Critique my early picture

Everyone's a critic

I'm on a roll today I guess. I just posted the exposure blog, and started looking to re-edit some of my old pictures to post on my new online gallery (more about that later) and this picture just struck me as an example of the things I was talking about in the exposure blog.
 

 
Since this embedded image isn't easy to see the details, here's a link to the full size, un-edited image:
 
http://www.poppavein.com/images/Arizona/Examples/dsc_0017.jpg
 
It's about 10M so it'll take a few seconds to download.
 
This picture was taken on 8/24/2013 at 7:10 PM. I took it at Dead Horse Ranch State Park, near Cottonwood, AZ. I got my camera on 8/12/2013 so I'd had the camera for 12 days - less than 2 weeks.
 
I used the VR 18-55mm kit lens with the following settings:
 
Focal Length: 34mm
Focus Mode: Auto Focus (AF-A)
Vibration Reduction: On
Aperture: f/5
Shutter Speed: 1/15 s
ISO: Auto / ISO 400
 
This picture does not have any out-of-camera post processing applied, including sharpening.

Let the bullets fly

 
What struck me about this is a few things...

1. I believe this was actually shot on my cheap Velbon tripod. That ended up resulting in the tree in the lower right corner not being too soft (blurry). It would (and does) look better with sharpening applied. This is one of the few good things about this pic.
2. I do like the colors. I've read that Canon and Nikon have different processing that results in different results in the way colors are presented. Since I didn't shoot this same scene with a Canon using the same settings, I can't directly compare the different cameras. I've read from people who do use both that some prefer the Nikon colors to the Canon colors. I don't have an opinion on that, but I do know I like the colors in this picture. Another good thing.
3. The thing I've come to dislike the most about this shot and what I try to avoid now (as does my mentor Jon), is shooting a scenery shot with some of it out of focus. I don't like the way shots like this look, and especially a shot like this where most of the shot is distant but the foreground is what is in focus (or close to it).
   
   Now I try to use the smallest aperture possible on a shot like this, but backed off one or two settings from the max. For example, depending on the focal length, this lens has a minimum aperture of f/22 to f/36. I'd guess at 34mm, somewhere in the middle, I could have chosen an aperture of around f/28 instead of the f/5 I used, and then the foreground, middle, and distant subjects would have all been in focus.
4. It bothers me when, in Nikon ViewNX 2, I see that the selected focus points are where there is nothing of any interest. Here's a screen capture from ViewNX 2 showing where the auto focus point was set. Why Randy, why? What the heck was I focusing on or using for the exposure in that red rectangle? Again, I'd just had the camera less than 2 weeks but was I really that ignorant? I must have been - here's the proof!
   
5. I also am not thrilled with the composition. I like this one better that some of the others from that same time - I like how I put the tree in the lower left. But I wish I had a touch more of the rest of the hill top, maybe not quite filling up a third of the bottom, but closer to it. This shot makes me think it was an accident that any of the hill top is in the picture. Plus, with the same level of zoom, the interesting parts of the cloud formations give more room to tilt the camera down a bit. Alternatively, I am not against keeping the amount of sky above the clouds, so if the camera was tilted down I'd try zooming out just a bit.
6. I see that this is shot at ISO 400. I don't mind the noise in the sky, but I don't like it in the hill top or the tree. Note that there is no out-of-camera noise reduction applied, but I just don't like having to deal with noise. I'd rather bump this down to ISO 200 at least and try a longer exposure, especially since, as I recall, there was little or no wind that day.

The Adventure Continues

It was interesting to find this picture from less than a year ago and to note what I'd do differently now, and almost without thinking about it. It's cool realizing that there is the likelihood that in a year I may find images I'm taking now and think to myself "what the heck was I thinking?". Photography is like any other artistic adventure - there's always room for learning and improving!