Good, Better, Best

One of the things that became painfully obvious to me during the Knoxville workshop is that while most of my images are good, they are ordinary.  Even the vast majority of my beloved landscapes are standard issue.  Postcard shots that anyone with an advanced skill set could duplicate.  I have taken it to heart and intend to work on this one area in particular.  "Put your camera where no one else does" was the mantra of the week.

After the grands left on Sunday and the leaves were raked and disposed of The Kid and I took a ride around the lake to enjoy the last remnants of fall.  As the light faded we stopped at the dam located at the south end of the lake to allow me to take some photos.  I was determined to put more thought into the process.

Take #1



The light is nice, the composition is good and it's in focus.  The reflection is pretty but there isn't a lot of interest in the sky nor is the foreground element very pleasing.  A nice illustrative image depicting the pump house at Pymatuning Reservoir.  I give it a C.


Take #2



I realize that not everyone will agree with me, but this is a better image.  I changed my position and shot lower to the ground placing the subject in the upper right hand corner.  It is much smaller than in the previous photo but I think still stands as the obvious focal point of the image.  The leaves on the lower left make for a more interesting foreground element and although the sky is still relatively uninteresting there is less of it.  I give it a B-.


Take #3



In my opinion this is, hands down, the best of the three images.  Once again the pump house is front and center.  There is no doubt what the focus of this picture is.  For this shot I moved around a bit, on the hunt for something that would make my photo stand out from the crowd.  I found that in some overhanging brances that I used to frame my subject.  The color of the leaves nicely balances the colors of the background and the late afternoon light.  The sky is still somewhat bland but there is much less of it than when I began.  This image is more of a side view of the rather than the boring almost straight on approach of #1.  I give this one an A-.

What would get an A+ you ask?  I don't know.  I haven't found it yet.  But the pump house is near by so I'll keep working on it.