morning vista

[subhuman]

this is my first time putting an image on the critique , I tried once before
but couldnt even get the pic to download....I need all the help I can get..........
I took this early one morning just outside of Study Butte Tx.... which is a
few miles from the Big Bend area I'm not too used to taking landscapes, so
don't be too harsh.....

[Themage]

Looks pretty good for a first attempt. I like the framing. You want to use a small fstop you used 6.3 the smaller the more stuff will be in focus,example f22. Also 100 iso is good for quality and no grain so good job on that part. The shutter was at 60 which is not bad , depends on the focal length and if it was on a tripod or not.

[subhuman]

Thank you Themage, I appreciate the help you, you can tell the shutter speed
& aperture just by looking at the picture, wow that is good I wished I could do that
...If I remember right I believe I had my XTi in landscape mode.... & I was trying
to take as many pics as I could before the sun got too high ,& as much as I hate it
I always seem to run around wondering what to take a picture of....I wished I didnt do
that & I dont know how to quit but most of my time is spent trying to see what to take a
picture of.....If anybody else can give me any help I would appreciate it.....

[DrRoebuck]

Thank you Themage, I appreciate the help you, you can tell the shutter speed
& aperture just by looking at the picture, wow that is good I wished I could do that
...If I remember right I believe I had my XTi in landscape mode.... & I was trying
to take as many pics as I could before the sun got too high ,& as much as I hate it
I always seem to run around wondering what to take a picture of....I wished I didnt do
that & I dont know how to quit but most of my time is spent trying to see what to take a
picture of.....If anybody else can give me any help I would appreciate it.....

IMO, that's more important than lighting, etc., so I wouldn't worry about that.

As for the shot you posted, I would either zoom in or move in closer. At the very least, in front of the plant on the left, which is distracting. Also, I'd point the camera down a little bit so there's less sky and more foreground.

[Greg McCary]

I feel the composition and lighting are fine. I like how the mountain range falls off to the left and the placement of the flower.The only issue I see is focus. I am not sure how close you were to the plant but practicing shooting at higher f/stops, f/8 and higher, and hyperfocal focusing your camera will help. For greatest DOF focus one third the way into the shot. You will have a minimum distance to the foreground with each f/stop. Increasing as the f/stop is more open. A sturdy tripod is needed as well. Glad to see you back.
Also shooting in RAW format will help when in PPing. It's the only way to go when shooting digital landscapes. Check the link..

http://www.vividlight.com/articles/3513.htm

[Addies Granddaddy]

Personally, I'd like to see better light on the mountains. Given the time of day, perhaps you could have waited until the sun was a little higher to get a good burst of color there.
John

[subhuman]

Thanks everyone for so much helpful advice....it really looks like I
need to go back and study the basics of photography again....things
like focusing, aperture,shutter speed.....It's really embarasing to admit
it but when I was learning photography (self taught a couple of years ago)
I really never got the idea of that... I know that the picture needs to be in focus
I always let the camera automatic focus....I concentrate mainly on composition
& lighting , but honestly when it comes to all the numbers some of the stuff is
over my head to some extent....I feel really stupid sometimes, but I usually go by
sight & feel alot ......But I want to be more than a mediocre photographer.....
So I will go &drag all the basics of photography books out & start studying.....
Thanks Greg McCary for the link I am trying to understand hyperfocal focusing
I guess I need to concentrate on more of the technical side of things other
than wondering what to shoot......again thanks everyone

[Themage]

Thank you Themage, I appreciate the help you, you can tell the shutter speed
& aperture just by looking at the picture, wow that is good I wished I could do that
...If I remember right I believe I had my XTi in landscape mode.... & I was trying
to take as many pics as I could before the sun got too high ,& as much as I hate it
I always seem to run around wondering what to take a picture of....I wished I didnt do
that & I dont know how to quit but most of my time is spent trying to see what to take a
picture of.....If anybody else can give me any help I would appreciate it.....

Well no im not that good, i can guess pretty good but if you save a image unless u do it on purporse or been edited down alot it still retains the camera data such as f stop and camera model shutter etc... I know from my experiences what the affects of shutter and f stop look like in my images so i can get a good guess to begin with lol.

Right click a saved image, then properties then details. Well that is what i do just scramble around looking for stuff lol. It is hard sometimes it just happens other times no matter how hard u try u wont get anything good. Just try a bunch of stuff and be patient with the results.