Is this just "BLEH" or is it a decent pano?

anonymouscuban

This is a pano I did of a taro field in Kauai. It was quite beautiful in person but rather challenging to capture. The foreground and sky was quite bright, yet the mountains were in pretty deep shadows do to the rain clouds. I tried my best to capture the scene but I'm not really sure if this shot is any good. I'm having trouble being objective about it so your feedback is appreciated.

Click on photo for bigger version:

schmoo

Panos are really hard to compose well (which is why I don't really shoot 'em) but this has a lot of promise. The foreground green stuff doesn't actually do much for me. At least, not as much as the dramatic clouds and mountains.

I scrolled up enough so that the pic was "cropped" just under the bottom edge of the lake and, personally, that worked better for me.

Landscapes are about great light and I think you have the best light in those storm clouds.

zoomer

Well...it's not bleh.
Maybe better from a slightly higher angle. In this shot the foreground dominates the scene....and the good stuff is not the foreground.
I would give it a D on technical merit and a B+ on just being a cool travel photo...but that is just my opinion.

anonymouscuban

Hmm... I see what you mean on the Crop Steph. Here it is with the some of the foreground cropped out:



Thanks for the input Zoom. I also thought the higher angle would have worked better and I tried to find a spot a bit higher up. Unfortunately, there was not higher vantage point I could shoot this from, at least that I could gain access to. I actually shot this place on a few different days/times since it was off the main road that takes us to the North. This was the best day as far as light went.

hawkeye978

The green in the foreground is bright and really draws your eye and I seem to get stuck there. As I look at the picture the most interesting parts are the clouds, mountains, and jungle in the background on the right. If you want to keep the foreground, perhaps burn in the foreground with a gradient to darken the green, give the image further depth and help draw the eye upward.

zoomer

After the crop maybe try taking the yellow out of that green, which will dull it a lot.

Qarik

the shot is barely mildly interesting...would have been a TONS better if your wife were in it.

anonymouscuban

Zoom... I will try that at home.

Daniel... Check the People forum.

anthonyrobinson

Perhaps try lowering the saturation a bit, it might give the photo a different feel to it (not to mention, kill the foreground's liveliness). Failing that, as already said, throw a dark gradient over the foreground or try some local desaturation.