New Joiners - Landscapes #934

I see a lot of images entered into this contest that have an animal in the centre of the frame but not revealing enough of the landscape to make it eligible to be selected. This is how you include an animal in a landscape image. It's not the whole image, but it helps to give context and interest to the scenery.

Without the cow in the foreground, this image would have felt a little flat, but including it, especially in the way you have done, elevates the composition exponentially. It helps to lead the eye to the mountains in the distance. If only the cow was looking up rather than down, but that is a minor quibble. Thanks for sharing.

There is something about the layers in this image that just works well as a composition.

In the foreground we have the sea, churning and tumultuous, almost devoid of colour. Then there is a thin strip of meek colour on the horizon. A weak warm that stands no chance against the gathering storm. This gives way to the furious clouds above, grey and threatening, seemingly about to swallow the light and engulf the sea.

Your composition helps, giving the most room to the sky but also allowing the sea to have its place. Nicely seen and captured, thank you for sharing.

I really like the colours that you've brought out in this composition. It puts me in mind of a Wes Anderson film.

The composition works well, although I would have preferred the boardwalk to be centred in the frame. It still doe a good job of leading the eye into the rest of the frame and that turquoise water in the distance. The bold colour of the water contrasts with the blue of the sky and those fluffy clouds add some texture which contrasts with the beach and the pier.

The detail of the boats also adds scale and interest. The only reason this isn't in the top 10 is because the quality looks quite low. This might be because it was cropped or perhaps it happened during processing, but it definitely deserved to be recognised for the bold colours and composition. Thank you for sharing.

There is a lot going on in this image. From the foliage in the foreground to the rock wall that fans out, leading the eye to either side of the lake in the distance.

You've done well to control the bright, low sun as it descends, capturing a sunstar just before it disappears behind the mountain top on the left of the frame. I like the way the light has caught on the low cloud clinging to the mountain slopes in the middle of the image.

Your composition works well. Everything has a place in the frame and there is plenty to look at. It must have been an amazing place to witness in real life and you've done it justice with your photographic rendition.

The processing is a little too much for my liking, making the image feel almost unreal, but processing is a personal choice and this might be how it looked to you. Either way, you've cerated something 'epic' in the truest sense of the word, thank you for sharing!

You've captured some of my favourite conditions in this image. It's not something that happens very often, but when there is low wind, high humidity and cooling temperatures over night, there is the potential for mist that is then permeated by the sun as it rises. The outcome of this is the conditions we can see in your image -- light flooding through the trees, shafting through branches and illuminating the scenery.

The image is further elevated by the autumnal colours that stand out against the cloudless blue sky above. The composition is a little loose and I'd crop out the tree on the far left of the frame and the branch that is intersected into the top left, for a more impactful composition.

That aside, thanks for sharing and reminding me why I love those sort of mornings so much!

This is an impressive waterfall shot that tries to demonstrate the scale of the waterfall by including the surrounding landscape.

I like the low cloud that is swirling around the top of the cliffside, adding a little but of atmosphere to the scenery. The composition works well, with the portrait orientation helping to keep all the elements tight in the frame.

The lack of light makes the tones even throughout and all in all this works well, especially as it was shot on an iPhone. Thank you for sharing.

I have a lot of respect for people who undertake astrophotography. You have to know what you want and understand your kit to be able to compose and operate in the dark. The payoff is shots like this one -- a maelstrom of stars tracking their way across the night sky.

I love all the different colours the stars seem to be as our planet gently turns, giving the impression of movement. The deep blues of the sky complements the warm tones in the sand below, and I rather like the detail of the tyre mark, mirroring the arc of the stars.

The quality is a little degraded, presumably because of the noise reduction, but other than that, there is plenty here to enjoy. A reminder that we are infinitesimal when placed against the vastness of the universe.

Thank you for that timely reminder. It always puts things into perspective. Thanks for sharing.

There have been a couple of really good astrophotography entries in this cohort, and this is another fine example. Whenever I write a review for an image that depicts the night sky, I feel obligated to commend the photographer for having the tenacity and technical prowess to go out into the night and create work like this.

The Milky Way is the main focal point of this image, arcing over the sky. There is some incredible detail visible, both in the galaxy itself and from the stars surrounding it. Images like this are a great reminder of how small we are, something that you've emphasised with the human in frame, standing under the Milky Way, the colour from their torch mirroring the colour of the sky. It's a clever bit of storytelling that makes the image even more impactful.

Nicely captured and composed, thank you for sharing.

This is a well composed image that uses all the elements in the frame to powerful effect. The bridge in the foreground leads the eye from the front of the image to the middle, pausing at the tree, before taking in the rest of the scenery, particularly the hill in the background.

Although the sky is fairly overcast, the bridge and the foreground are bathed in some lovely sidelight that brings the scenery to life and adds some much needed warmth to the image. The texture of the bridge contrasts with the greenery and the grey clouds add a little something extra.

Well seen, captured and processed, thank you for sharing.

It's always gratifying to see a different perspective on much photographed locations. I've seen plenty of image of Valencia over the years, mostly focussing on the impressive architecture, but I have yet to see an image that depicts the city in a wider context until I clicked on your image.

Many of the iconic photography locations are visible in the frame, but they become small in comparison to the landscape in the distance. I had no idea that Valencia was close to such a mountainscape and including that in the image really adds something to the composition. The compressed depth of field makes the city and the mountains look closer than they actually are, and that juxtaposition gives the composition a little something extra.

I like the cool tones of the image and the hazy layers of mountain tops that seem to disappear into the distance.

Nicely seen and captured, thank you for sharing.

I've always been interested in the mountain ranges of Nepal, and how it must feel to hike there, surrounded by these giants, feeling small against the vastness of the landscape.

This image does a great job of showing off that vastness and also conveys a sense of quiet. This is partly because of the time of day when it was taken. The ambient light is fading, and even the introduction of some artificial light cannot overwhelm the mood conveyed by the setting sun and impeding night.

I'm a big fan of using the camera that you have on you, and often that is the iPhone. Here it's done a great job differentiating the landscape in the foreground from the one in the distance. The low cloud on the right of the frame also helps to balance out the boulder in the foreground on the left.

Overall, a really delightful image of an amazing location, thank you for sharing.

This is a simple image, and one that many might overlook, but for me its charm is in its simplicity. It could be easily overlooked because there isn't a huge amount going on. There is no epic vista, or beautiful light. Instead, there is low cloud and lots of it.

The low cloud swirls around and isolates the three trees in the middle of the frame, making them the main subject matter. Without the low cloud the trees would have merged into the background, and become part of a wider scene, but with this backdrop they stand out and give the image something extra.

I like the spectre of the hilltop hiding behind the cloud near the top of the frame, and I love the muted processing that you've gone for, preferring the lean into the gloomy conditions and keep the tones cool.

It's an image that almost feels 3D and I can feel the cool cloud on my face. Nicely seen, framed and processed, thank you for sharing!

Matterhorn is one of those iconic locations that doesn't need an introduction. Its unique shape has permeated into popular culture, making it recognisable to the masses. You use that to powerful effect in this image, placing the peak in the context of a wider scene, showing how it towers above the peaks that surround it, evidently bigger and more difficult to summit.

The low side light helps to elevate the image, and I like the texture of the clouds in the sky, mirroring the landscape below. There is a little bit of a blue colour cast, mostly due to the reflective nature of the snow, and that could easily be dampened down in post for an even more impactful image. That aside, there is plenty to enjoy here, thank you for sharing.