Comments

Found it. I  wouldn't have taken  it from that angle.

I made  a  comment on this photo today. I cropped it in paint shop and it does look much better.

 http://www.picturesofengland.com/England/Kent/Lamberhurst/Scotney_Castle/pictures/1188764

I agree that cropping would work well to concentrate the view on the house itself. Without cropping as Stephen suggests, the viewer's eye is distracted from the main subject (the house) by the other competing objects in the frame.

Ideally, when taking pictures, I think it is better to do the cropping in the photographer's mind's eye before taking the picture. The ubiquitous zoom lens helps here, but if this is not to hand, the photographer can move to a different viewpoint.

Yes the foreground does lead your eye in

And replying to Edward.  Sometimes  when taking a photo these rougue bits of tree find  their way in without me noticing them.  This photo I took is an example. I had it printed and framed but then thought it might have been better if I had cropped the tree  on the right, or am I being too fussy?.

Following on from the talk about how many stars  to award   I see Sue gave me three. 

 http://www.picturesofengland.com/England/Essex/Saffron_Walden/Audley_End/pictures/1065407

In reply to John and Stephens' comments, I think this shows how we all have different views on composition. It would be a boring world indeed if we all interpreted a scene the same way. As regards cropping, I go along with Stephen in wanting to remove the odd distracting bits at the extremities of the frame. Ideally, they shouldn't be included in the first place, but sometimes they can't be avoided at the time, or they may not be seen because very few viewfinders give 100% coverage.

I agree with John regarding placing of the subject off-centre. This usually gives a more 'artistic' view, particularly if the dominant lines follow the 'rule of thirds'. The exception perhaps is for record shots of architectural detail, where a 'full-on' centred view might be appropriate.

Apart from the question of composition, it is always good to see images which are correctly exposed and in focus. Sometimes there are images submitted to PoE (not these) which sadly don't even meet these basic technical requirements. 

PS to Stephen: I have added a comment to your photo of Audley End 

Photography has an awful lot of "rules" practically all of which can be broken, with experience. For me anyway, pictures should be focussed and attention to level horizons more than desirable. How anyone can upload an out of focus image to POE is beyond me. It must be obvious from as soon as the picture is seen on the camera screen or even more so on the computer. I almost take it as insulting to the viewer. I know “soft focus” is used to great effect but camera shake and poor focussing is not attractive, ever.

I hate to say it, but out of focus pictures are still being submitted, and given the five star treatment.

This soap box is too high and I’m getting dizzy, so I’ll climb off it.

Grumpy Rod.   

Thanks for not finding my remarks offensive. We all dearly want POE to continue being what us does best, and that is in part a window on the British Isles.

It is a shame that some of the people who submit pictures do not dip into the forums. An exchange of opinion is always healthy.