The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
As we embarked on a early morning canoe ride in the magical cypress swamps of Caddo Lake, we had passed this cypress “tunnel”, and on a whim decided to back pedal (or row) to it. As we started to glide down this waterway, this magnificent scene unfolded in front of us, the lazily rising fog being illuminated by the morning sun, the hanging moss perfectly backlit, and this majestic great blue heron claiming ownership of his territory.
This is a beautiful magical scene with the fog in between the yellow and black lines. But I had to work hard to find the bird and looked for it only because you wrote that it is there. it is a bit hard to notice that she is not a tree branch. I think the fog is so white and bright it takes all the focus away and makes it a bit harder to notice the bird. maybe you can try to lower a bit the highlights and whites of the fog to dim its brightness and create a radial filter of brightness around the bird to make her more apparent. The scene itself is really nice.
A magical scene! It reminds me of my week in Louisiana and Texas on a cypress workshop. The mist is such a wonder in these forests. I agree that it is a tad bright here and wonder if reducing that might bring some balance and attention to the wonderful heron. I have a similar scene (with no mist, but lots of cypresses) that was hard to manage to get the bird noticed as well.
Fritz, this is a magical and mysterious scene. My first impression was of the light and dark, so it took a bit of looking to find the Heron in the Cypress knees. (Of course, now that I’ve found it, I focus there right away.) I like the high contrast and think that adds well to the sense of mystery.
I feel like the bright highlights in this image are appropriate and even desired in my humble view, I’m not trying to contradict other commenters by any means, I just feel that the highlights are a good thing in this instance, they seem like they are an integral part of the magic.
What I do feel would improve the image is a crop to around 16:9 AR (for reference only), leave the top and sides as they are though, just take it off the bottom.
That would bring the Heron in closer and it would place more emphasis on the magic portion of the scene, at least that’s the way I see it.
Absolutely gorgeous image and content
And I swear I’ve seen this image before
I remember thinking that the branch hanging just to the left and above the Heron’s head looks a lot like the foot of a Heron).
Even the pose of the Heron seems identical to the image I think I recall.
Maybe this was posted somewhere else at some point?
Thanks for posting this here!
Again, Just Gorgeous!
Can you tell that I’m a huge fan of swamp imagery?
Wow, outstanding! I wouldn’t change a thing. The bright line of mist points directly to the heron, as does the warm-toned spanish moss hanging down (and pointing up in the reflection). This could be a scene out of LOTR.
Fritz love the image. The Heron is hard to see in this post.
I liked the image enough to check out your website, found this image on the site.
The image on your site shows the Heron standing out, is it a different image or process?
The rest of your site totally blew me away.
I am headed to Caddo at the end of Oct 2023 for the autumn color.
Are you or anyone reading this head to the lake at that time?
Steve
Looks like a large, 19th Century landscape painting hanging in somebody’s mansion! Great image. The bird is small, but the light on its chest makes it stand out just enough. Part of me says the bird is not strong or large enough; another part says that in a wildlife landscape, the color relationship between the animal and its habitat can be an essential element. The pronghorn shot in this series is another example.
@Kris_Smith@Mark_Seaver@Merv@james7@tamar-aharony@Bonnie_Lampley @ Steve_Rosendahl @james7 Again, my apologies for not answering sooner. Just going through emails, and realized I had not answered this thread… Thank you all for taking the time. This is one of my favorite images from 2022, and it has gone, and will continue, to go through quite a few different crops as well as processing sessions. This is an image that has a few challenges. I tried lowering the highlights, but that makes the image appear rather flat, and honestly, does not convey the magic of the moment. The fog truly glowed in the morning sun. I like a tighter crop as well, but , again, it does not tell the story of the scene. I chuckled a bit as I read all the comments, as all of them had crossed my mind at one point or another. This again is why I like to post here. Sometimes I get new ideas, other times validation, both important. Again, thank you all!
