Frosty Kinsman Ridge

[NewHampshire]

I am LOVING the decision to go digital more and more every day. After hiking Cannon on Saturday I got a whole bunch of (what I hope are) good shots. Here is one of the two I feel are the best, lemme know what you think:

Once again, I am still learning to best use Photoshop Elements, and I "fear" I might have gone overboard with the contrast and saturation. I also cropped a bit to kill some distracting space.

Brian

P.S. For some reason the picture as shown, when loaded on Webshots and linked here, looks a bit granier than it does in the origional. Maybe its just me?

 

[DougPaul]

P.S. For some reason the picture as shown, when loaded on Webshots and linked here, looks a bit granier than it does in the origional. Maybe its just me?

Perhaps you are seeing the effects of resampling or a reduced quality factor. (JPEG has a quality factor which allows one to change the compression level. Smaller files have more visible artifacts.)

Doug

 

[w7xman]

First off, very nice scene, with muted colors throughout typical of a great shot at the onset of winter. Contrast looks great as does the overall processing. I think you did great with it! The detail looks very good as well. It really has a nice sence of place, and makes me feel like I'm there. Looks like you really are having fun with digital!

While I do like this very much, there are two compositional elements that I'd comment on. First off, the top of the trail, beginning of the trees forms a dividing line a bit too close to the center of the frame for my tastes. Cropping a bit off the bottom strengthens the entire shot IMO. Cropping from the bottom to 5x7 or 4x5 standard formats should solve that. Next time, a lower angle, looking up, should get all the trail and put you better into a rule of thirds composition.

The other compositional element is the tree framing the scene at left. Part of me wishes to see more of it, part of me wishes it weren't there at all, but it just doesn't quite sit for me right as placed.

Lastly, DougPaul I believe is right on the 'graininess'. If you just downsize a jpg, it gets really soft, and many 'resizers' resample jpgs to sharpen them automatically for web. I think that is what you are seeing...

 

[NewHampshire]

Perhaps you are seeing the effects of resampling or a reduced quality factor. (JPEG has a quality factor which allows one to change the compression level. Smaller files have more visible artifacts.)

Doug

It must be Webshots. I did making a reduced quality copy to upload to Webshots, but the copy does not look as grainy as it does after having been loaded on Webshots. Normally I do Imageshack for single photos like this, but for some reason the site was giving me fits today and I just decided to try Webshots.

Brian

 

[NewHampshire]

If you just downsize a jpg, it gets really soft, and many 'resizers' resample jpgs to sharpen them automatically for web. I think that is what you are seeing...

Ok, that makes sense. Thank you for your comments and suggestions, I appreciate them!

With the tree I was a bit torn. I really liked the element the boulder in the lower left hand corner adds, but the space created on the opposite side of the tree looked too dead to me, and I thought that cutting it out and using the tree to frame the photo might look nice. I will work with a few more crop ideas and see how they look. Thanks again!

Brian

 

[w7xman]

Ok, that makes sense. Thank you for your comments and suggestions, I appreciate them!

With the tree I was a bit torn. I really liked the element the boulder in the lower left hand corner adds, but the space created on the opposite side of the tree looked too dead to me, and I thought that cutting it out and using the tree to frame the photo might look nice. I will work with a few more crop ideas and see how they look. Thanks again!

Brian

I like the rock at the bottom, as well as the root, which is why ideally I would shoot this at a lower angle. I think that the uniqueness of the shot comes from the snow in the trees, which is why I suggested a crop from the bottom. A crop from the top would work as well, to get this into a non-50-50 shot...

And again, just my take of a very nice shot as is..

 

[bikehikeskifish]

First off, I do like the shot, and I agree with the rule-of-thirds comments. Let me ask this -- is there a walking in/walking out rule application here? I.e., the trail is in the middle of the shot and kind of vanishes without either entering (from either corner) or exiting (through either edge). I've tried to apply that "rule" to the waterfall / stream shots, and I would think it applies equally to the trail shots (which I rarely shoot, maybe to my own detriment.) I realize that walking in / walking out primarily applies to human subjects...

For example, if you moved left and down, so the trail entered from the lower right corner, and then that half tree on the left is either in or out (not half in) and the boulder in the lower right is gone (and it could be cropped away too.)

Maybe I am over thinking?

Tim

 

[DougPaul]

Maybe I am over thinking?

IMO, yes.

I happen to like the symmetry.

----------------

Next time you see a scene like this, you could take it from 40 different angles, crop them 40 different ways, and then choose the one that you like the best...

Doug

 

[w7xman]

Maybe I am over thinking?

Tim

In many compositions where there is an implied journey, diagnals are a nice feature. Gives you a starting point, and a way to travel, as you suggested with a stream. If a stream just appears and then leaves at the bottom of a shot, you are left a little empty. Same often works for trails...but not as a hardened rule.

There is an implied journey here, one which I would love to take...and I'm not sure a diagnal would enhance that... With a scene this nice though, I'd love to stop and play around with many compositional options and that would be one!

 

[darren]

Nice shot, with a good subject. Sugestions for improvement might be to get down closer to the trail (to get the rocks to provide a bigger impact) and avoid placing the ground to snowy trees around the middle of the picture.

I can't tell if the shot is over sharpened or if the jaggies are a result of jpg conversion. I am assuming jpg, but how did you post process it? Was it shot in RAW and converted? If so did you do sharpening (unsharp mask)?

Nice to see you getting out there with the new camera.

- darren

 

[NewHampshire]

Nice shot, with a good subject. Sugestions for improvement might be to get down closer to the trail (to get the rocks to provide a bigger impact) and avoid placing the ground to snowy trees around the middle of the picture.

I can't tell if the shot is over sharpened or if the jaggies are a result of jpg conversion. I am assuming jpg, but how did you post process it? Was it shot in RAW and converted? If so did you do sharpening (unsharp mask)?

Nice to see you getting out there with the new camera.

- darren

Hey Darren. As of right now (until I kind find some kind of RAW plug-in for Elements 5) I have to shoot JPEG. The photo looked fine before loading onto Webshots, which leads me to believe that its all Webshots fault....thats my story and I am sticking to it .

Brian

 

[Grumpy]

The advice to crop off some of the bottom is excellent. That puts emphasis on the ice-covered trees, where it belongs. The trail just provides passage -- invites us to take a walk -- into that fantastically glistening world.

G.