Laxford Bridge: Bridge shots can benefit from a) An interesting foreground. b) An interesting bridge. c) An interesting view through the arch of the bridge. I'd like to think that this...

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Bridge shots can benefit from

a) An interesting foreground.

b) An interesting bridge.

c) An interesting view through the arch of the bridge.

I'd like to think that this shot more-or-less ticks all three boxes, but most of all I think that the view through the arch was a lucky find. Comments?

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(Download)

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

Love the view through the bridge. Nicely done.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Very pleasing and interesting. Terrific textures. But, does the sun ever shine in your corner of the planet, R.G.? :)

I tried a crop on left, to edge of bridge. Helps keep my eye from wandering out of the frame on the left, and I like the balance.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

AzPicLady wrote:

Love the view through the bridge. Nicely done.

Thank you AzPicLady. I'd say it was more luck than anything else - that and a bit of off-road clambering with a tripod and camera in my hands. The view isn't obvious until you get down into the river bed.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Thank you Linda. Yes, the sun does shine now and then, but unfortunately it waits till I'm at work or stuck inside :roll: .

Good suggestion - I rated the glimpse of fence as a plus and as such decided that it was worth keeping, but in retrospect it could easily be lost for the sake of increased attention focussing and balance.

ImageCreator Loc: Northern California

Excellent and impressive. I agree with AzPic about the left side crop.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

ImageCreator wrote:

Excellent and impressive. I agree with AzPic about the left side crop.

Thank you ImageCreator. Linda has shown herself to have a good eye for spotting potential, not just in editing but in shooting as well.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Linda From Maine wrote:

.......I tried a crop on left, to edge of bridge. Helps keep my eye from wandering out of the frame on the left, and I like the balance.

Presumably it was something like this that you tried. It could possibly lose some more off the left, but I didn't want the bridge too centred. Definitely more attention-focussing and balanced :thumbup: .

(Download)

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

R.G. wrote:

Presumably it was something like this that you tried. It could possibly lose some more off the left, but I didn't want the bridge too centred. Definitely more attention-focussing and balanced :thumbup: .

I don't think I even cropped as far as you did, so I'd hate to see more go :) I love it, R.G. Thank ou!

Frank2013 Loc: San Antonio, TX. & Milwaukee, WI.

R.G. wrote:

Presumably it was something like this that you tried. It could possibly lose some more off the left, but I didn't want the bridge too centred. Definitely more attention-focussing and balanced :thumbup: .

R.G. you could also crop in from the right to the first tree to keep off center without compromising much. Great capture by the way!

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Frank2013 wrote:

R.G. you could also crop in from the right to the first tree to keep off center without compromising much. Great capture by the way!

Thank you Frank. The more I look at the above edit the less worried I become about the bridge being centred - but I do get worried about losing more and more of the surroundings. The first image was a crop from a larger picture, so I think I'll call a halt where it is now.

Billyspad Loc: The Philippines

You have cropped enough fella. Just superb R.G. beautifully taken and wonderfully worked with what looks like very minimal PP and skilled hands on the sliders.
The sun in Scotland? Been across that border dozens and dozens of times and never saw it. Are you sure about getting the odd sunny day?

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Billyspad wrote:

........Are you sure about getting the odd sunny day?

I'm sure I can remember them from my youth :) . Or was that watching Daktari on TV.......

Anyway, thanks for the compliments. This was yet another shot from my recent trip that needed some brightening, but beyond that it just needed a few nudges in the right direction. The Highlands in the autumn isn't about having a riot of colour, and it would have been a mistake to try to make it that way.

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

I like the cropped version as well, though I might have preferred a slightly wider view to show the whole bridge and keep it central. Perhaps just a little slower to blur the water more, but that is a personal preference.

I do like the detail available on the download.

Did once spend 2 weeks in Glencoe without a cloud in the sky. To hot to do anything other than roll out of the sleeping bag, soak in the brook and wander down to the 'old' Claichaig Inn with every other nationality that was camping there then.

UK readers will remember 1976 - but Scotland doesn't look nice bone dry.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

John N wrote:

I like the cropped version as well, though I might have preferred a slightly wider view to show the whole bridge and keep it central. Perhaps just a little slower to blur the water more, but that is a personal preference.......

......UK readers will remember 1976 - but Scotland doesn't look nice bone dry.

Thanks for the comments, JN. There's nothing other than more trees to the right, and while having a border of vegetation looks OK, having it intrude more than a third of the way into the frame seems a bit too much to my eye. Where shutter speed is concerned, for me the jury is still out. I'll concede that soft water looks OK in a waterfall, but to my eye flowing water suits a faster shutter speed. This shot was taken at 1/15 sec, which is probably as slow as I'd like to go for a river or stream.

You'll still come across people who can take you out into their garden and show you remnants of the damage done to trees and bushes by the drought of '76. The up side is that it was a good year for European grape growers - and therefore wine makers.

I'd agree with your verdict that our scenery isn't at its best during a drought, but fortunately being parched isn't the natural state of our mountains and moors.