I'm still trying to get the hang of it.
All comments good or bad will be agonised over.

Okay, the first thing for you to agonize over today is why you placed the horizon right in the center and split the photo into two....

Then next on the agonizing menu is your foreground. Now you did find one, so that is a step in the right direction, but next time try to find one with a bit more interest...

Now something you shouldn't have to agonize over is your pretty well done sky. You captured that nicely without over cooking it and blowing out the clouds.

Remember to think in terms of the rule of thirds as you compose, you will end up using it (if you want cool looking photo's) 99% of the time...

Hope that helps... Now don't agonize too much over these, it's the weekend, so get out and shoot some more!

Jim

P.S. Are you a dragon who only eat's soup, or a dragon that is only good for making into soup?

Duly noted and written in my note book.
Many thanks.

Is this any better?

Yes! The comp is much better I Love the clouds

Pete

Hm! Taking another quick look... The blurred foreground bothers me just a bit.
Did you shoot it this way on purpose? Try shooting bet f11 and f16 to get that foreground sharp.

Pete

Petecc wrote:
Hm! Taking another quick look... The blurred foreground bothers me just a bit.
Did you shoot it this way on purpose? Try shooting bet f11 and f16 to get that foreground sharp.

Pete

F11, how do I do that?

What camera are you using?

And yes, the 2nd one has a much better composition, but look at where the horizon is? Dead center again... On this one, how about cropping it into more of a pano shot? Look at where the rocks come into focus, and crop right above that.

Jim

Canon Ixus!

Nothing to agonize over. Looks nice to me.

Soupdragon wrote:
Petecc wrote:
Hm! Taking another quick look... The blurred foreground bothers me just a bit.
Did you shoot it this way on purpose? Try shooting bet f11 and f16 to get that foreground sharp.

Pete

F11, how do I do that?


I'm not familiar with your Canon Ixus. The one I found (link below) online is a 2.1 megapixel released in 2000. This model does have a manual setting but I don't think you can adjust your F-stop.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canondigitalixus/page5.asp

Check your manual for ( Manual settings ) if you have a newer version than this. I'm pretty sure this may have that option.

Good luck

Pete

Retracttion

OK! so you have the Canon Ixus 75. Correct!

Check your manual for the (manual settings)...I can't seem to find that manual to view on-line.

Pete

The foreground rock really draw(pull)me up, and into the frame, nice.
The out of focus arae, is a bit distracting, and theres split frame/horizon thingy again.

Great colors/exposure.
The clouds and the water really add alot.
Overall, I like it alot. Maybe a new crop. . . .

Thanks for the post, Bob

If the camera does have Manual or Aperture Priority (AE) it likely only goes to f8. However diffraction will start really setting in at f6.3 or so because of the small sensor size. Also because of the small sensor the camera will have much greater depth of field at wider apertures (smaller f number) than an SLR. F5.6 or f5 will be a good choice to start experimenting with.

I think it's time you invested in a DSLR. A Nikon D40/D50 or the Cannon Rebels, can both be had for not alot of money. If you are serious at all about this, you will want to do that. No doubt the P&S camera's can produce some nice shot, but in terms of adjustments and quality, they still fall short.

Jim

Thanks for the input all.
I read the manual and I cannot change aperture or shutter speed.
I already had it set at it's lowest ISO.
I guess I need something with manual control then.

I like the second one, nice composition.

peter

These are a good try and I can see what you were after in no 1 with the white water leading in through the pic to the distant pastoral scene. The second one is better, SD, but I think that if you want to develop your photography you will need to invest in a better camera - one that allows you to control what you are doing. The basic DSLRs that Jim mentions are the best bet because of their flexibility and will help you to learn about photography (f numbers, depth of field etc., etc.), but the later canon P+S allow you to control everything and, indeed, shoot in RAW mode (G9). They are lighter and can take good quality pics, but to improve you need to get away (bit by bit) from "auto" mode where the camera decides everything for you.

MartinMcl wrote:
These are a good try and I can see what you were after in no 1 with the white water leading in through the pic to the distant pastoral scene. The second one is better, SD, but I think that if you want to develop your photography you will need to invest in a better camera - one that allows you to control what you are doing. The basic DSLRs that Jim mentions are the best bet because of their flexibility and will help you to learn about photography (f numbers, depth of field etc., etc.), but the later canon P+S allow you to control everything and, indeed, shoot in RAW mode (G9). They are lighter and can take good quality pics, but to improve you need to get away (bit by bit) from "auto" mode where the camera decides everything for you.

To tell you the truth, I am actually wrestling with the decision D300 vs 5D.
But that's best discussed in another topic.
It's really composition, saturation leading lines and any other stuff I am currently interested in.
But I really have taken everyones comments on board.

Also, is there a "Golden Rule" for horizon position?
Living on the coast it is generally flat.

Actually I like your composition on the first. With the lighter tonality of the closest dirt path it almost puts the image in 4ths. I think the cloud formation is nice and the water interesting. I think the image would definately go to the next level if shot at a longer shutter speed so as to soften the water (same with image #2). You might have stacked two circular polarizers and shot at your smallest ap. or maybe used a 9 stop ND filter.

The second one also is nice but needs a longer exposure too. as well as keeping your foreground rocks in focus.

Nice job.

Mark

Until you decide which DSLR to buy......if you are primarily interested in composition then I'd suggest sticking the IXUS on the Landscape Scene mode (usually found under the SCN setting and depicted with a small mountain icon). This will provide you with plenty of depth of field for good landscape photography and allow you to concentrate on composition. Also, figure out if the camera can 'bracket' images - i.e. shoot 3 images of the same scene at different exposures - this will allow you to shoot scenes which have a wide range of tones (bright sky, dark foreground) for later blending in photoshop - otherwise you may find that the IXUS limits the type of scene you can shoot to only those with a limited tonal range.

For inspiration on composition I'd suggest the following;
1. take a good look at the FM landscape posts that get high post counts - they are usually very high quality images that embody good composition.
2. Pick up a copy of Charlie Waite's 'The Making of Landscape Photographs' published by Collins & Brown - ISBN 1-781855 851498. Worth noting that many of Charlie's images in the book break the 'composition by thirds' rule.
3. Post more images for feedback here on FM
Cheers

Paul.

OK:

I looked at some of the high response posts and yes, these are truly something to aspire to.

Looks like I need the following.
A nikon 12-24 lens or similar.
A camera to hang it off.
A tripod.
A mountain range with a lake.
A desert.
A few spectacular sunsets.

Places with visual interest do help, there is no way around that fact. What happened to me is I got into Landscape photography and then started to travel with the intention of ending up somewhere beautiful to see. You have gobs and gobs of beautiful landscapes where you live... I'd suggest picking up a few UK photo magazines and find one that shows lots of really well composed images and tells you where they are at !!

As to what camera to get, yes you get a lot more flexibility having a nice DSLR but honestly, I've seen some pretty nice shots with smaller Point and Shooters. However, it's when you start tying to add circular polarizers and gradual neutral density filters that you'll get totally stuck until you upgrade. Also if you want to print very large, the tiny tiny sensor of a P&S camera makes for pretty noisy photos past 8 - 12 inches on the widest side.

Good luck, keep in touch and make plans to visit Ireland or France !!

Well I'm off to Scotland this summer so I should be able to find something.