minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Though I love traveling to interesting locations, most of my time is spent right here in the middle of Mississippi with rather boring landscape options. I have a few favorite locations I shoot often and in all seasons. I'm posting a couple of sample shots & a reworkable file from one of them, and I'm asking for your feedback on how best to approach the location.

It is actually a drainage ditch. The only approach faces E/SE, and is limited to about 50-60 feet half of which is a bridge. You can't get all the way to the water but you can get almost level with it about 10-15 feet away. Sides and back are not accessible. The slope is about 20 feet at about 40 degrees. There's a lot of tall weeds at different times of the year.

My questions: Include the weeds as foreground or not? Sharp at the expense of sharpness in the birds/trees in the back or fuzzy to favor them? Include the sunbeams that come in on the left (first shot) or not? Shoot down? Shoot level? At what height? With what focal lengths? What kind of processing tips? (Feel free to download and play with third file, which I zero'd out so you'd have a little more to work with if you're willing).

(EDIT/mv Oops I got the labels backwards on the foreground/background pix, but you are photographers, you'll figure it out)

#1 shot for background


#2 shot for foreground


same as #2, zero'd out

Country's Mama Loc: Michigan

I really like the first image. I think the bird in the background is minor and I would not focus to have them sharp rather the three trees in the center. I like how you have included the weeds in the foreground. It adds interest and depth to the photo. I love the light streaming through the trees and the contrast of the light and shadows. I wish I had a decent computer to play with these right now. My eye travels around this photo and I could spend hours looking at the details in it.
In the second picture I do not like the cropped off trees because I feel like the trees are your focal point. While they are cropped more for the rule of thirds in the second picture I think the first works better.

Shakey Loc: Traveling again to Norway and other places.

Downloaded the Zero'd.

1. The weeds as the foreground element are fine. You could possibly crop from the bottom to lose most of the bush on the right. Your choice.

2. Your depth of field is wide and almost everything important is in focus. This means the middle distance is reasonably sharp.

3. Shooting low is out of the question if the weeds grow higher. Shooting when the weeds are low as shown will give you a different slant on the image. You'll need to shoot again before we can judge the result. Shooting higher may ge you more reflections but it's hard to tell until you show us the result.

This is a landscape/waterscape so, in my opinion, use a wide angle lens. If you want to isolate birds surrounded by mist on the water use a long lens.

Processing: I use GIMP here's what I did.

I hoped to get some detail in the big trees but they were stubborn and I got nothing from them. They stayed black.

Used the levels tool to reduce the highlights in the water a tad. Then lifted the shadows. Adjusted the brightness with the center slider. (Darn it! I went too far.)

Used the Curves tool: Red, Green and Blue channels to bring out the reds, greens, blues, and yellows. This added some impact , hopefully, to the red trees in the background plus green and yellow in the reflections in the water. And in the trees of course. The green was boosted in the foreground weeds.

I liked your photograph. I hope this helps. Levels and Curves tools are included in most photo editors.

JC56 Loc: Lake St.Louis mo.

i like the photo it has nice color and does a very good job of projecting a low country climate.....just a small nit i would increase the background..the bird looks a little squished.

Bmac Loc: Long Island, NY

I like your edits, keep them both. Nice colors and composition with a well defined subject. Two for the price of one, sweet. :D

PalePictures Loc: Traveling

I am only going to comment on your first statement. There are wonderful landscape pictures in ever part of the country. I have taken the trip from Memphis down to Clarksdale many many times. Sadly I was there to shoot animals and not shoot photography. If you're in the middle of MS. you need to drive west to the delta. Many landscape opportunities there...

Ive also been on the Natchez trace a dozen times... Vicksburg has landscapes that you can't get anywhere else. I hiked Vicksburg as an eagle scout many many years ago.

Bmac Loc: Long Island, NY

I think that hot spot in your edit has now become the subject. Might need to tone that down a bit for it to work. 8-)

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

That is possible the prettiest danged drainage ditch I have ever seen.
No PP done at all. I do not have a program on this computer, the only thing I did was crop with snipping tool..
Ideally the stork would be a little to the left and facing the other way but I cropped to the natural framing of the trees.

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

Just another view with a dreamy look.

Low Country Marsh (Olympus E-M5, Olympus M.40-150mm f/4-5.6 shot at 89mm, 1/320 sec, f/5, ISO 200, Manual exposure)

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

Some edits from the big picture that my eye sees.
There are more, but this gives you the idea.

Shakey Loc: Traveling again to Norway and other places.

Yep, I agree. I blew that one. (Sorry about the pun.)

Here's another try. Click download. This is getting to me, it looks so different on my monitor. (Time for new monitor, I guess.)

Nice work by other members, some are outstanding. You know who you are!

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Thanks for the detailed critique. I am often guilty of trying to include too much stuff in my photos and try to combat that, sometimes to my detriment. It's hard to strike a balance between simplicity and having enough interesting stuff to keep looking at. Your feedback lets me know someone can look at the whole scene with all its components and feel Ok about it!

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Thanks for the detailed feedback and the 2 edits. I'll try the cropping and variations on shooting strategies and share results. I have always shot this area (yes, I go there once a week) with short zoom (12-60) or 20mm prime, only this year have I begun experimenting with a 40-150 zoom to get tighter frames and birds.

Processing is an ongoing lesson, I learn new things with every rendition I do or someone else does. I really like the detail and in the yellow tree on the right that you drew out. As for the blow-out, it's one of the hazards of shooting into the sun. I have recoverable detail in the RAW version, no worries, it just doesn't hold up in the jpeg once you re-open and try to edit it. Same for the tree shadows you couldn't get cooperation from.

If we get really sophisticated in this forum, we might add a dropbox option where those who are willing can actually share RAWs.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Shoot animals with guns? Surely not. Photographers don't do that, do they?

Thanks for your positive feedback on our rather landscape-challenged state! You're right about the Trace, which fortunately runs within 10 miles of my house. I go to the cypress swamp on the trace at least once a week and meander up and down on longer excursions when I can. Vicksburg has the military park, and if you can wrangle a pass into Tara, there's great birding and a unique re-creation of an old-growth environment. Natchez is fun to shoot. My personal favorite is the Pascagoula River.

A homeless lady I met yesterday while she was scavenging in some trash (Graham Smith would have got a great photo) advised me to go to Sky Lake near Belzoni, up in the delta, and I intend to take her up on it. I do like shooting in the delta, but my college-age sister does a far better job with that area since it's home to her and she can tromp around the cotton fields before class.

But I have to say, it ain't Wyoming.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Thanks for the beautiful rendition! You got extra mileage from that little bit of fog, and tamed the brightness of it at the same time. I'd be interested to know more about your processing steps.

I am also envious of your frames. I'd be very interested in knowing how you do that. Is it a program, a plug in, or handwork within photoshop? If the latter would you consider making it a tutorial for the P & P section?