The marsh reeds seem to be the first harbingers of fall where I live. This is a scene from the Malheur Wildlife Preserve (of Bundy fame). All is quiet here now. There is no hint of the violence this area experienced a couple of years ago. I had always just driven by here on the way to Steens Mountains but there is rich colors along the Malheur river now.
I put in far too much work into this image to make it look ‘right’ and there are still so many directions I could have gone. So here it is for what it is.
It’s interesting I was also noticing the first signs of fall here in the Midwest are showing up in the marshes near me. I think you captured those subtleties so well in this image.
What makes this successful for me is the amount of upper border grass you utilized to frame the marsh reeds. The processing looks very good for my taste. One silly nit, I find the long fallen reed in the algae connecting to the bottom of the frame to be slightly distracting .
I think reeds and grasses are an often under-appreciated subject for autumn color. So I was very glad to see them as the star of the show in this image. I like the color palette used here, it says autumn, but in a subtle understated way that is very effective. I like the way the color of the green algae is faintly echoed in the green parts of the reeds.I also agree with @Alan_Kreyger, the composition makes great use of the upper reeds to frame the reeds below. The diagonal lines in the ULC create a very powerful framing element. Very nicely done Igor, I’m enjoying this very much as presented.
Love the colour palette and combined with the perfect low light, this definitely says autumn. I’m growing to appreciate just how important diagonal lines are for creating dynamism in what otherwise could be a rather static image. You’ve used them to best advantage here. Very nice indeed.
As so often you show us again a way to appreciate nuance and Nature’s compositions.
The diagonal and the composition attract me.
I wonder if the somewhat bright colored grass at the top is too attracting. I tried warming it. Also wondered if the blue/green sand/algae could be desaturated and warmed a bit.
Again, my eyes were opened to see grasses or rushes such a fine subject.
Thank you, Dick, for your modifications. I added them next to the original post so that they be more clear. They were so subtle that I wasn’t sure how I felt about them. Now I can click back and forth to better judge things. I actually like my green murky water because it offsets the yellows nicely but I need to feel about it some more. As I said in my post there were several ways to go with this image and I just picked one of them. But there are certainly other variations. I just grew tired of trying small color changes.
I should say that 2 things mainly attracted me to this scene. 1) the cinnamon color of fall reeds and 2) the bright ‘tails’ at the end of each stalk flitting this way and that. If I could have isolated a composition with just those 2 elements it would have been more interesting.
I like it ok. It’s a bit too unstructured, chaotic. Actually, it’s chaotic to begin with. That’s why the water was included at the bottom. I don’t like the yellow that was introduced in the ulc. I’ll have to be with it a bit.
A fine and unusual look at fall color. I prefer @Ed_McGuirk 's crop and @Dick_Knudson 's color adjustments. But we don’t usually agree on these things… .
I prefer your original image to @Dick_Knudson’s because it has more pop in the lighting. I think that the yellow’s enhance the shot. Nice intimate landscape. I hope you are safe from all the fires in the West.
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