Mt Sefton in the Afternoon

Matt,

Your image here is one type of scene that I find difficult to expose and compose for. Often the elements of the composition are not where you want them, ending up with too much or too little in the frame. Do you have any exposures closer to the lake?

Tom.

I don't think the blowing snow is a distraction. I liked the way the graduation of the tone from foreground to mountains lead me into the image. From an image perspective I think it's very good.

George

Thanks Tom and George,
I don't have any exposures closer to the lake as I just didn't find anything particularly good to put in the foreground. The exposure wasn't that difficult, Delta 100 rated at EI50 and the dark side of the largest rock underexposed by 2 stops. It's hard to see in the scan but there is detail underneath both rocks with a gradual progression to black.

I'm now starting to think about using some diffusing material (neg sleeve plastic) to soften the appearance of the blowing snow.

Here's an ideaYes the blowing snow is distracting to me) watch what happens when you make it more of a horizontal by cropping from the bottom(No purists, Please) just above the triangular dark shadow.(Left of center, 1/3 up) To my eye, the more horizontal it gets, the less annoying the blowing snow, in fact it works with it. Cropping there cleans it up a bit too, there's too much going on!(It also makes the lake bigger by default.)

Mattg, I have been observing your work and overall I really like what I see. The grand scene is one of the hardest compositions to execute because of the sheer number of elements one must compose into a single statement and the large tonal range one must manage. You are a brave soul. Most photographers avoid the complexity of the grand scene. Microcosms and intimate landscapes are more popular and easier to compose.

I believe it is not the blowing snow that is the real distraction, but rather it has to much empty sky. Your image if filled with texture, tone, and form except for the blank pail sky. I would have cropped the sky closer to the top of the central peak and reduced its presents. This would create a more intimate experience for the viewer to focus more on the core elements of your composition without the distraction of the vacant sky.

Hi Paul,
"there's too much going on" could just about be my photographic moto. I really enjoy trying to squeeze as much as I can into my compositions although I'll have a think about whether this example is successful or not.

Hi again Steve,
your suggested crop is one I've been toying with and will most likely adopt; a very helpful observation about the sky.


Regards, Matt.