This is another photo I took at Eagle Lake in Acadia National Park. I found this lake to be very peaceful and I ended up here every evening before dark. It was close to where I was staying. Except for the edges, the lake was frozen enough to support ice fisherman. The evening before this, I watched several ice fisherman come in for the evening. When they got to the edge, they were breaking through the ice. It would freeze over at night and that’s what caused the separation of the ice. Good for me.
Type of Critique Requested
Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
Emotional: Feedback on the emotional impact and artistic value of the image.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
I was very excited about this image because it was the first blue hour photo I have taken and I got to use my wide angle lens. I liked the blocked ice in the FG that I hope leads to the stones in the middle that I hope keeps the eye leading to the Bubbles in the BG. I also like the lighting that I kept as real as possible. It does look like what I saw. Did I do what I described above? When I looked at my camera settings, I wish I had lowered my ISO, but the noise was taken care of by Topaz. Live and Learn.
Definitely peaceful, or maybe better, tranquil. Wonderful light. Not having any idea how ice gets like that adds to the wonder, even after you explained it. The gentle rolling shapes of the hills fit so well with the mood. I like where you placed the horizon, with just the right amount of room for the clouds and a nice importance to the depth in the FG.
Beautiful wide-angle image I really like the broken ice in the foreground and the way you used the light. The composition really worked for me with the lines in the ice to the rocks and onto the mountains and sky. Amazing location you must have enjoyed it,
I’m really drawn to the reverse s-shape that goes around the mid ground rocks, sweeps over to the left edge of the frame and comes back in to form a nice turquoise edge separating the foreground ice from the rest of the image. I also like the juxtaposition between the sharp, straight edged ice formations in the foreground and the softly rounded hills in the background. The LRC is where is I lose interest but there was nothing you could do about that. The ice is just different there.
You might consider enhancing the natural light reflected off the ice in the middle of the image to lead the eye and also give the image a little bit of pop. Here is a very minor rework of what I’m talking about. I added a little bit of shadow and black recovery to the mountains and highlight recovery in the bright spot in the sky. as well. This may not be your intention so take this as merely a suggestion.
This is gorgeous! Excellent “blue hour” imagery. Your composition is top notch - I like the 3 layers or zones and how they all balance and have equal weight - those areas being the chunked ice foreground, the lake and reflected light (more on that in a sec) and the bg sky and mountains. An outstanding landscape image. Indeed wonderful mood - and yes, quiet and peaceful.
I love what @David_Haynes did with the reflected light! Although I suppose with personal preference, I would take that layer the change was made on and drop the opacity maybe to 80%. YMMV of course. Otherwise, I can’t think of anything to suggest. Well done!
Hi Donna,
I agree with the others, that is a really beautiful scene with a calm mood. I have nothing to add to the comments of the others.
I know how it feels when you sit at home in front of the monitor and discover your chosen camera settings. And then I remember: Okay, you got up way too early. And I’m glad that today’s technology forgives late sleepers a lot.
I’ve been noodling with this one in Ps for a while now and I think that @David_Haynes has come up with a crop that solidifies the strengths in this composition in a way I hadn’t managed. The S is definitely a nice touch although I wish it was more prevalent - maybe a higher camera angle would have done it. And of course the wonderful ice and all that texture. Fisherman huh? That’s cool. Kind of like the guy who broke the ice shelf on Superior to give me something to put in the fg. Love it!
Donna, this is really a wonderful image. I like the comp, the broken ice in the foreground. It certainly looks true to a blue hour image. Well done. I do think @David_Haynes’s adjustments added a bit of pop that brings the image up even more.
Wow, thanks for the great responses. I really appreciate all the nice feedback. It was a fabulous trip and I’ll be posing a few more images from it.
David, thanks for your suggestions and taking the time to repost another way to represent this image. This photo was taken at near dark, so I do like the deeper blues, but I will try lightening up the areas you suggested just a tad to see if I can keep the blues dark and just open up the path a little where the eye should travel. Thank you…
I love the intrigue of the broken ice. I wonder how it might have looked to get closer (maybe not possible) to the chunks of ice and find a compelling foreground there. I feel like the sky has much less interest than the ice, so sliding that camera lower and tilted down may have helped. Brightening the ice chunks and darkening the water might look really nice too. Well seen though, and kudos for being out there in the cold!
Hi Paul, I’m sorry for being so late responding. My computer has been down for almost 3 weeks now. Just got it working yesterday. Happy, happy. Thanks for your suggestions. This was a hard place to get a clean shot. I was at the end of a small kayak launch and a place for ice fisherman to enter the lake. Any farther left and I would have bushes and trees in the photo and I had my camera pointed down as far as I could’ve without getting the sand beach in the photo. I did get another shot similar to this when I walked down the trail. The ice didn’t have the beautiful patterns, but it was still a nice shot. I enjoy winter photography. My trip to Acadia was wonderful and many times I was the only human in site. I will return again. I’ve been enjoying looking at your images you’ve posted. I’ll be posting and critiquing again soon.
