i walk alone.

[petefontaine15]

here's another one i took. its in gause texas on a small rural route just before a big texas rainstorm. i blurred the trees on the sides to keep the focus on the road. it might look funny to some? and i'm still learning the principles of horizons and thirds. any pointers?

[swmdrayfan]

Actually, in my opinion, this isn't an unattractive shot. I'd say an old pickup truck in the distance could have really set a mood. I kind of like it.
John

[gahspidy]

Hello Pete. This is a type of shot I like, but there are a couple of things holding this one back, for me. i would have included more road and less sky to bring the horizon area up out of center and at the same time emphasized the subject of the road stronger.
Also, the blur is not a bad idea, but I think you have it looking way too artificial here. The tops of the trees that are even further away from the lower areas are blurred much less when they should be equally or moreso. The clouds should also have been blurred as well to mimic a true shallow depth of field(dof)
something more in the scene might help, but I think the colors and simplicity of this should work well enough.

[KenB]

I completely agree with Gary's critique.

[Frog]

I think less sky, also. I see a bend in the road and think compositionally it would be better if you shot from an angle to include that bend but not having the road right through the middle of the pic.
Just an opinion...thanks for sharing.

[petefontaine15]

well here's the update. less sky, and more blur in the clouds and tree tops. i tried to make it look as natural as possible but i think it might look a little photoshopped.

frog, that's a good idea, i never even though about that. luckily the road isn't too far away, i'll have to go out and shoot from another angle like that. thanks.

[gahspidy]

I like how it is now with less sky. I think it improved. the blur effect is still a problem. It is consistent throughout now, yes, but dof fades off gradually from past the focal point increasing in blur throughout the image. Actually, I'll bet the original picture without the added blur would look just well.

[freygr]

I don't like the blur, it needs another element in the photo.