Arctic Light

[Christine_Franzen]

I shot this ephemeral moment on a trip to Lofoten one morning last year and would love to hear any feedback. I have some vertical shots that I actually like better, but I need a horizontal for a project I am working on. I want a light and airy feel to it.

What technical feedback would you like if any?

Any

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Any

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

Canon 6D, 24-105 f4 lens at 88mm, 1/500th, f8, ISO 100

[David_Wallace]

I like this a lot! The combo of warm and cool, the backlit frozen branches, the little glimpse of water int he background! My only suggestion would be, if possible, could you somehow clone out the three small branches in the LRC. You may have to play with it because of the detail in that area, it may not look right but i would be interested to see how it looks without those there. Great shot! I think you nailed the overall feeling you were aiming for.

[Jim_McGovern]

Hi Christine! What a blessing you could be in this moment! Wow…what a special opportunity. The texture in the right hillside pulls my eye a bit, and if it were me, I’d be tempted to dodge the shadows within the area to minimize any distraction there. Also, I love the contrast between the tree texture and the soft clouds/fog behind it. The luminance however is merging somewhat and it’s difficult to see the tree very clearly. I wonder if there’s any way to burn the bright fog behind the tree with a color selection? Regardless, it’s a beautiful image and i’m sure you’re glad you were there to capture this special moment!

[Eugene_Theron]

Hi Christine,

I think overall this is quite a nice image, you have captured the fog and the mood beatifully. Feels almost mystical.

However there are a few things I find a bit distracting

1. The small braches to the right of the tree on the slope
2. The slope itself. The light on the slope seems really harsh in contrast to the softness of the fog and the rest of the scene. I may condiser adding some negative clarity to this section or trying to soften it a bot with a soft light mask in PS
3. The bush in the lower left. To my eye as the bush is cut by there edge of the frame, i find it distracting. It’s also not as soft as the main subject so pulls the eye away from it. If you are comfortable doing so, you may be able to carefully clone it out.
4. The ‘dark patch’ - although it’s quite soft I think it’s out of kilter with the rest of the scene. You could maybe reduce the dark effect by adding some negative dehaze and upping the luminosity of the area. I would also play with the luminance and saturation values to blend it it more with the rest of the scence.

I woould have assumed that the vertical shots you mentioned isolate the tree a bit more and that is why you preferred them. In my opinion, and I realise that this will not fit with your project, this image will look more structured in 4:5 or even 1:1, still taking into account some the suggestions I made.

I have made some rough adjustments minus the cloning of the lower left bush to help illustrate what I was rambling on about.

Hope this helps

PS: cant work out what i did to the contrast in the tree lol. Liked it the way it was and think you should keep it the original was

Cheers,
Eugene

[Ed_McGuirk]

Christine, you have some amazing light and weather conditions . The hoarfrost on the trees is wonderful. I think the biggest issue is how to get more separation of the icy tree from the background fog. And I would clone away the two branches on the ground. I would also crop in a bit tighter on the tree, while maintaining the aspect ratio for your project. I would use luminosity masks to darken the midtones and darker tones in the immediate vicinity of the tree, and to dodge the highlights in the hoarfrost. A vignette at the top would also make the tree stand out better. Here is a rework with my tweaks.

[Christine_Franzen]

David, Jim, Eugene, and Ed,
Thank you all so much for taking the time to comment! This is exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping for and has given me some more direction on which way I want to push this one.

The project version will be cropped so it will address a few of the things mentioned, but I also want the full size to have a pleasing look. I was worried about overdoing the warm tint, but I think the slight separation around the trees will help. I have no problem cloning out the sticks. I had already taken out a few other broken ones, and some that were sticking out of the frame.

Again, thank you all for your help.

[Lon_Overacker]

Christine,

Wow, what a beautiful and dramatic moment - or moment(s) as you were able to witness the light unfold…

Great comments and I can only add a suggestion that I’m not sure has been suggested yet, although Eugene identifies is with his number 3. For me, would be a challenging clone, which may or may not improve the scene. I agree that the eye is pulled to that LLC simply because it’s darker and so much less ethereal…

My thought would be to maybe add some luminosity and “fog” to that corner to help keep the eye on the main subject. In the edit below I simply added an empty layer at about 30% opacity and painted in a lighter fog color from color picker to paint over that LLC. I also added a slight vignette, but masked out the LRC a bit as it was too obvious there.

As to the white balance, I didn’t address that - but as a matter of personal choice I think you are good here. You could experiment with cooling the frosted trees and leaving the rest? or whatever. But I think this is quite beautiful as presented in terms of WB.

Here’s my rendition:

[Christine_Franzen]

Lon, thank you for the additional comments. I do like the look of your rework as well. I have played with this image a little bit more with some of the previous suggestions, but I am not quite satisfied with my version of it yet. (although it’s getting there) Sometimes I just let it sit for a bit, and then come back later to make some subtle adjustments.