Pretty nice image. My first impresion is that it’s a bit too busy. I usually like busy pictures. This is on the border because it actually has structure. There are general patterns. I mean you could make the argument that nature isn’t organized and you’ve captured that. You could tie it to late fall and winter, a story. But the composition isn’t quite just right for me.
Guy: The more I look at this the more I like it. I find the comp very nicely done with the reflections balancing out the large trunk and fallen log and then the BG bare trees. A scene many would pass by but you did well IMO. >=))>
I’m not sure if this is from a burn area with all those dark trees in the background and the fallen trees in the foreground or something else completely. It really doesn’t matter. The chaos that’s created is actually quite neat and not messy. It seems very orderly with all the diagonal lines that match up nicely along with vertical lines that have shadows crossing over the horizontal lines. It’s almost like a tick tack toe board. Then you have the outlier in that large trunked tree on the right side of the frame. The image doesn’t work without that tree. I find this well composed for a neat yet chaotic forest scene. You used everything at your disposal to frame this up and I can’t fault any of it. Normally in these types of scenes I can find an alternate crop that might work as well or better but not in this case.
This is a scene that 99 out of 100 people would walk right past without even thinking about framing up an image. But with what you were given, I’d say you made the most of it.
Guy, What you have created is a successful intimate forest scene. It is like a tapestry, at first chaotic but as you pause and let your eyes wander through the scene details emerge from the chaos. My eye first falls on the bright reflections then follows the diagonal log in the foreground to the right revealing what could be an animal burrow or path below and the tree trunk above arresting the eye preventing it from leaving the frame and as mentioned previously balancing the reflections. The rim of dense forest on the horizon emphasizes the feeling of an intimate, secluded clearing. I wouldn’t change the crop and think that the processing is pretty much spot on to keep the image looking natural.
Hi @Igor_Doncov , @Bill_Fach , @David_Haynes , @Paul_Dileanis, Thank you all for taking the time to consider and comment on this image. David, it is a mature beaver pond and the dark markings on the standing trees is from water level changes and decay.
Hi Guy,
This is another of those images that the viewer needs to slow down and take the time to savor all the textures and details of this woodland area. The processing looks spot on for my tastes and I am a big fan of all the earth tones in this scene. This tells a wonderful story!
It is extremely difficult to make an image like this work. Most of the time, it looks like the photographer just plucked his tripod down and took a random photo in the forest. This is successful cause you can tell there was a lot of thought that went into it such as composition, subject, etc. Great eye.
