katatl

I would like your critique on this shot. It was a cloudy day, and the California fires added haze to the sky.

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Cany143 Loc: SE Utah

I expect it isn't actually the case, but the angle of the lake's waterline --in conjunction with the distant mountain's horizon line-- seems to make the scene appear as though the image is tilted slightly to the left. But that's not a deal breaker. Were it my image, though, I'd bring the brightness levels down a bit in both sides --the right slightly, and a little moreso on the left-- in the sky, leaving the central section as is. Almost as if a vignette --but not really-- had been applied, but one that predominantly affects the sky area, and slightly less the foreground vegetation. Possibly deepen the black point in the foreground, or in lieu of that, increase contrast slightly, especially on the bottom right corner.

These are all subjective calls on my end though, and they obviously wouldn't need to conform to yours.

PoppieJ Loc: North Georgia

i agree with Cany about the tilt. The flowers in the foreground appear to be your subject because they are so prominent and so bright but that is not where the focus is so they are soft. I like the sky but the left side is to bright for the rest of it. I agree that the picture could use some more black to aid in contrast. I think that maybe you could crop from the bottom and from the left side which would lend more focus to the lake and the mountain behind. This is just my opinion and ultimately it is your call what you do with the picture. You are the one that needs to be happy with it

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

It's a very nice scenic. However, the blown highlight in the upper left corner tend to distract from the scene.
--Bob

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

I don’t see the tilt at all, but I believe improvements could be some vignetting of the corners, especially the upper left, and brightening the yellows of the flowers.

Picdude Loc: Ohio

1st, I think the composition is pretty awesome. I personally would like to see the foothills immediately surrounding the lake get a color boost so the contrast between the vegetation and rock is more apparent - it looks a little muddy as is. I really like the color of the water - it looks clean and clear, not dirty or green

If it were my image, what I would take most out of it is what I would do different when I went back to reshoot. I think if it were reshot as several images with the focus changing from the flowers in the very foreground to the mountains in back, then focus stacked to show an unlimited depth of field you would have a true masterpiece.

Hamltnblue Loc: Springfield PA

When shooting this type of pic, it's good to have a couple of filters in your bag.
1. A Polarized filter would help a lot with the haze. Use during daylight hours, not at sunrise or sunset.
2. A graduated ND filter would allow you to darken the sky in relation to the rest of the shot.

If possible, visiting the site during the Golden hour would give the shot a different look that may surprise( If the shadows are good) Not always better, but definitely different.

Also, this pic can be made 2x better just by doing some additional post processing to remove some haze and sharpen a bit. The haze reduction will bring out the colors much better.

katatl

Better? I'm not likely to get back there anytime soon since it's in Colorado and I'm not.

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Hamltnblue Loc: Springfield PA

Katatl, what software are you using?
Use this pic and go crazy to find the limits.
Leave the original crop.
Move each slider to the maximum up and down position to see what it does.
You should have a haze slider. That will bring the clouds out nicely.
Reset between each adjustment.
If your software has presets, try the different ones. Notice how the different presets
move the different sliders.
Over time you will get a feel for them an it will be second nature.
Don’t be afraid to use a lot of movement in the sliders.
It won’t break anything.
Moving the sliders to the extremes will leave no doubt about what each one does.
Good luck and have fun.