This is a view of the almost frozen Blackwater River as it flows toward the picturesque Blackwater Falls in WV.
Any C&C welcome
Any C&C welcome
Nikon D700, Nikon 28-70 @ 35 mm, f 20 @ 1/80 sec, ISO 200, cable release & tripod
Ed, this is a really beautiful winter composition. I love the B&W presentation and I think the processing is balanced really well. My only minor nit maybe is a little more room at the top but that depends on what’s there. Very nice work!
Looks like your taking advantage of that cold weather!
That winding line of darker ice worked out great here. I really like the low contrast of the distant trees too. (I don’t know if the closer trees could be processed a little higher key?)
Thanks for your C&C @Alan_Kreyger And @John_Williams; always appreciated. Here is a repost with your suggestions.
@Alan_Kreyger: I was on the fence about including the grey sky and decided to crop at the last minute. Here is the original with the sky.
@John_Williams: I lightened the whites slightly in the repost. I think that looks better.
Ed, thanks for reposting. I like your original cropped post better, especially on the larger screen that I am using on this second viewing. IMO it does a better job of keeping the viewer in the scene. Please send some of that beautiful snow to Michigan without the -40 windchill!
Ed, I prefer the repost, that extra breathing room at the top helps IMO, and makes the image feel more expansive. When I first studied this image, my knee jerk reaction was that I thought there might be too much negative space at the bottom, but after further review, I like it the way you presented it. IMO the curves in the shoreline in the LLC and LRC are fully needed as a entry point into the scene.
Very much like the way that the snow calms what would normally be a very chaotic bunch of trees. It may sound weird, but I’d maybe try burning and dodging the snow in places to try and create some brightness variation in it. I like the texture it provides a lot, but it does get a bit monotonous being pretty much the same everywhere. The light at the end is really nice, but having that type of variation elsewhere seems like it might be beneficial too.
Ed, I remember standing there beside you while you were taking this shot and wondering what the hell you saw in it. Seeing what you came away with I wish I had taken one myself. Totally awesome to my eye. Love the leading lines here drawing the viewer into the scene. The larger image is sweet. I much prefer the second uncropped shot. It really opens it up.
Thanks guys @Alan_Kreyger, @Ed_McGuirk, @Tony_Kuyper and @Michael_Lowe for taking a look and leaving a comment or suggestion.
@Alan_Kreyger: I thought you folks in Michigan never lacked for the winter snows.
@Ed_McGuirk: I was initially attracted to the banks of the river and the way they funneled the viewer into the scene.
@Tony_Kuyper: Good thought; I will work on that some more. I really had a hard time trying to vary the white tones throughout the image.
@Michael_Lowe: When I was shooting this I had envisioned this as a B&W because the lighting was so flat. I have had my share that did not work. 
Some magical conditions, Ed. Some great leading lines. I prefer the repost, although I would suggest darkening the bright sky just a bit so that it does not compete with the highlights in the snow.
Thanks @Dave_Dillemuth; I agree with your suggestion. I tried to darken the sky a bit before posting and it did not turn out very well. I will have to give it another go and take a little more time with it on the next round.
Lovely. Good job on the comp; it works well with B&W.
I cannot decide which of the posts I prefer; I like both of them, for different reasons.
The first one (as someone else noted) keeps your eye inside the image more, and more focused on the s-curves in the river, and details in the trees near the river.
Nice!
