New Joiners - Landscapes #522
Lynseyoxton1979

New Joiners - Landscapes #522

May 2021

Entry 9396447
18th
11
Entry 9397036
10th
20
Entry 9398968
36th
30
Entry 9404540
12th
8

I think this has tons of potential, it's composed well and the overall exposure seems to be spot on. I just can't help but feel it needs a lighter touch during processing. I really like the idea, the striking black and white conversion however it's a bit too contrasty and the vignette is very heavy. There's a halo around the tree too. I don't want you to take this as me saying this is a bad photo, as I think with some more sympathetic processing it could be fantastic!!

Crowd
winner

This is such a cool photo, loads of atmosphere, and a pretty crazy composition. The road looks wild, it reminds me of the Mangart Pass in Slovenia and also the Stelvio Pass in Italy. I like the moody clouds, they definitely give it that little something extra. Good job!

Expert
winner
Entry 9412805
4th
33

Wow, this is a truly beautiful shot! It wasn't a difficult decision to pick this as my number one slot, it's stunning. I love the way you've used the trees and light to such good effect, having that early morning fog has really helped the atmosphere here. Well done, a really really nice photo!

Meet the expert judge

100 Images entered

This view is spectacular, I'd love to go there and see it for myself. I wonder what it'd be like at sunrise/sunset when the colours are warm and the clouds are lit by the sun. I know this was shot on a phone so I'm not sure if you have any editing software, but if you do I'd maybe have a look at lowering the saturation in the blues a little as they are very strong. Overall it's a nice image though and great to look at!

I like this, compositionally it's pretty simple but the central dead tree has a big impact. I like how you've included the bush in the foreground too. If I was to be critical, I think the vignette is a little strong. It's made the corners of the sky look a tad unnatural,.You'd maybe be been better off using a lighter vignette and adding a slight grad filter to the whole sky, that way you'll still get the moody dark clouds but it'll be more uniform across the scene. Still a lovely shot though, nice black and white conversion too it's well balanced and looks very crisp!

Entry 9399006
35th
29

I really like this image, it's busy but I think it works well. It's got nice colours and plenty to look at. I'm a tad uncertain as to why you've shot it at ISO 6400 though. I think you could have got away with shooting this scene at f8 rather than f16, which would mean you'd have still had a shutter speed of 1/160th but your ISO would have been 1600. I think you could have even gone a step further and shot this at 1/80th at ISO800 if you had VR turned on too. Obviously I wasn't there so I don't know the exact lighting conditions but it looks to have been a sunny morning. The problem with shooting at such a high ISO on a crop body is that it can severely affect image quality, when you look at this full resolution the noise is evident whereas if you'd used say ISO 800 the image would be a lot clearer! Sorry for the long-winded comment!

Ordinarily, I'd say using a shutter speed of maybe 2 or 3 seconds with a higher ISO would be best for capturing the Aurora as sometimes it can result in a messy green blob rather than a nice shape, but you've managed to create a really striking image here both with the Aurora and the fast moving clouds. Good job on not overdoing it with the light painting too, it looks pretty natural rather than being obviously lit with an artificial light source!

What a vista! That looks like an epic place to visit and photograph. From a technical point of view, it's nice and sharp and exposed well. Compositionally it's nice, I'd have maybe liked to see you step a couple of feet back and to the left so the road came sweeping in from right in the bottom right hand corner all the way through but that's just me being picky.

Entry 9412821
14th
24

A nice atmospheric shot with a lovely simple, almost symmetrical composition. I like the haze the smoke has created, it definitely gives your photo an edge and some fantastic mood! Nice job, an easy decision to include this in the top 10 for sure.

Brief

See more contest details

Welcome to Photocrowd’s ‘Landscapes’ contest for New Joiners! These contests are a chance for new members to introduce their photography to the community, and get a taste of how Photocrowd contests work. They can be entered by anyone within their first 28 days of joining Photocrowd. After 100 images have been submitted the contest closes and the Crowd will start rating the images. The Expert Judge will also be judging the images and writing reviews at the same time. All the winners, both Crowd and Expert, will be announced after 3 days of judging. Make sure you also check out our two other New Joiners contests - ‘People’ and ‘Animals’.

97 Photographers

9,416 Ratings

Entry 9403863
20th
10
Entry 9406741
48th
11

I really like this, the layers in the foreground are fantastic and the colour in the sky is to die for. I wonder if you'd have used maybe a 2 stop graduated ND filter could you have had a slightly more balanced exposure? Regardless, you've clearly put in a lot of effort to get up there for this shot and you've been lucky to have some beautiful conditions all to yourselves! Well done and I'm sure you have a great memory from that trip!

Entry 9414010
21st
13

This is one of the nicest shots I've seen for a while, it's so serene and easy on the eyes. I love the colours, and the processing is sympathetic and tasteful. It's got a really nice composition too. If I was to be super critical I think the vignette is a tad heavy, you could have got away with a lesser vignette, it'd still be a fantastic shot!

Entry 9414301
44th
7

A great view over Loch Leathan and Loch Fada, one I see pretty regularly on my tours. One thing about Skye, it really suits this type of moody processing. The weather is so unpredictable you just gotta go with the flow! One small critique, I'd maybe have cloned out the white pole bottom right and done some selective dodging/lightening on the dark cloud top left as they draw the eye slightly, aside from those very minor points it's a quality image!

Entry 9414732
30th
10
Entry 9416506
11th
5
Entry 9418196
13th
14

This is mega, the sky is full of atmosphere and angry mood! I like the way the rain at ground level has given the image a misty effect and I think you're on the right track with the processing. My one criticism is that you seem to have pushed the saturation in the sky a bit far, as it appears blotchy and pixelated even on the high resolution version. I'd maybe revisit and see if you can apply either some selective Gaussian blur in the upper right corner or go easy on the colour changes to remedy the colour banding.