"Backwater Story"

[J_Fritz_Rumpf (Fritz Rumpf)]

Caddo Lake is one of those places that can really throw you off the first time you get to witness this incredible place. It can be challenging to photograph, but it also offers many opportunities, such as photographing in the harsh mid day light, which brings the hanging moss to life.
Having fun with different approaches of processing the images, and thought I might as well get the opinion of the “cypress swamp master”.

Specific Feedback Requested

Any and all feedback!

Technical Details

Handheld from a canoe, 1/80sec, f/11, ISO 160, 150mm

[David_Thompson]

Fritz!!!

Good to see you over here buddy! Cypress swamp master…pffffff
You’re way too kind! Thanks.

Unlike most bayou images, you managed to not have a strong color cast in the image!

Which is great because you have nice color separation. You also managed to keep the shadows in check…dark shadows, with detail, not black! Bravo! For me…most of the bayou scenes I see that have the salavina, Lilly pads, and all that messy stuff in the water usually doesn’t work for me. Here, its not bad. The backlit Spanish moss is the most interesting part of the scene, and my eye goes there immediately, so I don’t notice the other stuff as much. The yellow leaf in the foreground I’d consider cloning. Other than that, this is a nice bayou image. You have nice spacing with your trees as well Fritz.

DT nods

[J_Fritz_Rumpf (Fritz Rumpf)]

Well, first things first: now I can add “got a nod from David Thompson” to my resume!!!

Seriously though, thank you for taking the time to do this. I really appreciate it, and appreciate your feedback. There is no denying that your fantastic work has inspired many to photograph the cypress swamps.

As for the image, I struggled with leaving or taking out the yellow leaf in the front (insert tune to “should I stay or should I go…”). But I agree, it is a bit of a distraction. Gone.
There was quite a bit of cleaning up of the water surface. The lily pads I left I felt added to the story, and I really liked the way the lily pads were catching some light. Looking at the image, there are a few that probably can move on tho lily heaven (or hell). Will play with that.

Glad you like the color; that was one thing I felt pretty confident in liking.

One thing I am still debating, is the vignette: I played with it a bit, and settled on this amount. Not sure if it is still a bit to dark?

This was my first time photographing the swamp cypress, and can’t wait to go back! Really took a while to get the hang of it; it probably will take a few trips to really “get them”.

Again, thank you, David, and thank you NPN for facilitating such a great forum! Best place to share thoughts and learn more about photography!