New Joiners - Landscapes #898

This is a thoughtfully composed landscape with the partly submerged rocks leading the eye into frame toward the reflected mountains. It's a tranquil scene. However, I can't quite decide whether the tree bough adds or detracts from the composition? It's not the most attractive piece of wood and does fight for the viewer's attention. What do you think?

This is a nice rural scene and the conditions are good too, with a lovely sunset. However, the colours are far too saturated and punchy - they look totally unnatural. This might be due to a camera setting or filter used. You can also see posterisation (abrupt changes from one tone to another) in the sky. A more natural look would enhance this scene.

'Painting with light' is a really fun and effective technique. In this instance, the photographer has painted this lovely, shapely solitary tree with torchlight during a long exposure, which really lifts the tree from its surroundings. It is a creative, eye-catching and well captured nighttime shot.

Great light and a great sky, but unfortunately, there is not enough interest within the landscape to retain the viewer's interest. It lacks a key focal point - something that will provide an anchor for the composition. The horizon also needs to be straightened.

There is something about this photo that keeps luring me back. It's just a bit different - a well seen shot. I love the simplicity of the grasses and willowherb contrasted against the calm water and snowy peaks behind. An interesting and impactful shot.

This is a colourful shot with instant impact. The brightly coloured beach huts, contrasted against the blue sky, provide so much interest - and their reflection adds a sense of symmetry and calm. Reflections are typically darker than the subject itself. Therefore, it can be worthwhile selectively adjusting exposure in post processing to create a more evenly exposed result overall.

The pier makes a great subject to silhouette against the setting sun. The conditions are good too, and I like those colourful foreground reflections. The immediate foreground isn't quite sharp enough, though - I suspect the photographer has focused too far into the scene. Depth of field falls one-third in front of the point of focus and two-thirds beyond it. Therefore, a good focusing technique is to simply focus a third-way into the scene if you wish to capture front-to-back sharpness.

This is a classic Croatian scene - beautiful architecture, sea, and sunshine. The dark, moody sky really enhances this scene. The foreground water lacks interest or an obvious focal point, though - for example, a boat. Therefore, I'd be tempted to crop this image into a narrower aspect ratio in order to exclude some of the sea and empty space.

This is a lovely, vibrant sunset. It is a simple shot, but well timed and captured nonetheless. The setting sun provides the main focal point, but the water and waves add essential layers, texture, and depth to the image. A peaceful, tranquil seascape.

This is a nice enough rural scene, with livestock and rolling fields bathed in warm evening light. However, the sun's intensity is beyond the sensor's dynamic range and is badly overexposed. In my opinion, the area of blown highlights in the sky is quite distracting and undermines the image overall.

I'm not keen on the foreground branches as they are a bit messy and don't add anything to the composition in my opinion. But this is a lovely view, with the river and boulders providing an entry point to the mountainous view beyond. However, the colours are a bit too saturated and punchy for my taste.

One of the key ingredients to capturing successful landscape photos is 'mood'. The low lying list, glistening spider's webs, and warm, low sunlight combine to create an image which is oozing with atmosphere. The shot is nicely composed, with good separation between the trees. The rays of light on the right of the frame provide interest and balance.

This is a beautiful, wintry landscape. I love the transition from snowy foreground, to green fields, to snowy peaks. It is a scene with great depth, interest, and detail. I do find the tuft of grass in the bottom left corner a little distracting, but this would be easy enough to tidy-up. A well captured big vista.

Woodland photography can prove highly challenging. It is a chaotic environment, so finding order and identifying a clean, pleasing composition can be difficult. Mist and fog help simplify woodland interiors - and pathways help entice the viewer's eye. This shot is well constructed and beautifully processed too. It is an image boasting immediate impact and atmosphere.