If you go down to the woods today...

[John Maddock]

The local woodlands here in the south west of the UK erupt in a riot of bluebells every year about this time. Although these are "managed" woodlands, there is nothing artificial about the flowers here - these are completely wild and unmanaged, hope you like them!

[John Maddock]

And another one in panoramic format:

[mommy_culleton]

Both are great shots! The second one makes me think that Robin Hood could appear on that branch anytime! Love it...a little slice of heaven.
Rose

[Hoooba]

The location seems to be quiet nice. I bet that with a little better framing, you could catch a nicer picture. The ones you posted just don't have the right composition.

I am not trying to be harsh, just trying to critique positively. I am sure all of us want to improve our shooting

I guess it depends on what you're after: a snap shot or photo. The pictures your posted make nice snapshots. Better composition is what makes nice photos.

Just my two cents if you care

[peripatetic]

I think that's a bit harsh. I like the 2nd photo, the composition is nice, the tree forms a nice frame, there is good texture and colour. But I do agree that perhaps it's missing a focal point. I think that a person (perhaps the photographer) in the bluebells somewhere under the tree would add that and improve the shot. Probably follow the rule-of-thirds for placement. Without an object as focal point you might have been able to do something special with the light at a different time of day.

Otherwise I played with levels, contrast, saturation and sharpening a bit to give it a slight boost.

[thatsanicepicture2]

These are both nice. #2 is very nice. I think the edit offered is over the top and lost all the "In-the-Woods" feel.

Snap shot??? OUCH!!!

dale

[John Maddock]

Hoooba wrote:

The location seems to be quiet nice. I bet that with a little better framing, you could catch a nicer picture. The ones you posted just don't have the right composition.

I am not trying to be harsh, just trying to critique positively. I am sure all of us want to improve our shooting

I guess it depends on what you're after: a snap shot or photo. The pictures your posted make nice snapshots. Better composition is what makes nice photos.

Just my two cents if you care

Well I assure you they weren't snapped, more like trying to make the best out of a tricky location! However, I should make it clear that I'd much rather you replied honestly as you did, than say nothing at all.

Regards, John.

[John Maddock]

thatsanicepicture2 wrote:

These are both nice. #2 is very nice. I think the edit offered is over the top and lost all the "In-the-Woods" feel.

The second shot is interesting: It's a composite (panorama photo merge) of two images, autostitch took a long time to do the merge, so I went off and made a drink, and found the image waiting for me when I got back - it gave me a real "Ooo I like that one!" moment. Strange thing is a week later I wasn't sure if I still liked it so much or not, I think the thing is it's a nice frame (the tree), nice backdrop (the bluebells), but no real focal point. So maybe the mixed reactions here were already echoed in my own feelings (and I still don't know which is right!).

On the levels edits: I agree that peripatetic's edits are a little over the top, but having had three separate cracks at getting it "just right" before posting, I'm a fine one to comment :?: Generally I prefer to leave the levels as close to the original capture as I can get away with, I want to capture moment as I saw it, rather than a ultra-vibrant-super-version of reality, but then again I'm old fashioned like that :G

Regards, John.