out of the file. A soft landscape

[Matt. K]

57

[Mr Darcy]

Another three steps to the right methinks. To get greater separation between the tree and the pole.

In the words of a poet I studied at school. "Geometry aping a tree". Though he was talking about a chimney stack.

[Matt. K]

Thanks for the comments Greg. I think any further seperation of the the tree and the pole would open a hole in the center of the image that allowed the eye to shoot straight through. In my opinion the tree is an eye stopper and that's exactly what it's purpose is. I could have lined it up with the third fence post but then the above still occurs. Your comment has made me look more closely at the composition but I think I got it right. Be interesting to see the opinions of others.

[zafra52]

I am thinking of a square crop cutting the
foreground and part of the sky. It would
make the natural lines in the picture more
prominent and the composition more
intersting, I think.

[Murray Foote]

The thing that strikes me is the three fence posts and the lamp post nearly aligned with the left one.

What I wonder is how it would have worked had you got in a little closer to get past the light out-of-focus foreground grass, perhaps used a slightly wider lens in consequence, carefully aligned the bottom of the lamppost with the top of the leftmost fence post and just left a small gap between them.

Though they would clearly be separate, that might produce interesting psychological ambiguity. Maybe that's what you were trying to do anyway. You could always try that in post-processing (actually, for this image, it might be the one time I was willing to say "in post"). It might be a little tricky to get the shades of the grass to match up but probably not too hard.

[aim54x]

I would have preferred the fence post not to be aligned with the power post.....

[biggerry]

well , since there seems to be a wish list here I might as well put my item on it. I think the power pole sticks out like dog b@lls and detracts from the image, clone it out

However, the scene as it is does convey a sense of 'man' meeting the land and the end result, ie desolate farming land with a dead tree, in that sense, with a caption from the author it could be a very powerful image, as it is with no explanation it is mere guess work from the viewer to try and decipher what was the original intention, minimalist abstract image? environmental statement? something else? just a scene that grabbed matts attention?

[Murray Foote]

I think the power pole sticks out like dog b@lls and detracts from the image, clone it out

... or maybe some dogs balls in the sky to balance it out, perhaps adjusted to look like a solar eclipse?

[biggerry]

I think the power pole sticks out like dog b@lls and detracts from the image, clone it out

... or maybe some dogs balls in the sky to balance it out, perhaps adjusted to look like a solar eclipse?

solar eclipse...now thats going to far...dog b@lls on teh other hand...

[Remorhaz]

I have to say I'm not a fan of the telegraph pole lining up with the fence post either - at first I thought it was a bad attempt at cloning to make a gap or something - and in reality I would rather the image without the power pole and lines at all - other than that I like the nice soft landscape.

[chrisk]

call me strange but i like the pole lining up with the fence. it creates a really cool optical illusion.

[the foto fanatic]

I like it because of the soft pastels, like a coloured pencil drawing.

The important patterns to me are the recurring green and yellow shades, contrasted with the soft blue sky.

I'm drawn to this image because so many photographs that we see these days are maxed out with saturated colours and strong contrast. This is such a nice change.

[Matt. K]

A thousand ways to cut an image.

[gstark]

I love the muted colours here, Matt.

I'm undecided as to whether you should have aligned the lh fencepost with the telegraph pole, and also as to whether a square crop might be a better vehicle for this, bearing in mind that you've placed the tree neat and in the middle.

Changing the crop will alter that relative placement.

[Reschsmooth]

My only suggestion would be a very large print. I am not concerned about the placement of the pole with the fence post as, to me they are minor players in the overall picture. The lines leading to the convergent point at right is enough. The colours are awesome and the overall "mood" create a wonderfully different landscape.

I hasten to add that the lining up of the pole with the left hand post and the small pole(?) with the right hand post adds to the image, given the relationship with the lines leading right and the relative size of the two 'poles'.

[Matt. K]

Gary
'Neat and in the middle'...........the distillation of a thousand volumes on the art of composition.