Shooting Landscapes "Down"

[MB1]

Len J had posted some (very nice) landscapes and we got into a discussion about where the horizon should be. I suggested that if he had pointed the camera way down in a few of of his scenes the results could be striking.

And since I planned to do some shooting tonight anyway.......

Here is the C&O Canal on a nice fall evening.

I'm thinking the first image is fairly normal as far as horizon placement, the others I used a top of the frame placement.

What do you think (about the images, the horizon and the Red Sox chances in the series....)?

Discuss.

[CLKunst]

Well, I can see where I will be walking the dog tomorrow.:yesnod: The colors are gorgeous! Another perk of biking in to work. Well demonstrated horizon examples. Sounds like a fun exercise. Definitely a great place to demonstrate with!:thumbsup:

[jkriminger]

I like number 1 the best. It has a journey thru the pic..a nice scale to it..great light..beautiful sky. Very painting like with the lighting. The others are vivid and nice but a little busy.. ?..

[slee320]

Love the perspective, the lighting, the lines, the lyricism of the first shot. Second shot blows me away altogether. I agree with jkriminger's "painting-like" observation; the trees are pure Thomas Cole.

My money's on the Sox.

[PrevailingConditions]

Mark,

You have posted some beautiful shots, but I think you have proven that not having the horizon in the center works, not necessarily that a lower horizon is a bad thing (if indeed that's what you were going for). Although I like the second shot better, that first shot is a very nice shot with wonderful colors. Some may argue that the first is better than the later shots (like Rod).

I think what you've really pointed out is that we should be on the lookout for alternatives to the standard shot because it could very well be better than the norm. Anything to avoid the dreaded snapshot is a good thing in my book, but it's not something that I'm able to readily achieve.

But still, wonderful shots.:thumbsup:

PC

[Don Schaeffer]

I wish there were more space on the screen between images or that you could present them one at a time. I couldn't evaluate the composition because my screen didn't view them right. Anyway, as far as I'm concerned the colors were magical. How did you get them like that?

[MB1]

I wish there were more space on the screen between images or that you could present them one at a time. I couldn't evaluate the composition because my screen didn't view them right. Anyway, as far as I'm concerned the colors were magical. How did you get them like that?

Timing-I noticed yesterday that things were looking really good around 5pm so I made a point of leaving work in time to get the best light.

Luck-Yesterday there wern't any clouds, today there were (but not too many). Very little wind helped too.

Patience-The sun was blocked by the clouds about 80% of the time I was there so I only shot while it was shining.

Local Knowledge-I ride my bike in that area most of the year and have for years. I knew that this was the time of year to be on the Tow Path in the Afternoon with my camera.

A really good camera with the correct settings-I've been using the 5D for about a year now and am really familar with it. I shot manual, handheld, slightly underexposed and saturated the color. Auto white balance. I expected to get what I got.

[Frog]

I like one the best, too but all have magical properties.
I was going to ask if you pushed the saturation but you already answered.
What the heck are those hanging red things in 3 & 4 & 5? The look like something hanging, anyway.

[Greg McCary]

Wow, nice work on them all. I imagine these would be great printed up.

[DrRoebuck]

Those are all fabulous (including the non-looking-down one). This is an interesting technique ... I look forward to exploring it.

[MarcusK]

Before moving on, let me just say how much I love the colors and exposure on all of them! ok...

Of the 1st and 2nd, i agree about the 2nd being the better one, however, on a personal note... there's something about them that just doesn't do it... but that is a purely personaly opinion...

The 3rd with the colors in the reflection as well as the framing!!! I just love it!

4th seems to be the shot you took before choosing to take the 3rd....

the 5th, albeit the 2nd best of the lot, could have used better sky in the reflection, although i dunno what you could have done about that!

But i just love the colors in all of them!!! (a big part is because here in hell, i.e. dubai, we don't get to see them... all i see is a beige... an annoying dust beige......)

That's my opinion anyway!

[readingr]

MB

I love them, colours, composition, excellent

My only nitpic is that 1 and 4 seem to have the water at a slant which would mean it would run out.

Roger

[Len J]

Very nice.

As others have said, great color & interesting composition.

Those lower horizong shots worked because there was enough interesting "eye candy" to draew me into the picture.......I'm not sure how that would work with less "clutter" I'll experiment with that and see....it certainly will draw my eye to a different perspective.

Great series.

len

[CLKunst]

What the heck are those hanging red things in 3 & 4 & 5? The look like something hanging, anyway.

Have some wiki Frog. It's Virginia Creeper.

[OldSchool]

Nice shots MB, all of them.

The challenge for me with landscapes is to find a subject that anchors (tree, barn, cloud, rock, creek) and then one can explore the rest of the image from there. I also agree about the horizon. I rarely put it in the center.

One recommendation would be to bring a tripod, stop way down, so that the focus is crisp all over (unless your goal is to just have your subject in focus -- and thus shooting wide open). For some of your shots, I think they would be put over the top if the foreground floating leaves or grass were tack sharp.

Great job,
Tim

[MB1]

....One recommendation would be to bring a tripod, stop way down, so that the focus is crisp all over (unless your goal is to just have your subject in focus -- and thus shooting wide open). For some of your shots, I think they would be put over the top if the foreground floating leaves or grass were tack sharp.

Great job,
Tim

I had one with me-didn't need it. The light was bright enough and I bumped the ISO to 200. If I thought the light was going to hold I might have taken the time to break out the tripod and drop the ISO to 50 (which is what I normally shoot) but the light was changing just too quickly.

As far as the DOF and focus I tried it both ways,some of the images are sharp the whole way (mostly when I was shooting at 17mm) and some have very limited DOF (when I used the longer lens). I normally like out of focus elements in an image but I do realize that sometimes that doesn't yield the best results.

MB1
Old School Too

[romelm]

I really like your shots, especially the lighting and vivid colors. I think the first photo could be cropped across the top right above the trees in the upper left-hand corner. That square section of sky right up in the corner seems a little jagged to me. Although I'm not sure how cropping with work with the branches coming down in the top middle.

[CallumW]

I like the first shot the most, i like the colours in it and i love the nice gold shine of the path.
Nice shot.

Callum

[Ballen Photo]

MB1, I see what you mean about pointing the camera more downward. Sort of "grounds" the photo. OK, Bad pun, but it does force the viewer's eye into better contact with the immediate surroundings, and seems to work well compositionally speaking in these image's.
-Bruce

[GB1]

MB - Over-saturated is my first impression. There's just too many competing colors here, seems to pull me in all directions at once. It just doesn't look natural (?)

I do like numbers 1 and 2, though 2 is probably my favorite because I've walked along the tow path so many times. Congrats on capturing it at a good time.

[MB1]

MB - Over-saturated is my first impression. There's just too many competing colors here, seems to pull me in all directions at once. It just doesn't look natural (?)

I do like numbers 1 and 2, though 2 is probably my favorite because I've walked along the tow path so many times. Congrats on capturing it at a good time.

That is why I was there then waiting for that light. I got to admit that in the size we post here the images are pretty full, I'm enlarging the best of them to 11x14 (I might even go 16x20) which should help a lot.

[agtaylor]

Very nice, like one and two the best. Good idea too, usually struggle with horizon placement in landscapes and trying to make the foreground interesting too.