Superstition

Any suggestions for a good landscape lens? This is my favorite genre

but I'm maxing out my lens capability.

I always loved the desert floor for that brief time when it is green. I had the same problem with landscapes and finally just made the jump to a full frame camera instead - a 5D. It's hard to go wider than a 17mm without introducing distortions.

considering the visual components of this shot ( the mountain in the background and the trees) and the visual value of each, I think the foreground is too full. the problem with this is that the trees stop optical movement right there and don't allow a flow to the mountain. in land scape shots the proportion of the components must be rationed in a way to let that flow to happen. eyes must be able to freely explore the landscape. moreover, there must be a focal point to act as a returning point. what I mean is that eyes always return to that point. without focal point, the eyes can't close that loop . as a testimony to this claim, I have cropped this image in a way to produce that effect.I know that the crop has taken too much of the components but this is just an example. another problem with this shot is the intensive light. you know, the landscapers always choose a time a tad after sunup and moments before sundown for the diffused light and the hues. you have picked the worst time when the light is so intensive that the colors are pale. in the instance here the colors are so pale that there is no chance this shot can work for me. in such situations you should use a polarizing filter to cancle out some light beams to enrich the colors.