Rain in the Distance

[kencameron]

On the Monaro High Plains, after a dry spell.

[RedwoodGuy]

The clouds are dramatic and exposed really nicely. I am not so sure the f/g matches the intensity or drama. My eye want's the camera to point slightly more to the left to pickup more mass on the tree stand and less space to the right of the bright rock. The aspect ratio feels a tiny bit extreme considering there's not too much on the right?
It's overall pleasing and dramatic.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Top: nice

Bottom: missing

 

[kencameron]

Thanks for the comments. A quick and dirty response:

[francois]

This last version is more pleasing. I'd wish to see a bit more foreground (but it might lessen the impact of the clouds).

[RSL]

Good shooting, Ken. I'd like to see more foreground too, and I doubt it would interfere with the clouds. It's not quite balanced at the moment, but still pretty good.

[amolitor]

Yup. The foreground rocks are trying mightily to echo the shapes of the clouds, and weight the image down, but they're outnumbered!

That said, a lot to love, here! Have you tried simply ditching the foreground rocks?

Also, there is a weird artifact in the sky directly above the peak of the foreground rock, you seem to have cloned two identical copies of some cloud detail.

[RedwoodGuy]

The second version is different but not particularly more effective. There is an unnatural aspect to the large rock on the right. It appears to be dissected along the horizontal, right about through the middle. By looking we know there is more rock or something there. It's not resting on the ground, but rather resting on the edge of the photo. Can you put more f/g into the picture? If you can, this would also improve the aspect ratio which feels too extreme.

By what can be seen, you have a lot of material here to work with. The challenge is organizing it. There's no question the clouds are dramatic and interesting, but they can't carry the photo on their own. If there is no more f/g to be shown, then of course the question is whether the "split rock" is adding or subtracting from the composition.

[amolitor]

I am increasingly puzzled by this. There seems to be duplication extending into the background landscape, so you're not simply cloning clouds. Is this a botched splice in some panorama software?

If so, why doesn't the duplication extend over the foreground rock?

I think this is SOME sort of composite image, but what, I cannot quite put my finger on.

[kencameron]

Is this a botched splice in some panorama software?

Yes. The whole thing is messy when looked at in detail, but I still considered it worth while working on the composition and getting some input on that. My overall conclusion is that on order to make progress I would need to reshoot the pano in portrait orientation to give me more choices as to the balance between sky and ground - as well as achieving a more successful splice. Thanks again for the input.

[amolitor]

Gotcha. It's a shame, since the clouds were GLORIOUS that day!

[kencameron]

The other thing the responses have made me realize is that when I shoot panos I need to visualize the final result as a composition as I would with a single frame, and then take the necessary multiple frames, rather than just shooting a grid of images and hoping to fix the composition after stitching.

[David Eckels]

I would only have similar input to the others. FWIW, I keep wanting to climb on top of that rock and re-compose, but I agree, those clouds are fantastic!

[Peter McLennan]

The other thing the responses have made me realize is that when I shoot panos I need to visualize the final result as a composition as I would with a single frame...

Ah, but then you might lose some of the serendipity that comes from exploring this photographic technique. I know that I was frequently surprised by my early attempts at panos.  Not to say that you're not an experienced pano shooter, but that we can all be surprised by panos.

Agreed, though.  Visualizing the final result is important.

I also agree with the others;  an excellent opportunity not fully realized.  I want more foreground, especially the savannah-like area to the left.  I want to see all of those trees, please. : )

[stamper]

I am not an experienced pano shooter but any time I have done it is to bear in mind to shoot wider than your vision demands. Sometimes when stitching you lose something top & bottom because of the software isn't perfect. Better to have too much than too little and I didn't mention the word crop.