Nearly didn't look at this from the thumbnail! and what a treat I would have missed. Excellent composition with the figure looking into the scene. Wonderful cloud shapes and tree silhouette and the lights are perfectly exposed. I might have cropped down to the top cloud bank for a better balance of the 'darks' but this is a superb image. How you managed to keep a steady hand after partying all night defeats me.

Dave

A square with an 'X' and the bothy at the centre gives a strong composition as you say Al. The sun coming down from the left gives some excellent colour and contrast on that side. It hits the hillside on the right full on though and it looks a tad over-bright and a bit flat there. Was a slightly different pov possible? it does look rather damp!

Dave

A good shallow depth of field, Mike, and lovely detail in the petals' edges. I'm not so sure about the thickish white border though and the beige background has too similar a tone to the flower, sorry.

Dave

Too wide an aperture and too long a lens, Den. Increase the ISO and reduce the shutter speed slightly (or a lot if you've got a tripod) and/or use a wider angle lens. The first two will let you use a smaller aperture and your dof will increase to get the frame and beyond more in focus.

Dave

Excellent lines, shadows and patterns, Deep. The figure is a bonus, but an essential part to the image, although she is probably too central and looking out of the frame for a perfect balance to the image.

Dave

v1 is the strongest composition for me, John. The greens may be a tad oversaturated but I like the blues. I may have been tempted to crop closer to the gravestone on the left.

Dave

I like the detail in the sky, the rape field glows in the sunlight and the track around the field is an excellent lead in/through. But your processing has left a halo on the tree line. Having the original as a version is quite useful for comparison. Without the halo, I like what you have done with this, Judith.

Dave

Strong primaries, Martin, the royal blue sky contrasts well with the train. I've put a mod up which you may feel takes too much off the original. I've cropped the left to remove the space on the left of the tree and the yellow 'things' through the trellis fence. There is now another strong diagonal leading down from the top left corner. I've also brought in right side so the vanishing point is now on the left third. You now have lots of dynamic diagonals leading from all the corners. Compositionally the only other thing I might suggest would be to separate the station light from the 'way out' sign .. maybe. Good luck.

Dave

Hi John, many thanks for your comment on my p/f, very much appreciated. I remember making the comment on your first upload about rotating this slightly. When there's no obvious horizontals to work to I tend to use the vertical sides of buildings as a guide. Not always accurate in the country I know but the one on the right of this image looks vertical. I like the detail you've brought out too, brighter with more contrast. I agree with Martin re the red colour but this is a much improved version, and a very well composed image.

Dave

Effective processing, Russell with a complementary bg. I prefer the slightly angled composition of the previous versions and I still think a thin line border would help on this pale bg.

Dave

The composition works fine for me, I was immediately drawn to the clock tower then followed the road around and up the middle. The only slight niggle is the phone mast on the top of the right side tower block. It stops the eye from sweeping across the top part of the image (reduce by half??). I do prefer the colour version as the image is quite busy and the colour seems to help separate the information.

Dave

Although the mountain and sky occupy half of the frame each, the peak is on a third and the image has a good balance to it. The lighting is excellent, picking out the mountain side and giving some strong blacks and whites in the mono. I would have liked to see the colour added as a version for comparison though. Great image.

Dave

The lights and reflections are excellent John. I have the same problem with the muddy brown skies in London - reflected light pollution from a big city. Unless it is a sunset/sunrise shot, I try and do the low light/night shots on cloudless nights and you then get some lovely blue tones depending on the remaining ambient light.

Dave

You have framed the scene excellently with the tree, Bob, a very good composition, and I can see you have tried to keep the sun on the right hand third (Rule of Thirds). Personally, I would have relaxed that 'guide' a bit and move a bit to my left and put the sun and figures directly under the high point of the tree frame. As Mike says, I would also wait awhile until the sun was going behind the low cloud or sinking below the horizon to prevent the bright areas being blown out. A case of taking several shots at different stages of the sunset and choosing the effect which you like most.

Dave

Hi Mark, done 2 mods (ignore the middle one - I uploaded your original by mistake.... doh). Your original is fine but it is missing a point of focus - a boat, bird, surfer, mermaid () etc, hence I thought a closer view of the wave action might work. The first one is vertical to counteract the horizontal nature of your original (also desaturated for effect), the last upload is a horizontal one but closer in and given a slight boost with HDR effect. The horizon doesn't look like swell but I'm not sure what else it would be.

Cheers,

Dave

Too technical for me Ed! I would expose for highlights, shadow, and mid-tones then adjust whichever for the best result.

On the composition side, you have a very expansive view which shows the geology and landscape well. The beauty of this image for me though, is the sunlight and shadow area and I would have zoomed in for a closer crop, cutting out the sky and some of the left side.

Congrats on your win btw. Well done.

Dave

Love the perspective on this,Marilyn, and some great detail.

Re the straightening - if you haven't got a horizon to work to, and the lens your using distorts perspective somewhat, I try to pick out a vertical (side of a building) near the centre of the image and work to that. Sometimes, though, you just have to go with what looks right, even if it might not be technically spot on.

Dave

Not wishing to be awkward but I would have looked at cropping (in camera or CS) from the right side. I know that's where the light is appearing from but the shape of the trees with a straight right side and a little 'un further across lends itself to a more natural composition on the left.

Dave

Beautiful complementary colours and an excellent set. v2 has some great close up detail and v3 has it all in context. I'm not convinced you got the best crop on v1 though, not enough spage at the top and bottom for me and disproportionate space at the sides (if that makes sense). That doesn't detract from a great capture though.

Dave

Unless there is detail or interest in the land/sea you want to keep then expose for the sky and saturate the colours of the sunrise/set.

Otherwise, a common way of equalising the exposure for sky and land is using ND graduated filters which darken the sky.

HDR is a possibility, several exposures for the light, middle and darker areas, then merge them together.

Or bracket some exposures and use PSE/CS to lighten or darken the relevant area on the best of them (bit of a scattergun approach and probably poo-pooed by the purists).

Dave