The pond

[wunderkind]

Why the image was taken and what I wanted to show:

The contrast between grey and brown stones at the edge of the pond and the intense greenery around them including wet green leaves (it was just after a heavy rain) on the surface of the pond.

The image was taken in the Evolution Garden of Singapore Botanic Gardens. Thanks.

Version #1:



Version #2 (as per comments below):

[materoppuppets]

Ok....it is good that you know what you want to achieve.

Few comments : (hope i don't sound like any of the American Idol Judges!!!)
1. There is not enought contrast in the picture since greens dominates the frame
2. You may need to check a color wheel. Gray is a neutral color so it will not complement nor contrast any of the colors. Try working with the primay colors like green vs red. Note : Don't take my word on this one, I maybe wrong on this theory...hehehehe.
3. Try focusing on fewer stones and the vegetation area and see what is the difference and which one works better.
4. Shoot lower and avoid the vegetation in the background. The pattern is much better on the pond.

Just my two cents.

[wunderkind]

Originally Posted by materoppuppets 2. You may need to check a color wheel. Gray is a neutral color so it will not complement nor contrast any of the colors.

Oh, I meant the contrast of dull-colored stones vs. the intense green of the vegetation, not the contrast of the two colors.

[nysheng]

hi... well.. i dun realli see a focus point in this shot. it seems rather 'snap-shot' to mi.
also feel that the bank of the pond sorts of like cuts the pic into two?
maybe u could have tried taking a pic of the reflection of the foilage from the pond? might make for a more interesting shot =)

[tribal.snake]

not much of a pic, dun see any focus to it.
a pano pic of the entire pond... better.

[wunderkind]

Originally Posted by nysheng hi... well.. i dun realli see a focus point in this shot. it seems rather 'snap-shot' to mi.

Does every landscape picture has to have a "focus point"?

Originally Posted by nysheng maybe u could have tried taking a pic of the reflection of the foilage from the pond? might make for a more interesting shot =)

Hmmm. How can I take a shot of a foliage reflection when the surface of water in the pond is covered with leaves?

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by wunderkind Does every landscape picture has to have a "focus point"?

Much preferred, at least if you want the picture to be interesting rather than something which is based on "feeling".

There is always a mixture of what makes a picture good, I feel, from a personal point of view I think one major factor would be the amount of "beauty" in the photo - i.e. the colours, the drama, the shapes and how they blend together. The other part may be much less obvious, the "feeling" of the photographer. A focal point to "anchor" your landscape instead of just letting it "sprawl" all over the place is definitely useful in the "beauty" part.

If you intended to show the contrast, yes, you have done it, however the picture has an overall feel of being overly cluttered with various elements. The foliage and greenery above your "line of stones", I feel is too much, and a little unnecessary. Perhaps if it is possible you might consider taking a wider view, and also include more water without the lotus leaves to incorporate a feeling of transition instead of just dropping your viewer right smack into the midst of the leaves. I would also place the stones such that I only see part of the foliage above the stones, and not the tops because that is where the clutter begins.

[wunderkind]

Originally Posted by night86mare If you intended to show the contrast, yes, you have done it, however the picture has an overall feel of being overly cluttered with various elements. The foliage and greenery above your "line of stones", I feel is too much, and a little unnecessary. Perhaps if it is possible you might consider taking a wider view, and also include more water without the lotus leaves to incorporate a feeling of transition instead of just dropping your viewer right smack into the midst of the leaves. I would also place the stones such that I only see part of the foliage above the stones, and not the tops because that is where the clutter begins.

Thank you for the suggestions. How does the cropped version below look?

Version #2:



I was reluctant to do such cropping of the original image for two reasons. First, the cropping changes the original aspect ratio of the image (4x3). Or is it an irrelevant reason? Second, such cropping brings a line of stones at the edge of the pond too close to the top of the image which I thought is not good compositionally.

Also, with regards to taking a wider view to include more water. This is not possible in a current setting. This is a VERY small pond. Basically what you see is almost the entire pond, so not much choice here as to how to take a shot.

Thanks again.

[night86mare]

Definitely works better for me! =)

Anyways, the lighting is not extremely special (not like sunset/sunrise lighting, more of daylight lighting).. So perhaps you could go back and reshoot if you wish to maintain the aspect ratio.. =)

[Yatlapball]

Yep. I agree that the cropped version works better. More of those uh... what do you call that? water lily?

wunderkind: shooting from a lower perspective might allow you take in much more of the pond in your picture.

[wunderkind]

Originally Posted by Yatlapball wunderkind: shooting from a lower perspective might allow you take in much more of the pond in your picture.

Yeah, I also agree now that a cropped version looks better, the only issue I have is a non-standard aspect ratio.

Well, the camera was positioned already very close to water surface. It can't get much lower than that. It is easy to shoot with unusual view points with A620's flip-out LCD. I do it rather often - lowering the camera almost to very ground or to water surface (one of the earlier Poda Island pictures I posted before here was taken like that) or lifting the camera above the heads in the crowd.

Thanks to all.

[idi0tekue]

if you have a polarizer, can get rid of the water reflection. The whitish reflections doesnt blend into the greens.

[wunderkind]

Originally Posted by idi0tekue if you have a polarizer, can get rid of the water reflection. The whitish reflections doesnt blend into the greens.

Actually, I can get one. Except that Canon A620 requires a separate Conversion Lens Adapter to be able to put filters or polarizers.