Landscape Photography, which do you like.

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GeckPhotographer

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So as some of you know, I do a lot of reptile photography, but have only just started with landscapes. I was wondering which of my landscapes people liked and why, and any way to improve them. Improving them being the overall aim of asking.

Macquarie Marshes on Sunset by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Macquarie Marshes on Sunset by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Macquarie Marsh At Sunset by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Little Lagoon Shark Bay by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Kalbarri Gorge and the Murchison River by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Kalbarri Heath Covered Cliffs by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Kalbarri Gorge by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

Lake Thetis Stromatolites by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr
 
I like the first one (love those type of shots), I think the amount of cloud in the second one is a distraction from the overall image. I also like the last one, just because it is a little different to the usual beach/ocean shots that I've seen.

But I am no expert, this is just my uneducated opinion.
 
Thanks, the second one the cloud and the delineation of colour from below to above it is meant to be the sort of centerpiece of the photo, the one below it is the same picture cropped to make the landscape below more a focus. I thank you for your imput.

Yeah that last pictures was sort of taken just because I'm a biology nerd and stromatolites being so biologically important, I really couldn't miss my chance to get piccies of them.
 
You have been to some great places and have some nice images, but since you asked for opinions, here are my thoughts on a number of ways you could improve your landscapes.

* Apart from the first couple, they are all taken in quiet harsh light. I know you can't always be somewhere at the right time but being out in the "golden hour" just after dawn and just before dusk will dramatically improve your images. In photography, light is everything.

* I find most of the images too balanced around the centre, the tree at sunset smack in the middle, the gorge right in the middle and the stromatolites evenly balanced around the middle. That's why I prefer the river image as I think it is the best framed (composed) image of the lot. Have you heard of the "rule of thirds" which breaks the image up into thirds along the horizontal and vertical axis. For most images if you frame them according to this rule it will make your images much more interesting and dynamic (however rules are made to be broken on occassions!) Also the river image has a nice leading line, the diagonal created by the river which helps to lead you into the image.

* Have a look at your horizons. As well as being level(not in shark bay), they should generally have one third land and two thirds sky or the other way round. Usually avoid putting the horizon halfway like in shark bay. Many of your images have just a little sliver of sky or of land...it's not enough. Decide which is more interesting and go with that. Or just take the sky or just the land, no need to have a bit of each in a photo. In some of the images (river, gorge and flowers) the sky is completely featureless. That's often just the way it is in these areas but perhaps you could get some more colour into it by underexposing a little or using a polariser or some careful adjustments in photoshop. Keep an eye on your cameras histogram when shooting and make sure you keep all the detail in the clouds.

* Would be interesting to see the original uncropped images and see why you chose to crop the images as you have done. Have you experimented with stitching images together for panoramas.

* Just because you are shooting landscapes doesn't mean you always have to shoot in landscape format, try some in portrait format as well.

* I would be inclined to punch up the colours a little and give them a little more oomph as I think they are lacking a little due to the harsh light.

* Remove things (not physically, but either by reframing or in photoshop) like the survey post and tripod handle/wing mirror(?) in the flower shot.

Just my thoughts anyhow, hope they are of some help. I just want to crawl down into that gorge and go exploring, looks fantastic!
 
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Thanks for all the suggestions and critiques.

In relation to some things, all of the day time ones used a polarizing filter with maximum polarization, the brightness was just such that it had little effect, I'll certainly try some underexposure of images to help with this.
I don't like using photoshop or post processing, I like my images to be unaltered other than cropping. I didn't even notice the survey post or wing mirror in that photo, thanks for pointing them out.
I haven't done any stitching because on none of these occasions did I have a tripod and in almost all the occasions where I am photographing I won't have any space to carry one, but I would love to try out this in the future.

Again thanks for all your imput and I'll try to incorporate as much of it as possible into improving my pictures.

Oh and btw the gorge had bugger all herps compared to the other picture locations. :p
 
You know all CPL filters should be able to be doubled up - therefore you can up your maximum polarisation considerably - to almost black - by adding a new CPL filter onto the first one. But it doesn't stop that washed out look... There's no substitute for perfect light - sorry :(

The Lake Thetis Stromatolites is a photo that deserves a ND filter and go at sunset (or sunrise if you're that way inclined) and take the exact same shot again on about 10 - 15 second exposure! You can get some awesome shots by doing that.
 
Yeah I'm aware I could double up, but unfortunately I only have one filter and am unlikely to get another one at the moment. Perfect light is not often likely happen for me, I put the effort in for reps, and I take the opportunity with landscape.
Thanks for the advice though.
 
all I can say is how big can you make these, I'll have one of each for my walls about 6ft wide would be sweet
 
all I can say is how big can you make these, I'll have one of each for my walls about 6ft wide would be sweet
Hehe I'm sorry I don't sell at all just takes to much of my time to arrange, and that's time I don't have. Wouldn't you prefer one of my reptile works anyway?


Nephrurus vertebralis by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr

He's 6 foot wide and going to eat you after licking his chops.
 
The chop licker is a fantastic shot. I loved the Macquarie Marshes #2 (I think it's something to do with the way the clouds have perfectly split the cooler colours of the sunset from the warmer colours. And I loved the Kalbarri Gorge and Murchison River photo as well but can't quite describe why. Makes me want to follow the river around the corner behind the rock to see what's there hehe.
 
more amazing pics from you Steve - especially the stromatolites!

one tip I've heard is, for landscapes, to not put the horizon in the middle of the shot, rather, at the top or bottom. but looks like you've got that covered, the only shot you haven't done that is the one of little lagoon, shark bay.

hope you didn't swim in little lagoon, apparently its full of stonefish!!

[h=1](jskaba from flickr)[/h]
 
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All your pics are great, and would love some on the walls will see what the boss says haha
 
So......you've just taken pictures of your name in random (but very scenic) places. I don't know how you managed to make the ghostly figure of your name hover the way you have but I'll find out!
 
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