I was able to spend Christmas 2025 on Whistler Mountain, British Columbia. The snow came just for Christmas, it was absolutely outstanding such beautiful snow.
All suggestions and critique is welcome.
Nikon Z 7II with NIKKOR Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR lens.
170mm; 1/320 sec; f/13; ISO 200; handheld; cropped and some simple adjustments in PS6. I tried to keep it soft.
Natalya, Welcome to NPN. You captured quite the white Christmas. What a wonderful holiday in the snow. The blending of snow, clouds, and sky in the surrounding of the mountain create a beautiful almost pastel scene; and , the light behind and on the right of the mountain makes this really pop. I gather that you left the branch in to point at the mountain. I think you could eliminate it or lighten it so it doesn’t contrast so much with the rest of the image. You decide whether it’s a distraction.
A lovely image! I think it’s a stronger image without the branch, but that’s the sort of thing that different people will react to differently. Your choice, always – or you can have a twofer!
Natalya: What a beautiful scene and a fine capture. Normally I would counsel against keeping the branches but for this image it doesn’t look like an oversight and I actually like the extra context it provides. I certainly envy you the experience and this image. >=))>
What a beautiful scene. You have kept the image soft, but it’s striking.
I like the suggestion of losing the little branch.
Larry, Diane, Bill and Glenys thank you very much for looking and your kind suggestions.
Yes, I do like the branch, and I like the diagonal line that it forms. It was purposely left in place.
I did follow your suggestions and eliminate the branch. It was a bit of work since I still work with Photoshop CS6 from 2010 and don’t have the subscription based one (and never will). It turns out that I do like both, I also did one in black and white as a high key. I will probably enter my original one in a competition.
Natalya, as is clear from the responses, that branch is a major attention getter, which I’m sure is why you included it in the first place. It’s presence makes a significant different in the “feeling” of the photo, with the branchless view being more restful while the branch makes it much more of a “your are here” view.
Thanks Mark. Beside the “you are here” view a diagonal line makes an image more dynamic and I think the branch extends the diagonal line. You are right without the branch it is much more restful and gives you a total different feeling. Two different images.
