I thought I would post these two shots that I am just not as happy with as I would like; hoping that someone can help me do this better next time.

This was a nice sunset, but I was not able to somehow pull together a composition that I think brought this all together. I sort of feel these is just a bunch of cactus in front of a cool sky, but there is not really any depth. I am not sure what, but I think the composition is just missing something. Any suggestions on what I could have done to pull this together?

I would appreciate suggestions.
Dave





and the other one

Hi Dave,

I think that I like the total composition of the first one more than the second one. The sunset is just spectacular...the sort of rare sunset that makes you wish you were sitting in front of something truly spectacular. However, there does not seem to be a central element in the foreground to bring the composition together. I am not really sure how to change the composition of the photograph that you are showing to make it stronger. Thoughts?

James

Dave, I am with James on this one. You have a broad foreground AND a broad background. While very plesant, this is the problem your experiencing.

Find ONE strong anchor, and lines from it that point to the background and your compositional element will be much stronger....like isolating one plant up front, or maybe some kind of large rock etc....somthing to give it scale.

Roman

Hi Dave
Maybe take a tip from Tim Fitzharris and put yourself in front of one of the larger cacti as a foreground element,giving your eye a leading feature to start your eye to roaming over the image to the beautiful middle ground and then on to the rare colorful sky and back around again to the front, completing the circuit. I sometimes like to use a wide angle 12mm and get within 2 or 3 feet from my foreground subject. Focus using the depth of field for that particular lens. Ex 12mm @ f/11 focused @ 1' 6" will make everything in focus from your foreground to infinity insuring a sharp image. I see I just parroted Romans good advice, hope this helps.
Randall

Randall, James and Roman,

Thanks for the comments guys. I see what you mean - there is no place for your eye to go, so you sort of wander around.

I think I tend to got excited about the broad beauty of the sunset - and forgot to concentrate on the composition and elements to create a stronger shot.

This is an easy place for me to return to - so I will keep after it!

Thanks again.
Dave

I agree with the above posts. I would add these thoughts, you will, in my view, produce a more eye catching photo if you balanced the exposure a bit between the sunset and the fore and mid ground. There's nothing in the foreground to grab your attention, and keep it as others have said. The sky is very dramatic and offers a lot for thought. You could have dropped the landscape theme altogether and focused on just the sky with a bit of a mtn rim at the bottom of the image, this of course would have been done with a short tele. . .

On thing that will improve greatly this image is for you to shoot it when there are flowers. Yellow flowers are bright, and in a dark setting such as this one, the flowers will catch more light and glow making them catch your eye better, and over all that will give it more contrast and depth. pray for nice sky's in the spring. .

One more thing, the foreground to me looks blotchy or randomly lit. Did you do some dodging and burning or did you have a bright flashlight and long exposure or?

Tony

Tony,

Thanks for the additional perspective. I lightened and darkened certain portions of the foreground in order to try to get some of the cactus to stand out. I expect this is what you are seeing, but my transitions must not have been very smooth.

I will definately get back out there in the spring to get flowers - I can see that would provide some variety to the foreground. Unfortunately we do not get these dramatic sunsets as much in the spring - but sometimes.

Thanks again - your perspective is really appreciated.

Dave

Dave,

I think Roman said what I believe to be "wrong" with your image. Without a stronger foreground element, splitting the image evenly between the foreground and the background creates the blandness that you noticed. The sunset is very dramatic. Why not frame the image in a more classic fashion by having the horizon be at about the bottom 1/3'd of the image and then use one of the taller cacti in the immediate foreground to frame the image? That would give the viewer an immediate focal point up close, then "wander" into the image across the landscape, before settling on the spectacular sunset, ie. the background?

Personally, I really like the foreground in number two. I'd crop a little off each side or maybe just off the right to near the tallest cactus.

I like the sky in number one better though.

The sunset is spectacular and beautiful...

However, often with wide angle views, just including everything in the frame sort of waters down the interest.

Quite often, I like a very dominant foreground subject in a wide angle landscape view.