Exposure, just as the sun set , of dead shrubs in bog located in the Pine Barrens ,NJ
I work to the level of my ability to get the color separation as close as to the actual blend from the warm to the cool. Comments as they might relate to the issue would be helpful.
Is this a composite? (focus stacks or exposure blends are not considered composites)
no Canon 5D 70-200 f4 @I/20sec f/16
This is a great composition, James. The wildness of the grass and the way it is split with an opening, combined with the perfect reflections makes for a very compelling abstract. Now, when it comes to colour, it is a matter of personal taste, but to me it feels overworked, especially the blue. I’m finding the colour becomes the focal point when, for me anyway, it ought to be the composition itself. Personally, I’d tone back on the colour and trust the composition.
@Jmill59 I really like this image the composition and reflection is well executed. It can be difficult with a messy subject such as these branches. I do agree with @Kerry_Gordon and my personal preference would also be to reduce the saturation of in the image. You may also want to do a spot check as I see one spot on the left hand side and some small spots (bugs) in the upper portion of the image.
Gorgeous James! The color gradient is just beautiful and you happen to have a willing subject to showcase the colors. These are my favorite colors when I get to witness these conditions shortly after the sun goes down (or before it comes up…)
Saturation is of course mostly subjective. I think if anything, perhaps the blues; then again considering this is a reflection, I think maybe the blues should be darker? but I don’t find starting with the lavender moving up to the yellow/oranges, that the rest of the colors are overly saturated. Honestly, saturation is always a struggle for me deciding on what is too much, especially when trying to recollect a scene.
Regardless, this is a wonderful image. The crop works as presented. And depending on what other colors or room you have, an even wider view might have a wider color gradient (or not…) 
Lon
This is very nice. Lovely composition. I love the color effect you got here but I would have try to lower the saturation a little.
Wonderful seen and nicely captured. I love the dark blue gradient at the bottom to the light blue top.
I appreciate the critique that you folks have shared and the central theme seems to be saturation. My goal was to render the colors that had started to separate in the reflections into a more pastel gradient. I will revisit the image and explore your suggestions. Again,thanks for the comments !
James,
It is a fabulous photograph. I don’t think I would change anything. Leave just as it is. The abstract nature of the branches and their reflections already make it surreal and so the colors only lend to its surrealism.
It’s also hard in the digital photography age to make adjustments based on what we recall from the moment the shutter was tripped. In the past film days, we always had the transperancy to use as a guide.
Terrific abstract image James. You have really nice, flat with not a ripple in sight which works well with these high fractal kind of reflection shots. Looks kind of like a sound wave. If possible, I would love to see even more negative space surrounding this image. I love the colors but perhaps toning them down just a smidge might not hurt but I also like this as is. There are 2 dust spots but they are very hard to see so not a big deal. Other than that, I don’t have any recommendations for you on this. Beautiful capture.
I like the warm / cool gradiant together with the soft pastel light. The symmetrical composition and panoramic aspect ratio works perfectly for the subject.
