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Go easy I'm just a beginner.
I know the focus is not quite right.
Handheld at 1/40th second f22 18-70 at 35mm

I am interested in comments on composition as this is where I see I have a long way to go.

On a farm in the Mallee where my farther grew up.
Greolt

Edit: Seems that I have not done this right. I'll try to fix it.

Welcome!!
I like the composition! Very strong, uses diagonals and 3rds....

I would increase the contrast slightly in PS and (depending on the result) the saturation...

Welcome Greolt!

The only thing I would say about the composition is that the fence into the distance draws your eye along it to .... a fairly boring tree. The fence post has great texture and I see what you were trying to achieve, but IMO the fence should either disappear way into the distance or (better still) lead to an interesting subject.

Look forward to seeing more of your photo's.

Cheers
Peter

Welcome to the forums Greolt... enjoy your stay.

As Scott has said.. needs a little contrast. I agree with Peter also... background needs to be blurred just a bit more.... perhaps f8 would work nicely in this shot....

i would add a little bit of saturation in your image editing software also... but that is just personal preference...

cheers

Welcome to the forums Greolt, and what a wonderful first post! A polariser would have bluened up the sky, but otherwise it's fairly good. You got the horizon level, so I have nothing to complain about.

Thanks for your comments.

I see what you mean about the boring tree and putting tha background out of focus.
I was actualy trying to get it all in focus (f22) though I missed it a bit.

As per your suggestion I tried upping the contrast which seemed to increase the saturation as a result.

Well as you have been very gentle I may try posting some more

Greolt

Greolt wrote:Well as you have been very gentle I may try posting some more

Greolt

Please do, look forward to it. Wouldn't happen to be a Cats supporter would you?

Welcome to the forums, and thanx for a great first post.

While others make a point regarding the tree, I'm going to suggest something a little different - tree surgery!

Crop the image to a portrait format, using somewhere around the first metal stake to the left of the primary fencepost as your cropline. This will almost completely eliminate the whole tree, leaving just the fencepost plus the fencewire, and perhaps that solitary metal stake.

Probably best to remove that stake too - metal stakes don't taste too good.

But seriously, see how that changes things for you ... please post that as a secondary version.

Welcome Greolt - my thoughts have already been expressed by others. One small point - use a larger aperture to throw out the background - f/4 - f/8 should do it.

Welcome Greolt - good on you for posting an image first up.
Others have pointed out ways this image may be improved, so I won't add to their input, as you probably have enough things to think about now!

I liked the viewpoint and the composition a lot. It is an image trying to say something to the viewer, and that's what it's all about!

Have fun with your camera, and let's see more pix.

welcome to the forum, Greolt

do you visit this location oftain?, if yes, try a sunset shot, with the same compo, with and without the tree.

IMHO the mode of a sunset will enhance the 'boring' tree.

i always, when possible, visit the same location at different times of the day.

cheers

Like others I think the Depth Of Field (DOF) is the issue here. I think it's a great shot that would have been better with shallower DOF so the post was sharp and in focus and the distant objects were more blurry.

To be simple, you control depth of field with aperture (which is why others here are talking about changing the f value since that's the aperture measure) and the wider the aperture the shallower the depth of field. A large f number = a small aperture and a small f number = a large aperture. So if you used aperture priority mode and experimented with the extremes of the f stop values that don't generate HI or LO error messages you'll see what I mean.

HTH

Thankyou all for your comments. You have indeed been gentle.

Most have said less DOF would have been more appropriate and I can see what you mean.
The funny thing is I was really trying to get it all in focus with a small aperture.
I didn't quite get it, a tripod would have helped there.

Going back and getting it with a dramatic sky or sunset would be great but not practical (four hours drive)
What I need to learn is to see good composition all around me where I am. That is what I lack and would like to develop.

Thanks again for your encouragement.

Greolt

Great subject choice, the texture in the old fence post really makes it...