A band of Quartz on an untracked hillside overlooking Loch Lomond and hills including Ben Vorlich, Beinn Dubh and Ben Vane. A result of Google Earth exploration which worked out better than expected. Overall challenging conditions but breaks in the cloud and lulls in the wind allowed me to capture a couple of worthwhile images.
Specific Feedback Requested
Which do you prefer of the 2 versions?
Personally I prefer the first for having a more obvious focal point but the second has a bit more drama in the sky and I’ve controlled the highlights better. The first is getting a bit hot - perhaps needing reprocessing.
Processing, composition.
The LHS patch of snow was an issue trying to compose this. Cutting it out completely resulting in a too right heavy composition and I didn’t want to lose the hills on the left side. I could have gone tighter on the right also but wanted to allow the nice grasses on the lower right of the frame some breathing space. The line of the foreground rocks was also framed to lead the eye into the image.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: Yes
18mm
f/8
1/40
ISO 100
Focus Stack
I’m struggling a bit to decide which one I like the most.
I much preferred the overall look of the first one, but some details – especially in the “middle ground” from the second one make very sense to me. On the other side the sky from the second version seems a little “over the top”, as the sky from the first one is kind of flat.
Thanks @joaoquintela. I think we’re on the same page here. I can’t really decide either which suggests to me neither image in “done” and could do with a good bit of refining. I only gravitate to the first as my eye rests more easily. In the second I find my eye darting about the scene.
In hindsight I have rushed processing the first image - I actually processed the second image first (because I’d marked it out as captured during a lull in the wind so it was my sharpest set with lowest ISO).
Great subject and composition here, I like vein of quartz as a foreground anchor, and how the white of the quartz gets repeated in the snow (both in the mid-ground and in the mountain). You also composed this to make some good use of diagonal lines. This image has a lot of drama and power to it, well done.
Between the two versions I prefer the second. The second has some local dodging and burning of the mid-ground and foreground that make some subtle but nice improvements. I especially like the dodging of the brown hill to the right of the loch. My only issue with the second image is the sky, which I think is too contrasty. My advice would be to reduce contrast in the sky (especially lightening the dark clouds), and burn the snow patch in the LLC.
Thanks @Ed_McGuirk , valuable feedback as always. Very much appreciated.
I’ve incorporated your suggestions, reducing contrast in the clouds and burning the LHS snow patch.
In addition, using curves I’ve: added a little extra contrast to the main subject hills, dodged some of the pockets of light and added hint of warmth to that light. I also lifted the shadows slights in the woodland to the left of center as I felt this was a bit too dark, Finally, I’ve gone back and forth on the dodging around the foreground grasses, adding and subtracting - aiming for a natural compromise. Whether I’ve achieved that I don’t know,
One thing I noticed is above the central hills there is what appears to be a dark spot (2 actually) - which I think you cloned out (I nearly did too). They are actually 2 birds, which I quite liked - albeit, too small to see unless going in at 100% in the full res file.
I’m having a hard time choosing between these two as they both have their qualities. The composition is really nice and tells a nice story of the landscape and the weather on that day you were out. My favorite however is the top image. I prefer the sky in it as well as the shine on that body of water. Awesome work!
