line above the mountains on the left.  Is this white chromatic aberration?  Is it the result of over sharpening?  I see this in too many of my images and am seeking a solution to get rid of it.  Thanks for your advice.  Nice image.  Larry

Beautiful work Alf A celebration to the eye....!

Regards! 

Hanan

Hi Alf, one of the best i've seen. Where's the D800 though? All The Best Gary

Many Thanks, it's been hiding in my archives as a RAW file for about 3 years, before I decidded I could do something with it. : - ) 

Best Regards

Alf 

HOLGER 

Thank you so much for your positive feedback.  The weather is so changeable in Scotland, you can drive for 5 miles and it appears to be a different day, but always beautiful!

Best Regards 

Alf 

MIKE 

The Scottish landscape in general is amazing, but I always feel that one of mens='s little structures kind of emphasises the beauty of nature. 

Sincere Thanks & Best Regards 

Alf 

TONY 

Thank you for your interest and kind words.  The colours were vibrant after the rain, and somehow I even think the clarity of the air in this region makes a difference.

Best Regards

Alf 

MICHAEL 

Always good to hear from you.

I guess the house is an intruder, but I see it more as tiny impact made by man that is overwhelmed by the power of nature. It kind of addresses the balance more in natures favour, which is how I prefer it. But I do understand what you mean, I really wouldn't want to even think about more houses appearing in this location. 

Sincere Thanks for your thoughts and very kind words.

Best Regards 

Alf 

FRED 

Fair comment!   I failed to address the sharpening issues at the final part of processing. But I'm very pleased you like the scene, particularly as I know you are not a great landscape fan.

Sincere Thanks 

Alf 

BILL (William) 

Yes, I too agree with Fred, easily remedied but careless of me in the first place.  I just needed to erase the sharpening at the ridge before saving for web.

Many Thanks & Best Regards 

Alf 

PATSY 

Many Thanks for your kind words and positive feedback 

Best Regards 

Alf 

PANAYOTIS 

Thank you so much for your most encouraging words and feedback.  The white line came from sharpening and saving the image for the web, it can easily be rectified 

Cheers! 

Alf 

TRISHA 

These are iconic scenes that really come to life in the early morning and late evening light. Scotland is just so full of them that when travelling in a car, it's difficult to take it all in.

You will absolutely love it here, you can walk down lanes and see wild Red Deer, mountains , streams and loch's that just take your breath away. I am back there in November! 

Thank you for all your very kind words! 

Best Regards 

Alf 

LARRY 

It was one of those mornings when the light and colours were intensified by the recent rain.  I always find the colours vibrant in Scotland in the autumn, much more so than in England, in fact I can see colours change as I head back south, it's as if the very air changes too.  It is the result of over-sharpening. I tend to forget that this lens is very sharp in the first place, and on this occasion forgot to address it before "saving for web" The original Jpeg processed from the RAW file does not have the white line, so I know it's a combination of lifting the mid tones and sharpening. The easiest way of getting rid of it when processing is having made a mask layer, sharpening the image, just run the eraser across the affected parts before flattening the image and saving for web.

Many Thanks for your thoughts and positive feedback Larry!

Best Regards 

Alf 

HANAN

Thank you for your interest and thoughtful feedback, much appreiated! 

Best Regards

Alf 

GARY 

Many Thanks for your interest and encouraging words! 

This was taken before the D800 came along. The RAW file has sat in my archives for a couple of years and I have just decided I could do something with it : - ) 

All The Best! 

Alf 

Alf, I think all the praises have been said, and I agree with them.  The warmth and the sky is most impressive, and I like the building since it adds another point of interest.  Yes, the big rock is a good anchor, but the building provides lift and it complements the upper-right cloud & mountain slope.  I see that this isn't quite the standard 2:3, and so I'm curious to know what you cropped out in the foreground.  I'll be heading up (over for me) this way in September on a connection through Iceland.  I hope to capture scenes like this.  Nice find in the archives!  Regards, Jeff

What more could I possibly add to what has already been said?  Personally, I love the light.  Keep up the fine work.

-Dave

Very nice. looks like a storm is brewing someplace. Interesting colors and lines.

Great photo, but I'm wary of giving anymore praise or your hat won't fit.

Regards Gerald.

Great image.. The morning light is spectacular.

Hi Alf, . . .

I could spend considerable time telling you what I like about this (and most all your Landscapes) photograph. However, . . . with my showing up late to the party I am confident that anything or praise that I would have offered has already been said in the many comments above this one. So, . . . the short and sweet version, . . .

Excellent lighting throughout the spectactular view your photograph gives us. Although one might consider the house, or building structure the "anchor point," to me, it does indeed serve in that roll if for nothing else because of the white color. But, for me the anchor is that large rock to the left of the frame and those blades of light grass in the right lower corner. Then my eye follows to the structure, the small grove of trees in the center of the frame, down the valley to the distant peak (Black Rock maybe?) then, upwards to the dark clouds in the upper right hand corner of the frame.

Your photographs seem to nearly always provide the viewer (at least this one) wth a "journey" to follow if one takes the time to digest the image.

I certainly wish I could obtain that in more of my own work!

Fine work!

Regards always,

Jim j.

Sincere Thanks, I really appreciate your comments! 

I cropped all around the image about 1/2 inch. There was nothing undesirable that really needed to be cropped out, I just felt a closer view of the little cottage seemed to have more impact.  September may be a bit early to catch any autumnal colour, but a lot depends on how soon the weather starts to get cold. In any case the changing light will provide some glorious colours early morning and late evening.  And there is a photo opportunity at every turn of your head in this area.  Hope to see the results on here after your visit. 

Best Regards 

Alf 

DAVE 

Many Thanks for your kind words!  We were very fortunate with the light a very wet start to the day! 

Best Regards

Alf 

CHARLES 

Thank You so much.  The storm had come and gone, on to the next valley to rumble and bring its very wet payload.  It did seem to leave a very vibrant colour in it's wake though : - ) 

Best Regards 

Alf 

GERALD 

Sincere Thanks, but I was brought back down to earth by a few comments relating to my over-sharpening the ridge.........quite right too : - ) 

Best Regards 

Alf 

BRENT 

Many Thanks for your thoughtful feedback!

We were very fortunate that the cottage was empty, but as it turned out, we found there was a film crew shooting a movie (don't know which one) and consequently the cottage had no residents for a week. 

JIM 

Sincere Thanks for your interest and thoughtful feedback, much appreciated!

The cottage is aptly named "Black Rock Cottage" but I always wondered which rock they referred to.  I once thought it might have been the rock in the foreground, but it didn't look particularly black to me, and I then concluded it must be one of the darker looking peaks behind the cottage.  It's interesting to read your thoughts relating to the "journey" through the photograph. I always think that compositions work well when there are diagonals or zig-zags through a scene, though I can't take any credit beyond getting the rock in the foreground and the cottage at a nice angle 

Kind Regards 

Alf 

I used to be so verbose with a few of your images now I have little to say except that it is a delight to view and especially as I like the warmth of late afternoon and  early morning light as we see in this image. 

Not much more to add to this terrific image. I noticed that there a thin line separating the sky from the mountain.

Words are sometimes like photography and life in general, in as much as sometimes "less is more" : - ) 

Thank you so much for your interest and kind words. 

Alf 

JOSCELYN 

Many Thanks for stopping by. 

Yes you are right, the white line is a result of sharpening and not paying too much attention to what I'm doing ; - ) 

Best Regards 

Alf