Gods own Country

[Stephen]

I was looking through a folder of shots today that I took in the Malham area of North Yorks back at the beginning of November. This shot was one of series which at the time I didn't give much attention to, and never really considerd them keepers. But after processing this one I'm really glad I kept them.

Any comments welcome.

[cowcrzy06]

Re: Gods own Country

Steven,
I really love this photo . It seems to need some sort of help. I am not sure of what it is. I may have just gotten used to overdoing it sometimes! I am glad that you did not get rid of it. The world would be missing out on a beautiful photo!
Jennifer

[Stephen]

Re: Gods own Country

Steven,
I really love this photo . It seems to need some sort of help. I am not sure of what it is. I may have just gotten used to overdoing it sometimes! I am glad that you did not get rid of it. The world would be missing out on a beautiful photo!
Jennifer

Thanks Jennifer, much appreciated. Your feedback made me look again. I think the help you refer to may be that it needs some midtone contrast. Just had a go and think its better, so thanks.

[Autumn]

Re: Gods own Country

Thanks Jennifer, much appreciated. Your feedback made me look again. I think the help you refer to may be that it needs some midtone contrast. Just had a go and think its better, so thanks.

So have you reposted it Stephen? I think it looks super, but don't know whether it is a before or after. Just wonderful lighting.

When I went to Malham it was overcast and grey.

[Stephen]

Re: Gods own Country

So have you reposted it Stephen? I think it looks super, but don't know whether it is a before or after. Just wonderful lighting.

When I went to Malham it was overcast and grey.

Nope,what you see is what you get

[Tinka]

Re: Gods own Country

Great image Stephen, well composed and presented, one day I'll get some shots like this, love the lighting and misty distance hills, however I might be tempted to adjust the levels and or curves a touch.

[Stephen]

Re: Gods own Country

Great image Stephen, well composed and presented, one day I'll get some shots like this, love the lighting and misty distance hills, however I might be tempted to adjust the levels and or curves a touch.

Thanks for your comments Tinka. I'll accept that some minor tweaks may improve mid tone contrast. However the fact that people may be seeing this image in a different way to you and I means that I may be as well leaving it.

Not long ago I visited a friend whose monitor was set to an appalling level, frankly I would have chucked it in the bin but we managed to adjust it to a reasonable level in the end. He was amazed at the difference and that he was able to get a decent print when he adjusted his picture correctly . Monitors really do need to be calibrated from time to time. In fact I'm going to do mine again now.

[Pops]

Re: Gods own Country

Lovely scene but I do see a distinct line at the point where the haze and the sharpness meet...or maybe it's just me

[ddigit]

Re: Gods own Country

Hi Stephen,

You cant have that title --everyone knows that NZ is Gods Own Country. Really liked the image - BUT - the horizon line bothers me - I feel as though I want to pull up the right hand corner.

Trev

[Stephen]

Re: Gods own Country

Hi Pops, not too sure about the line. I have to have admit there was some selective levels and contrast tweaking that went on, however selections were well feathered, so there should be no distinct line caused by that. Thanks for commenting though, its good feed back and something to watch for in the future.

Trev, well you could be right but in fairness, this expression should be 'God's own County' meaning Yorkshire That was an error on my part.

As for the horizon, well I do think that when there is little as a point of reference, you have to go with your own gut instinct. The dilemma can be whether to adjust to what you think it should be, or accept that the land does slope but that other clues like a cloud base, verticle structures, and ones own faith in your own ability leads you to believe its correct. Not too sure about the latter in my case but I did feel it was correct.

[Archangel]

Re: Gods own Country

As for the horizon, well I do think that when there is little as a point of reference, you have to go with your own gut instinct. The dilemma can be whether to adjust to what you think it should be, or accept that the land does slope but that other clues like a cloud base, verticle structures, and ones own faith in your own ability leads you to believe its correct. Not too sure about the latter in my case but I did feel it was correct.

Stephen,

The photo is a nice landscape photo and the colors seem natural. I don't think that any additional contrast job should be done as that will might ruin the haze in the atmosphere, which is a natural effect and for me is a welcome addition in the photo.

However, I think that the horizon line should be leveled. That would have revealed better the sloping of the hills in the photo.
Especially in landscapes, the objects reveal their true geometry only when the horizon is in evenly aligned. If it was some other type of photo then compromises are much more possible.
Anyway, my opinion.


George

[Stephen]

Re: Gods own Country

Stephen,

The photo is a nice landscape photo and the colors seem natural. I don't think that any additional contrast job should be done as that will might ruin the haze in the atmosphere, which is a natural effect and for me is a welcome addition in the photo.

However, I think that the horizon line should be leveled. That would have revealed better the sloping of the hills in the photo.
Especially in landscapes, the objects reveal their true geometry only when the horizon is in evenly aligned. If it was some other type of photo then compromises are much more possible.
Anyway, my opinion.


George

Hi George, many thanks for your comments on the photo, as always I appreciate the time and thought people give, its what makes a good critique forum work and of course adds to the lively discussion we encourage on DPNow.

You must appreciate that with this particular image I have made it appear how I wanted it. What you see is the result of what I felt in my mind made it a more attractive image. However this is not to say that I think its perfect, far from it. Indeed I have already said after other feedback that perhaps it may benefit from a little more mid tone contrast, but its personal choice as always.

There is little point in being dogmatic (hope you understand the meaning of this) about such things, we all know there is no right or wrong way to process ones images, the main thing is that we get the result that pleases us. This is the same in all forms of artistic expression.

If you study the photo,you will see there is very little if anything that is level, the Yorkshire Dales countryside is like this, low hills and rolling countryside. The land is not level in this area and therfore its difficult to say that any horizon should be level, like you would expect the sea horizon to be so.

Now you admit in your opening sentence that the colours seem natural and you don't feel it needs anymore contrast. However to be fair you don't know what has already been done to the image in the form of post processing. Though I did hint in my opening remarks in post 1 that

This shot was one of series which at the time I didn't give much attention to, and never really considerd them keepers. But after processing this one I'm really glad I kept them.

So I'm going to do something I have never done before George, I'm going to offer the original out of camera full size image for you to have a go at manipulating, and indeed level to what you think it should be like. Though I realise you were not there when it was taken and are not familiar necessarily with what the Yorkshire countryside can be like when the sun is going down on an early November day.

This is just for you and no one else will have the file available to them. I will PM you the web address so you can download it. Feel free to play with it and email it back if you like.

[Archangel]

Re: Gods own Country

Hi George, many thanks for your comments on the photo, as always I appreciate the time and thought people give, its what makes a good critique forum work and of course adds to the lively discussion we encourage on DPNow.

You must appreciate that with this particular image I have made it appear how I wanted it. What you see is the result of what I felt in my mind made it a more attractive image. However this is not to say that I think its perfect, far from it. Indeed I have already said after other feedback that perhaps it may benefit from a little more mid tone contrast, but its personal choice as always.

There is little point in being dogmatic (hope you understand the meaning of this) about such things, we all know there is no right or wrong way to process ones images, the main thing is that we get the result that pleases us. This is the same in all forms of artistic expression.

If you study the photo,you will see there is very little if anything that is level, the Yorkshire Dales countryside is like this, low hills and rolling countryside. The land is not level in this area and therfore its difficult to say that any horizon should be level, like you would expect the sea horizon to be so.

Now you admit in your opening sentence that the colours seem natural and you don't feel it needs anymore contrast. However to be fair you don't know what has already been done to the image in the form of post processing. Though I did hint in my opening remarks in post 1 that



So I'm going to do something I have never done before George, I'm going to offer the original out of camera full size image for you to have a go at manipulating, and indeed level to what you think it should be like. Though I realise you were not there when it was taken and are not familiar necessarily with what the Yorkshire countryside can be like when the sun is going down on an early November day.

This is just for you and no one else will have the file available to them. I will PM you the web address so you can download it. Feel free to play with it and email it back if you like.

Hi Stephen,

Of course I appreciate that you have made this particular image to appear as you want it to appear.
When I see a photo posted I take this as the photographer's wish to present his/her photo the way he/she posted.
Under these criteria, I wrote that the photo doesn't need any contrast adjustments and the colors look natural, of course in terms and in combination with the haze.
I judged the image as you presented. I cannot possibly know how the original photo was until I see it. From the way you posted the photo you have post processed, I thought you wanted to include the haze effect possibly present in the atmosphere at the time the photo was taken.

Thanks for the offer Stephen. Though you need to to inform me of how you want your image manipulated.
If you want the haze to appear or not for example or other preferences, otherwise I will do it the way I would personally like to be.
Please, transform only the photo to jpeg, since currently, I don't have installed software that reads RAW data files and transforms them in jpeg, because it is of no use to me right now with the cameras I have.


George

[JonMikal]

Re: Gods own Country

this image has captured my attention for sometime. there's so much to see and the ridges and valleys carry me through to the mountain nicely. your choice of day was well chosen as the splash of highlights compliment the scene...bringing it to life.

i almost want to suggest a leveling of the horizon, but fear it may be detremental to the foreground if that makes sense. so i'll be happy to rest on the fence.

love the color and haze.

[Autumn]

Re: Gods own Country

I agree that the overall 'feel' of the photo is that it should be up a bit on the right hand side, but after studying each 'layer' of the land, I notice that there are as many 'ups' on the right hand side as 'downs.' Also if you look at the barns in the centre, I bet if you ran a guide over the far ends of the barns, it (the guide) would be level.

It'll do for me.