A classic composition and a beautiful location. It's easy to think that any shot of a place like this will do, but when it comes to photography contests, that is not the case. Everything about the photo needs to work well to stand out from the rest. You've done that with this shot! Focus, composition, and exposure are all working together to create a serene sense of place. Great work!
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Great work seeing the interesting potential in the seemingly simple. An unassuming lone tree turned into a silhouette sculpture by positioning the sun directly behind it. The viewer is first drawn to the shape of the tree and then down to the lines of shadow. This frees the eye to explore the unique surroundings of moss/grass and misty clouds in the sky.
I do love a good mirror finish body of water reflecting a beautiful scene. Blue skies and the middle of the day are usually avoided by landscape photographers in favour of sunrise and sunset light. This means that they tend to miss opportunities like this. As someone that shoots this kind of scene, and even recreates it in post production, I'm primed to notice the tell tail signs of a "faked" reflection. In this case the vegetation on far left not being reflected accurately in the water. Be aware I'm not criticising re-creating or enhancing reflections in post production, as it is something I do myself. I'm only offering advice on what to look for and improve the process. If I'm wrong, feel free to ignore this comment as I'm not judging the photo negatively because of it. I'd also suggest uploading a higher resolution so judges can accurately assess the quality of your work. A beautiful image overall, well done!
A simple and subtle abstract that would look good framed and on a wall. One of the hardest parts of photography to learn is the ability to see scenes like this. The colour palette and soft light on the clouds work great together. Although the cloud is centred in the image, the overall balance of the photo is weighted towards the bottom. Cropping out roughly the top quarter/fifth of the image would help strengthen the shot. You'll find that the cloud still feels centred and the focus of the photo, without the excess empty sky. Great work!
A wonderful inviting scene. With a photo like this you can understand exactly why a bench was placed here. An open vista under a large tree is the perfect place to relax and let the mind drift. You can almost get the same experience while viewing this photo. A simple thing to check before entering photos in competitions, particularly for landscape themes, is a straight horizon line. A few degrees of rotation would make a big difference to this shot. You have a great eye to see and capture a scene like this. Well done!
You know it's a good photo when you can immerse yourself in the image. I can almost hear the gently flowing river, and feel the warmth of the setting sun. You've done well to include some foreground, midground and background interest. My only suggestion would be a different composition. By moving closer to the tree or bridge, to make one or the other the main focus of the shot, while still including the other. A 70mm focal length can make it tricky to include everything, as it is more designed for portraits or wildlife. It can still be a valuable lens to capture details in landscapes, or compress perspective. It's still a beautiful shot with wonderful golden light and a photo you should be happy with.
A wonderful relaxing image with gorgeous sunset light. Well worth making the trip to the beach for! The image has an almost abstract painting feel to it. I could be wrong, or it might be the quality of file uploaded, but it seems like the focus is slightly off. Particularly noticeable in the water. This could also be slight camera movement from shooting hand held? Either way the details appear a bit soft in a key element of the photo. I do love the colours and perfectly straight horizon though. Great work!
100 Images entered
98 Photographers
7,847 Ratings
A wonderful sense of place with a definite feeling of peace and isolation. Although we can be limited by the type of camera and lenses we have at the time, I believe you could achieve the same feeling of peace with a tighter crop, either by zooming in at the location, or cropping the image in post. For an image like this I'd suggest keeping the building in the centre and cropping so the cloud is in the very top left of the image. This would keep the field and mountains but remove the close foreground grass and excess empty sky. It would also make the mountains feel more imposing and majestic. You have a great eye for light and composition, keep up the good work!
A beautiful scene on a lovely looking day. You can get a feel of how fulfilling a walk through these hills and mountains would be. Taking an all encompassing shot of what you see is great for documenting the moment. A couple of things to elevate an image for competitions is to look for elements that lead the eye into the shot or hold the viewers attention. This could be done with leading lines, foreground interest, or even with separate areas of light and dark. As is almost evident with the distant mountains. A gorgeous photo none the less that makes me want to explore Scotland!
I love the light and feel of this image. The composition is also spot on. The only thing holding this image back from being a really great shot is the focus. The darkest part of the image, and the hardest to see, is the only part in focus. A narrow depth of field can work great in landscapes, and would in this photo, if the focus was on the sun-lit trees in the middle right of the image. Unfortunately this isn't something that can be fixed in post production. The good news is, you have a great eye for composition and light and will continue to take wonderful photos.
I can get a feel of the moment and place you were capturing despite the challenges you mentioned. The composition and soft tones create a delicate artistic style. My only suggestion with this image would be a slight toning down of the grain/noise throughout the image. While it does help to boost detail in the trees and snow covered undergrowth, it feels out of place in the clear sky. A wonderful shot none the less. Well done!
I can see what you are trying to express with this photo. Or at least I think I can! A cold rugged landscape with a sense of remoteness and emptiness. While this does come across in the photo, when it comes to photography competitions, an objective view of your own photos is needed. As a judge, I try and find anything I can to give the highest rating. This includes such things as exposure, focus, composition, subject matter, leading lines and balance. A simple improvement to this shot to improve balance would be an almost square crop to remove the excess blue sky. You'll find this balances the image much more, amplifies the contrast between empty sky and detailed landscape, and holds the viewers attention for longer.
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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’.
