Scotney castle in Oct

[bigbob]

Although i've photographed this National Trust property before , i've never been there in the autumn .
Just added a touch of CS warm up filter .

B..

[Ian]

OK, this is the critique board, so please forgive the following

The castle and the surrounds look idyllic, I'd be interested to know where this is and to visit.

But.. the photo doesn't say anything special to me beyond that. Indeed, it looks like part of the castle wall is washed out and the milky sky doesn't do justice to what I imagine is probably a lovely scene on a day with a deep blue sky. It doesn't look autumnal to me either.

Bob, I have come to appreciate that your photography is generally of a very high standard, which does mean criticism of more ordinary shots may be a bit more searching than of others - hope you understand!

ian

Originally Posted by bigbob

Although i've photographed this National Trust property before , i've never been there in the autumn .
Just added a touch of CS warm up filter .

B..

That looks very peaceful. Love the colours and reflections in this one. If it was mine I'd send it to Country Life magazine.

[bigbob]

Thanks Ron .
No worries Ian always open for critique and yours are justified .
First it's Scotney Castle just off the A21 nr Bewl water on the east sussex/kent border .
It is Autumn but the colours here in Kent are late , some trees have turned but it's a dissapointing late part of the year for me so far .
My main aim was to get the reflection but the water was slightly choppy .
It is boring , normally there would be ducks or water fowl in the moat , but the've b******d off somewhere and the reeds and vegitation(sp) around the outside have been trimmed , so there goes the foreground interest.
The warm up filter has given the sky a milky odd look , so perhaps it was'nt such a good idea .
Not sure if the wall is blown ,(i can see detail in the masonry) or if the colour is lighter i'll look at another shot of the wall .
But never apologise for pulling apart any of my shots , if there valid i'll listen , if not i'll try to change your mind

B..

[Tom]

A pretty setting no doubt Bigbob but I agree with Ian. The sky cannot be helped but the whole image looks on the soft side to me. What time of day was it Bob?
Tom

[bigbob]

This taken around lunch time (could'nt help the time) so the sun was high this would contribute to the contrast , how do you mean 'soft' Tom , out of focus or shakey? , it was handheld at F13 and i have'nt sharpened in PS .

B..

Just goes to show how different we are. For me there is just enough autumn colour with out being too colourful. I prefer the water to breakup the reflections. Hate that mirror affect that you see so often. A pale natural sky that just adds to the picture without competing for attention. My eye went straight to the main subject and then started to explore the rest of the picture. I like it and would give it top marks.

[tarzieboy]

what a lovely shot,beautiful,

[Stephen]

Personally, had this been my pic and I had got a far from ideal shot, I would have felt compelled to tweak it to suit. I have absolutely no qualms about giving my own shots a littel help to achieve what I want. Something like this perhaps.

[bigbob]

Thanks Tarzieboy .
Ron thank god were all different , what a boring old place it would be if we all had the same tastes .
Stephen it would have been easy to up the contrast to bring out the colour , but i did'nt really want this to 'pop' in the normal way , i hoped it would stand on it's own .
But as Ian has said the muted autumn colour has'nt come out , so perhaps your edit is better after all .

B..

[Tom]

Hello Bob
Lacking in a bit of sharpness really. But I find when I resize for the web I am often dissapointed that the image has lost it's freshness if you like.
Tom

[Archangel]

Originally Posted by bigbob

Although i've photographed this National Trust property before , i've never been there in the autumn .
Just added a touch of CS warm up filter .

B..

Bigbob,

The scenery is nice. The sky could be better though, like other users mentioned. Personally I would prefer the picture without the warmth filter applied, since from the photo it looks that the little castle is already hit by the sun and already has a warmth tone. Maybe a manual WB adjustment was necessary in order to preserve the correct color and sky color.

Regards

George

[bigbob]

I think your right about the warm up filter George , this was shot RAW (the camera not me) so i can alter the W/B easily enough , i'm going to play around with a few settings and maybe a crop tonight , i prefer to put photo's up for critique before any editing so i can get views other than mine on how everyone would like to see it .

B..