I think there is a photo here. I just can't find it in my viewfinder.

This is a scene looking from the front parking area of a client location for me. I keep coming here and thinking I see a photo to take, but I just lose it in the viewfinder.

Today I tried with my 15mm Zeiss lens. It was cloudy and sort of bland color today.





I might be on to something with the wide angle, only if I cross the road and stand on the other side. But the shoulders are kind of narrow and the traffic drives by too fast around the curve we don't see to the right. This looks west so I would want to do this morning before 9am with some sun and partly cloudy skies I think. Ideally the Asian women that typically are tending the garden space would be working and add human interest.

On target or is this a bust and I should just move on?

BF Hammer said:

On target or is this a bust and I should just move on?

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Great exercise! I think you should continue. I'll start with the second one as there are some elements I like, the angled road is a positive too bad the tree blocks the other pole would have made it stronger. Just my opinion but there is no subject and needs a sky. As for a subject an old car, tractor or buggy at the right 1/3? I think people in the garden on the other side of the road would be too small @15mm. The sky, another day could be better but have you tried a bunch of local contrast on it? First shot is facing west what about a sunset?

Just my thoughts, YMMV.

The first one has potential. My suggestion is to crop it into a pano and bring out dramatic detail and texture in those clouds. The second one I'd try to eliminate the pole altogether and have the leading line of the roadway start at the bottom right corner. There are times when putting a horizon in the center of your image works, but most times it's better to keep the horizon closer to either the bottom or the top of your frame. As Needa mentioned, then the leading line of the road should draw your eye into a subject which you'd need to add.

This is interesting. I recently took an landscape image on a dull day using my wide-angle lens. I gave up on it because there it just didn't work no matter how I processed it.

This scene is only 2 miles down the road from my workplace so I'm more looking for ideas some other people would try on another visit here. I do know how bad light like I had here is a signal to just move-on to another photo.

It is just freaky how a place looks like a natural photo to the bare eye every time I go there but I cannot see it when I try to frame with a camera. Would I need to get higher so the lines in the garden become more of a focus? This is near an airport runway so drone work is a no.

[MENTION=48483]BF Hammer[/MENTION]


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Cropped to move the horizon line plus some of foreground, local contrast and little blue added to clouds. Also lower sky about 1/3 stop and bumped shadows. You might try removing all the green In the foreground, I'd leave the road as I like the cracks. Just some ideas.

'It is just freaky how a place looks like a natural photo to the bare eye every time I go there but I cannot see it when I try to frame with a camera.
I get that when I stand on the edge of the Everglades there is a feeling I just cant get in a picture.

You have editing as yes but if you want the post removed let me know."

BF Hammer said:

This scene is only 2 miles down the road from my workplace so I'm more looking for ideas some other people would try on another visit here. I do know how bad light like I had here is a signal to just move-on to another photo.

It is just freaky how a place looks like a natural photo to the bare eye every time I go there but I cannot see it when I try to frame with a camera. Would I need to get higher so the lines in the garden become more of a focus? This is near an airport runway so drone work is a no.

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If you are specifically looking to identify a scene shooting with a 15mm lens, then work on composing your images based on wide angle composition tips and tricks to make the most of those scenes. Since wide angle views push the scene further away than it really is, foreground interest is crucial when composing.

A few ways to obtain foreground interest with a wide angle lens is by the use of leading lines, shooting from a low perspective, and exaggerated perspective. Here is a helpful article that offers some ideas. The embedded video is also informative.

https://photographylife.com/how-to-use-wide-angle-lenses

In addition to the embedded video, I find some of Bryan Peterson's videos to really hone the concepts. Here is one with a low perspective while also using color to capture the attention.

And here is another of Bryan Peterson's videos that shows two different images taken from the same distance. He changed the image by shooting low. My point is being aware wide angle lenses tend to be very different when creating compositions. After watching all of the videos, go back and take a look at your first image. Just by shooting from a low perspective, you could have moved the horizon line much lower in your frame (almost to the bottom edge of your frame) which would have eliminated a lot of the excess grass and road and given an even wider view of the clouds in the sky. Then by using some photo editing, you could have made those clouds pop which would have resulted in a more pleasing image.

For me ... Bryan's info especially when it comes to shooting with a wide angle lens is when I really began to understand and see the possibilities.

As I was on my way home from an errand, I passed by this lake. Coincidentally it offered a similar view to the original image except for the lake vs the grass and road. I didn't have my camera with me but went home and got it making sure I had my 16-35mm lens.

So I took the first pic to resemble the original image's perspective.



Then I pulled out the flip screen and lowered my camera close to the ground to make the sky my point of interest. Granted I could have moved the horizon line even lower to the bottom of the frame. If the lake hadn't been there, I would have done so.

For these types of images, sometimes it is better not to follow the rule of thirds with the horizon. If I had done so, there would have been too much dead space at the bottom making that part of the image uninteresting.



When I finished editing both images, I went back to my first pic and tried to bring out detail in the reflection. There is too much shadow at the bottom of the image so I abandoned the attempt.

Maybe move a little to the right to get more trees into the foreground? Seems like most of the wide-angle landscapes have something close or a leading line, like a road, going straight down the center into the landscape.

I get the gist of what everyone is suggesting. And I continue to welcome ideas to try.

I used the 15mm lens partly because I already have been here before and tried at 28mm and longer. I wanted to see if this is really a negative-space image like I sometimes will see done for prairie and arctic scenes. The power lines above would creep into frame as I raised the camera up, so that explains me setting the horizon where it was.

So here is a Google Earth screencap. As you can see, the curve of the road to the right is sort of blind and cars take it too fast regularly. I've called it dead-man's curve for the winter accidents there. It is holding me back from crossing the road and photographing from the other side as I think that might solve some of my composition. My position for the photos I did take is in front of that parking area in front of the big building. Kind of a tough one to crack IMO.