+++ The Weekly Landscape Thread - #4, 2025.02.28

The clouds and the mountains give similar bulk and shape top and bottom. The repetition makes the shot special. The central small area highlighted by sun is just enough to break up the foreground while creating a line into the image.
I find the frame too heavy. A much lighter grey perhaps?
Close up details with plenty of dof always appeals to me. I like to see natural details like this within their setting. The sun cooperated by picking out the thistles while the background is in shadow.

I'm afraid these aren't pressing my buttons.
1. Doesn't have enough details or distinctive enough forms within the dark area to start to register with me.
2. Is more interesting because of your story and the "open mouth" shape. Getting an exposure at 1/10 at the moment of a lightning flash (ie., it wasn't a time exposure) is quite rare. The foregound areas are lit up but I can't see anything there that gets my attention.
Storm shooting with lightning is like that. I've wasted far far more pixels and silver grains trying to get shots in conditions like this than I care to think about. My successes have been very very rare.

As always, there are multiple ways to do things. In a situation like this, I'm pretty sure I'd have tried something like Fireplace did with his thistle shot this week.
I'd have tried to get the dark, mossy wall completely behind the side sunlit blooms. To do it, I'd have kept the camera low and moved around more to the right.
The Photoshop generative remove and fill did a great job though.

I really love the colours in this. The low contrast greys and browns in the foreground juxtaposed with the bright bright sunlit green in the distance and the specs of white from the houses. Really pulls your focus in. I also enjoy how the coastline both offers depth of field and leads your eyes to the star of the show. The grassy planes.

The Myth of Narcissus

The banks of our local burn have scattered patches of native wild daffodils, Narcissus pseudonarcissus. These ones seemed to be admiring their own reflection.

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus 😊

I think I prefer the second shot. The first is a great illustration of a great hike, but just seems to present itself too easily. The blue of the sky feels a bit cool too. The second has a more interesting atmosphere - hope you packed your waterproofs! The contrast between the sunlit thistles and the moody background is just right. Arvo's crop (above) helps I think.

Not sure about this one. There's a nice diagonal leading line, leading...out of frame. I think in that situation I would have zoomed/cropped in to the central portion of trees and their reflections.

This has captured nicely the windblown late winter sunshine on the moors. I think I would have framed it with the tree to the left or right.

I like this a lot. Interesting subtle colours in the rocks and water, nice composition drawing us in towards the sunlit cove. It struck me that it could be in south-west scotland - almost as if the Atlantic never opened 😁

Spring hasn't really started here in Austria yet, this photo makes me want it to start here soon!
Nice bright feeling with a good close up of the snow bells on a sunny day

I like this one. The colours and contrast are good. the details in the green hill are good and the clouds are nice touch. The blue lake has a calming effect on me.

This is good, the central placing of the tree has some merit, but I think the image would be improved by cropping some from the right and the bottom, so the tree is now somewhat off centre and "looking" into the nice space on the left. The format would also become a bit more panoramic.

Thanks Arvo
The crop does work; the blue comes out better,
but I think I like the spikey nature of the leaves in the original too:-)

Woodsider mentioned that this looks like it could have been taken in Scotland. That was my first thought too, before I read your title.
Super composition!
The way that the light is shining brightly on that little group of houses really highlights them in the image. The whole bay seems to work like a frame for the little village. Nice broody sky too.
The rocks, pebbles and the water are all bright enough to see their details, but also dark enough to offer a nice contrast to the lit up houses.

Another good snowy scene from Lapland I presume?
Trees, standing there all covered in snow, do tend to remind me of various characters too

It looks like a nice lush green summer meadow, a gentle hill with paths to walk up and explore various angles and view points.
Do you have the "right to roam" in Estonia? In Austria you can walk in nature almost everywhere in the countryside, following sensible guidelines and being generally respectful to the land and wildlife. I think it is pretty much the same in Scotland too.
Looking at this shot, I wonder if there were also other opportunities, where that curvy road could be snaking its way through the lush landscape ?

yes, those wild daffodils can be so vain :-)
It's a nice little intimate "landscape within" that you have found here :-)
By the way, I received the book I ordered from David Ward today, It looks good, I'll start to read it soon. Thanks for the suggestion!

( Book:"Landscape Within; Insights and Inspiration for Photographers" by David Ward)

The Rolling Hills