I have passes by this stream for 30 years and never stopped to photograph it. I always thought it was idyllic.
Comp and processing. Which image is more pleasing. I lean toward the simpler less complicated first version.
Is this a composite: No
Sony 24-70 70mm, f/22, 1/10, iso 125
Oh I’d have stopped here, too. Looks like an inviting place to explore. The thing is, with both of these images the stream seems incidental. Grab some boots and get in there! If that’s possible, of course. It’s easy for a small watercourse to get swallowed by its landscape so you really have to eliminate the surroundings a good deal if you want to showcase the water. Get close and get low or, conversely, get the camera up very high while standing in it.
If you’d just told me you liked this area and hadn’t pointed out the stream, I’d have approached these differently. They’re more scenics to show an environment and they work differently. In the first the trees both dormant and dead tell a story and I like the bit of sky reflection in the water. The second uses the stream as a stronger leading line, but the yellowing pine on the right is an attention grabber. So are the snags on the left. I like the red in the low bushes and the blue reflection in the water - they both add to the range of colors. Of the two I like the second for because it makes me more curious about where the stream goes.
It does look like a pleasant stream. I can see why you like it. I can’t decide which I prefer. I would burn in those prominent two dead snags on the center right of the first image. Some of it is clipped which limits the recovery. I would also change the white balance to a cooler value. I tried that and liked it. These comments all have to do with the first image.
Thank you @Kris_Smith and @Igor_Doncov for the time to comment and edit.
I actually had already burned the two dead trees but that is as far as I could get. I do like the cooler version, I have a tendency to always warm images up for some reason. And Kristin I plan on going back tomorrow and try some perspective in the water as it is shallow. Also will explore up stream.
Mario, this is my kind of image!!! All of my comments have to do with the first image.
This is a real beauty. I actually like the warmth of the original but I think Igor does have a valid argument there. I didn’t mess with the white balance, but perhaps somewhere in the middle of where yours and Igor’s is would be perfect.
It is a shame about the two clipped dead trees, but that’s not a killer and with some really careful work, they might can be saved. I downloaded and played with it a little. My thoughts were that the eyes will primarily stay right in the bottom center of the image almost entirely. That’s not staying the rest of the image is not important, just that it shouldn’t receive top billing with the bottom center.
First image -
The outer ring is gorgeous and is critical to the image but it is definitely second fiddle to the primary area. Using TK’s luminosity Masks, I darkened darks 4 to darken the deep BG beyond the trees. Then I burned the water a bit, burning more as it went deeper into the scene to give it more depth. I both burned and dodged all of the lighter tree trunks in the FG area (dodge lights 1 @ 15%, and burned darks 3 or 4 @ about 15-20% to develop a little more detail and add depth, Dodged lights 1 @ 10% in the lightest greenery in the middle area, again for depth. Then I lightened the center/darkened the outer of the entire image to bring the emphasis right down to the bottom center a few feet in front of the most centered tree (in the brown grass) I did that through NIK Color Efex 2 or 3 or 4 (whatever the number is). All that sounds like a lot but I tried to keep it minimal. The final outcome is subjective and you may or may not care for it, but I wanted to share it anyway.
Revised version
Original image
Anyway, I love your image! A beautiful image, and you composed it very nicely. Bravo!
@Bill_Chambers Thank you for taking the time to edit this. I do like yoour version especially the darkening of the BG. I do not know anything about the TK luminosity masks but eventually will explore. You also got farther with darkening the dead trees than I did. I will post some other images of this stream as I explores up stream yesterday, this time with a wide angle.Thanks again.
Have fun in your further explorations! This is a great area; I wish I could join you!
