Wintry Exmoor

[Chairman Bill]

Brrr. It was a bit on the cold & windy side today

[luxborealis]

Gritty. I can feel the cold!

[francois]

Yes, cold and probably windy!

[Dave (Isle of Skye)]

Great shot Bill, but...

I really would like to see all of the tree fully in the shot and not the ends of the branches leaking out of the shot to the left. Have you got a different and wider version of this image I wonder?

Frame edges are a bit of a thing for me I am afraid, as I like to try frame shots in such a way that I never have things sticking into or out of the edges of a shot or continuing outside the edge of the frame if I can. I like things to have a comfortable 'breathing' space around them if at all possible.

But other than that, I quite like the shot, with its simple yet effective composition, it is just the ends of the branches that need to be in there as well I think.

Sometimes though, you just cannot frame the shot as cleanly as I am suggesting, as there may be the branches of another tree or buildings something, also trying to nudge their way into the shot, but if you can put it 'all' into the shot, then you should definitely try do so would be my advice 

Dave

[Chairman Bill]

Dave - that's interesting; I actually cropped it & that's cut off the ends of the branches. Here's the full, uncropped image, and another shot too

[Tony Jay]

Bill, I have been debating whether to post a comment or not.

I definitely agree with Terry's point - I too can just feel the cold!

Possibly the issue that breaks the moment for me though is the fact that the image is just too generic.
When I viewed your next posted image, also of the moor, everything in that image placed me there.
Hence my comment on that image.

However, this particular image I can visualise taking in few locations within about 50 Km from my house in Brisbane.
Since I live in a tropical/subtropical environment, and it is the middle of summer here, and yet could take an image just like it (especially given the fact that it is a B&W), I didn't get the same sense of being transported to the place despite the fact that I did get the gritty cold that Terry refers to.

Interestingly enough, I read Dave's comment just prior to posting but I didn't personally find that the compositional issues that he refers to a bother.

my $0.02 worth

Tony Jay

[Tony Jay]

Bill, I have been debating whether to post a comment or not.

I definitely agree with Terry's point - I too can just feel the cold!

Possibly the issue that breaks the moment for me though is the fact that the image is just too generic.
When I viewed your next posted image, also of the moor, everything in that image placed me there.
Hence my comment on that image.

However, this particular image I can visualise taking in few locations within about 50 Km from my house in Brisbane.
Since I live in a tropical/subtropical environment, and it is the middle of summer here, and yet could take an image just like it (especially given the fact that it is a B&W), I didn't get the same sense of being transported to the place despite the fact that I did get the gritty cold that Terry refers to.

Interestingly enough, I read Dave's comment just prior to posting but I didn't personally find that the compositional issues that he refers to a bother.

my $0.02 worth

Tony Jay

Edit: I have just seen your reply to Dave.

The first image is obviously just a slightly different composition - and for me anyway doesn't change my POV.

The second image I really like despite its simplicity. That tiny bush/tree really enhances the feel of the vastness of the moor. The alpine cum subalpine vegetation in the foreground dramatically increases the sense of place.
Then, the real kicker is the effect of the grain - this really transports me back to the days of my childhood (in South Africa) when we would watch those scary, grainy B&W "Body on the Moor" type thriller or murder mystery movies on celluloid. (We didn't even get TV in the country until I was about 10-11 years old.)

Thanks for the memories!

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I like the position of the tree in the original post better then in the uncropped version, but I can see where Dave is coming from. I would be tempted to crop out about half to three quarters of the space to the left of the tree, so there is a little space beyond the tips of branches but so that the tree is still huddled near the left edge.

In the new post with the smaller tree, the positioning of everything just feels right to me.

I'm speaking not from any "rules" of composition, just from what feels right to me. I love these Exmoor pix.

[Dave (Isle of Skye)]

Dave - that's interesting; I actually cropped it & that's cut off the ends of the branches. Here's the full, uncropped image, and another shot too

Yes Bill. I must admit I prefer the second version (top image above) to the original post, I just like things to feel complete and sitting comfortably within the shot if you know what I mean. And I suppose the fact that you originally shot it that way, does show that to some extent you must have been thinking along the same lines too.

I would also after taking the above 'comfortable' shot, got in a little closer and done a vertical version, so I don't suppose you have one like that as well do you?

Thanks for taking the time to show the second version Bill

Dave

[N80]

I like the composition as originally posted. What I also like is the fact that it looks like a lithograph you'd see in an old book describing the region. Probably not the intent but I like the effect.