This one was shot a few weeks ago, and I wasn't sure if it worked. It's not my best, and it's not my worst. What do you all think?

It's a great shot. I like the oblique angle of the landscape juxtaposed with the trees. And the sharp fern-like foliage as it leads the eye to mystier areas. Can I assume the light areas are fog?

Thanks John. The light areas are clouds actually. This was taken at an elevation of 4500 ft. You could hardly see your hand in front of you at times! It made for an amazing sheet of white at the summit.

I like it. You've got a great tonal scale and the clouds/mist add a sense of mistery and also create some depth. The ferns make a great foreground, and I like the lines created by the tree trunks (especially on the right half of the image).

First, you have many excellent images at your site and I would be happy to shoot as good as you do. (I really like the clockwork for example.) But with this image, im not sure. On one hand, I see its a nice location with nice weather, and this line going up is interesting. On the other hand it appears slightly uncomfortable to my eyes: The leaves at the middle left of the image and in front of the trees are too dark for me, and I cant rest my view anywhere. At the ferns to some extent, but not really.

Christian

With clockwork I meant the "Industrial devolution" shots

I think that the bottom third of the image is the least interesting... the twigs near the lower right-hand corner is a little distracting, but not too bad. With that said, the framing does position the tree 'entryway' in a nice spot, and the ferny foreground does add a sense of burgeoning forest in a misty landscape. I think that this shot has good corner placement (the upper corners are pleasant and do not leave me with the sense that it could have been much better), and my eyes are easily led into the center of the tree.

Tonality-wise, I'm not bothered by the previously mentioned dark trees. The blacks in the photo are nice, and while it is a matter of personal taste, I don't think that brightening them would actually improve the photo. I would agree with the previous poster if it was the case that heavy blacks were obscuring valuable shadow detail, but I personally don't believe this is the case here.

Thank you all, and thank you Christian for checking out my other work! I find criticism on this forum to be a step above other places, and I appreciate the constructive feedback.

This was actually shot handheld on the fly as it had started raining moments before. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to reshoot, so all things considered, it's not too bad IMHO. Again, many thanks.

This image looks like it was shot pretty wide, creating a what (I suppose) you'd call rectilinear distortion at the periphery- everything gets stretched out there. To my eye, your composition has also created a focal point at the center of the frame. I tend to gravitate toward these sorts of images, because they act like a sort of vortex, pulling the viewer into the shot.

In order to increase this effect, I'd recommend a gradated burn from the bottom central 1/3 toward the center of the shot, in a triangular fashion, with increasing burn from peripheral to central. That might create another "arm" or two which can also reach out and grab the viewer. It would also add interest to the foreground, which is probably the weakest element of the shot as it stands now.

Overall, very cool.

John

Edit: On further inspection, I now think that maybe the shot wasn't so wide after all, and that the distortion effect might just be the way those tree branches hang. Only you can tell us

Thanks for the critique button. You provided some ideas that i think I'll try out when I get a chance. Regarding your suggestion, it was indeed shot wide, 11mm on a D300 (Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8). The lens has very little barrel distortion, but there may be a little. To my eyes, I can't see any, but they haven't been calibrated in a while. Thanks again for the comment.

Glad to be of service, Jason . When I mentioned distortion, I was just talking about the normal, neato distortion that happens when you shoot wide. I don't want you to think I was taking a crack at your lens! As far as barrel distortion, I didn't notice any.

John