Moorland

[tuatara]

Four photographs taken on a large wet moorland in the Netherlands (Dwingelderveld), one of my favourite spots. Most of the time I was there the weather was pretty awful (completely and uniformly overcast skies, accompanied by occasional showers), but on the last day the Sun managed to make an appearance. Below are some of the results using a 35mm (Sony SEL35F18) on APS-C (Sony a6000), using a fairly soft grad filter. Since I was just trying out the grad filter, I also bracketed and merged the last two colour shots, just to be sure; in the end I actually only used fairly little of the increased dynamic range. The last shot is from one of the rainy days, just before I got soaked (I was pretty much in the middle of the moorland; the rain cover for my camera luckily kept my camera dry). This is the first time I have done a b&w conversion, as the colour version simply wasn't working. I would love to hear what you think of these images: what do you like, what could be improved, tips, etc.

[Chairman Bill]

The first two are perfectly fine as they are. I really like them both. I'd probably go for a B&W conversion of number three. As for four, it's all about those clouds, and my inclination would be to work on them, to increase the potential drama there, and as part of that, I'd want to introduce some grain effect. But that's just me.

[stamper]

I think Bill summed it up nicely. Four images with great potential that could rendered in a number of ways.

[francois]

Welcome aboard! I can only echo the positive comments above.

[tuatara]

Thanks for the comments. Although I do like the (somewhat subtle) blue/yellow contrast in the third image, I will indeed try a b&w conversion to see what happens. And I agree the clouds in the fourth image could use a bit more drama; I'll see what I can do

[brandtb]

Leaving aside all of the processing potentialities - which are endless like almost any photograph - I think in the case of these four images it's worth considering what is "actually in the frame" first and foremost, i.e., the content, or the subjects. Is there strength in the subjects/shapes and arrangements of the subjects/shapes chosen? How powerful is the sum of all these parts? While there are some interesting atmospheric effects - only the first image has some real potential...the other three not close. I think in the first image what is "potentially powerful" as a subject is the rounded copse of trees on the flat landscape in the distant bg (set against the sun and color in sky and reflection below - plus the great horizontal band of clouds which echoes the flat land below)...very interesting...and shapes likes these punctuating the "flatlands" of the Netherlands and e.g. Belgium in many places are great visual subjects. That said, I would have "zoomed in" or tightened the shot and brought focus to the copse area and sky above rather than have so much dark and uninteresting mass in the lower 1/3 of the frame...there is so much extraneous content it negates what is really significant. I'll message you a crop as an example later.  /Brandt

[tuatara]

Thank you for your take on the content of the photographs! I did indeed struggle a bit with the framing of the first image, and I do like your idea, I'll have to play with that; my initial impression of the crop you sent me is that it is perhaps a little too aggressive, but I get the idea, and think it is a good one. Regarding the other images, I'll explain what I like about them, and if you see any way I could better have highlighted those features, please let me know.

For me, the second image actually has the more interesting composition, with the "hockeypuck" shape of the clouds being more or less echoed in the shape of the foreground (not perfectly, I admit), and the dark tree on the right forming a kind of counterpoint to the sun on the left that is just outside the frame; I imagine standing near the tree and looking out over the majestic landscape, bathing in the faint glow of the rising sun that you know is there.

The third image with the bench is a bit less strong compositionally for me, but I still like the general atmosphere, the way the path in the foreground sort of winds its way up to the bench and then the tree, the glow on the water, and the subtle yellow/blue contrast; there is also a small second sun star that I enjoy as a detail that is perhaps not immediately obvious. Again, I imagine the landscape from the point of view of someone sitting on the bench, except that for me it is also important that there is, in fact, no one sitting on the bench, as one of the things I most like about this area (in winter at least, and definitely around dawn), is how you can feel like there is no one (else) in the world (a rare feeling in the Netherlands).

The fourth image is the most problematic one for me. I like how the light wedge of sky and dark wedge of land are more or less mirror version of each other. I also enjoy the contrast and the "not completely and entirely flat" nature of the foreground, and some details (like the lone tree breaking up the line on the horizon). However, I feel the contrast between the lone tree and the line of trees on the horizon is too low, and in general simply wasn't 100% satisfied with the feel of the end result (in real life it was quite an impressive sight, with the clouds moving very quickly across the sky, and stark contrasts).

In any case, I truly appreciate all comments given so far, they are exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for!