I’ll start 2019 with what I think is my favorite image from 2018. This was taken on my fall trip to the Smokies at a spot I’ve photographed numerous times before. I was hoping for heavy fog here this year and after 3 days of rain, I wasn’t disappointed. The fog was so heavy prior to sunrise that the trees would go from partially obscured to complete white out. It was a blast to shoot telephoto isolations in these conditions. This frame had all of the elements I was looking for, especially with the last remnants of fall color.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
Technically I am pleased w the execution but welcome any suggestions
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
I wanted to stay very faithful to the moment so I have tried to be subtle with processing. Has it been effective or could it be improved?
Any pertinent technical details:
Canon 5DSR with 70-300L. 1/4sec @ f/8, ISO 200, 200mm.
I agree that this is excellent. This fog has an unusual milky look to it. There is an area of yellowish tint to the center area of the image. I’m not sure how I feel about that.
Igor, that yellow is the yellow grass on the side of the mountain visible where the fog is thinner. I reduced the green/yellow saturation in that area and it is barely visible on my desktop, but it does look much more prominent when viewed on my phone. I will have to reduce it further when sharing online. Good catch and thank you for the feedback!
Moody and mysterious; I like it, Art. The subtle processing looks fine to me as anything more would be negate some of the mood. My only suggestion; just my personal preference; would be to clone out the grouping of trees left of center along the bottom edge as they catch my eye and take me from all the other wonderful stuff. Beautiful image.
My fav kind of conditions. VEry cool! The little branches sticking up at the bottom bug me a bit which you could clone out potentially but not a killer for me. Good stuff!
Art: Really well seen and superbly rendered. I’d also like to see the faint trees on the bottom go away but that would make an already fine image only marginally better. Not much room for improvement on this. Most excellent. >=))>
I really appreciate all the suggestions and feedback. I went back and forth on the visibility of those trees at the edge of the frame as well. I didnt want to remove them completely as there are many others there just barely visible and when printed large, as I try to do with most of my work, i think they will add some subtle detail. I do agree though that those 4 main ones were a bit too obvious and could distract.
I just uploaded a revision above to reduce the impact of those trees substantially without completely removing them. I also made some subtle tweaks to the exposure and the crop to balance it a bit more. I think these changes do make it a stronger image.
This was an incredible scene and well captured, Art. I do like how the second version further simplifies the composition though I agree it isn’t necessary to remove them entirely. It can be very hard to choose the contrast when working with fog as those scenes naturally have rather low contrast. I feel it’s ok to have higher black points in the image as your first version has. As far as contrast/exposure goes I prefer somewhere in between the two versions.
Art, I love this image, it is simple yet so powerful at the same time. The small splashes of color and graphic shapes of the trees give the viewer a lot of interesting elements to engage with. I like the changes you made in the second version. The higher level of contrast makes the colors and shapes pop even more, yet i think it retains a realistic look. I think eliminating the trees at the bottom helps to focus the viewer on the nice stuff above. In the second image, once the lower trees are removed, I might consider a small crop from the bottom. I would want to keep the impression that these trees are floating in the fog, but i think you could reduce the negative space a little at the bottom. But that is a minor nit, the second image is a real winner for me, nicely done.
Thanks very much Keith and Ed! I debated a bit about cropping in a touch from the bottom as well once I reduced the visibility of the trees and may still in the future.
Great job taking advantage of the conditions and for crafting the composition. I prefer the second, more luminous version. I also think the inclusion of the obscured trunks at the bottom is key to this and wouldn’t want to see them disappear any further.
