We at Smart Photography would like to sincerely acknowledge the entries we receive from our readers for the Picture of the Month.
Most of the entries sent in are praiseworthy for the effort invested, and the photographer’s eye for detail and timing.
We maintain that learning is a constant process and hence it always leaves room for improvement. With this in mind, we selected four undoubtedly pleasing photos that could be enhanced using the guidelines of composition and post processing to procure outstanding results.
This picture is by Claude Veigas. It is a nice serene scene, possibly shot at an exotic resort. It immediately brings to mind ‘holidays and relaxation’. But the picture appears a bit dull. The horizon line also cuts the picture in almost two equal halves. The orange top hut is way towards the center of the frame.
Observe the edited image. The Rule of Thirds is applied here; the hut (which was the center of interest) is now at a stronger position. The sky is 1/3rd of the frame and the water is 2/3rd. The colors have been saturated a bit. The picture looks definitely more striking now.
Indrajit Sanyal seems to love the outdoors and landscapes. His keen eye has captured the mountaineer enjoying the beauty of the valley below. Indrajit’s mistake is placing the mountaineer in the exact center of the frame. The mountain too is a bit underexposed.
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This could be remedied by changing the composition and rendering the mountain lighter in post processing. Observe that in the edited image, the mountaineer seems to be standing at a greater height.
Rajendra Pradhan is yet another landscape enthusiast. His picture seems to have been taken somewhere in Ladakh. Seeing this picture makes me want to go once again to that wonderful desert.
I think Rajendra’s picture is a bit too dark. Also, the aspect ratio of the frame does not give it a feeling of vastness. Our (two) eyes capture more horizontally than vertically. Hence, to get the same feeling in a picture, a wider aspect ratio seems more favorable.
Sirsendu Gayen’s landscape has a little more of foreground than I would like. Because of this, the red patch in the middle ground seems less prominent. By cropping the image at the lower end and then enlarging the picture, greater emphasis is placed on the red patch. The mountain in the background gains prominence, though just a bit.
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