I think you're off to a great start. If you are looking for things for critique, in the second picture, even though there are few yellow flowers, the foreground isn't as strong as the mid and background. I might have tried an alternative composition at a different time a day with the midground as the foreground, the vertical field as the midground and the sky as the background. If the possibility exists(as in you live near these scenes), I'd revisit at different times of day to see if light can help you a bit more.
I really look forward to seeing more of your work.
I agree with Deval. You are off to a good start!
The first image does nothing particularly wrong - but nothing really right either. It's a bit indecisive. But I couldn't tell you how to improve it...
The second image is strongly tilted clockwise. The change in perspective from foreground to background (looking vertically down vs. looking horizontally) is very confusing for me. I would have reduced the foreground and given more space to the clouds.
The third and fourth image are well seen and well composed images with great colors. Congratulations! I would even leave the power lines. They keep the image from becoming too sweet.
Keep up the good work!
Michael
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Critiques?...
Find images that you like, compare them to your own. Which set do you like better? and why?
Then make more of that.
Many thanks everyone for your advice and your kind words! I'll try to put all of that into practice when I have the next opportunity to load my holders and expose some 4x5s
I think the first shot is great, I'm drawn into the photo. Maybe it could be cropped a little to avoid tripping the eye on the log across the path.
Landing strip bothers me a little. The foreground diagonal lines lead me out of the picture and the horizon is off.
There is an excellent photo in Fields of Mist. I would do a vertical composition with the bottom right corner starting in the area of darker green foreground bushes.The slight diagonal of the remaining foreground bushes would provide great depth perception without blocking entry into the photo. This same slight diagonal would lead nicely to the tire track and then to the solo trees at the edge of the mist. I think that would make a very compelling landscape, I'd be drawn across a room to look at that.
Longing works for me in the original and in your cropped version. I think there is also a very compelling crop, again vertical starting about a third of the way up the right side, just below the darker clump of grass. The left edge of the crop could be a little left of the largest white flower head in the very center of the original shot putting the half dead tree in a sweet spot.
For me, the best attribute of these images is their ability to be compelling in black and white. The light, contrast, and composition will survive very well without color. I think they would be "fine art" if cropped and printed well in B&W. Try separating the color channels in Photoshop to see what I mean.
Thread killer.
Over-all, I would suggest allowing atmospheric distance to give your images a feeling of distance, and depth to the image. If you are using a graduated filter, consider backing off a little in its use.
Looking good!
"Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China
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