My wife and I made a mad dash up to Vermont and New Hampshire the weekend before last for fall colors. It was our first time to set foot in either state, and we had a great time, although we missed peak colors in the White Mountains. I have to thank @Ed_McGuirk for his very generous efforts in pointing me in the right directions. Without him, I’d have been completely lost! Here is the first photo I’ll post from the trip. It’s a small pond in southern VT. Luckily, I hung around long enough after sunrise that a streak of light hit the trees in the BG.
The final result is a cropped pano. of three photos, all shot horizontally but stacked vertically. In post, I cloned out a few distracting bits of vegetation, and worked with luminosity masks on the colors/exposure a little bit. Are the highlights too hot?
I welcome all thoughts. I am especially curious whether people think the FG works. I know there’s some movement in the vegetation, which could be a little off-putting. I believe all the vegetation is still in one of the frames, so I could probably remedy that. I’m still not sure what I think about the FG.
Techs:
D850
Zeiss 21 mm, f2.8
ISO 40
2 seconds
f/22
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The foreground is an excellent idea. Without it this image would be like many other fall shots. The layered composition and light works wonderful here. You could lighten up the foliage on the left judiciously.
Great image, Lyle! I really enjoy the foreground vegetation elements! Overall, it’s a wonderful image and the foreground makes it quite unique. I think I may have stepped to the left a bit, so that the vegetation didn’t intersect with the part of the reflection that is in shadows. I suppose you can clone out the parts of the vegetation that intersect with the shadowy reflection, if you agree that it creates unnecessary tension.
The fall colors are vibrant and the light streak creates a lovely area of interest, but as you were concerned about, the highlights are a bit too hot for my personal taste. They could probably be toned down a bit, if you felt so inclined. A recent method I’ve found helpful in Photoshop is using a Levels adjustment layer and the output level slider to control how much of the highlights you want to allow in the whole of the image. Then, you can mask for more localized adjustments.
Finally, I think the sky could be darkened a bit, in order to draw more of the interest to the highlighted, colorful trees.
Thanks, @Igor_Doncov and @Jimmy_Arcade. I like all the suggestions. Brightening to left side of the frame definitely adds interest and reducing the highlights was easy enough. And, Jimmy, it’s funny you bring up the merging of the FG with the reflected trees on the left side. I attempted to avoid that in camera, but my left foot was already in the water! I probably could’ve rearranged my setup, but the light was fading fast. Last, Igor, I don’t generally shoot at f/22, especially on the D850, but I could only get smooth water with a clean reflection with a SS of 1-3 seconds. So, you’re right, I almost certainly could’ve bumped it down to f/16 or so. That also probably would’ve helped the FG movement. Anyway, again, definitely appreciate the comments.
@Lyle_Gruby, I completely understand. When you’re in the field shooting, it’s not always easy to do that which you later realized you should do, when reviewing your images. The conditions are changing, feet are getting wet, and I’m sure there were other challenges. Sometimes, you just have to get the shot and let progress overcome perfection. It’s still a beautiful image and it shouldn’t be too difficult to make any desired changes in post. Keep exploring, discovering, and sharing the beauty!
That’s why I always wear knee high waterproof boots when out photographing in autumn. Using Muck Boots has been the best thing I’ve ever done to improve my compositions
I think the Pickerel Weed in the foreground is a major plus for the image, I agree with @Igor_Doncov that the plants help elevate this image above a run of the mill reflection shot. The merger of the reflected shoreline and the plants is a minor distraction, but mostly because the plants end before the edge of the frame. You may want to try some cloning, or Content Aware Fill to extend the plants all the way across, it may help.
I like the warm glow of the fall color on the far shoreline, it creates a wonderful mood in the image. The darkness in the foreground and the shoreline on the left side really helps to accentuate the golden glow of the far shoreline. For that reason, I would also agree with @Jimmy_Arcade that I could see darkening the sky, it would also help draw more attention to the warm colors of the spotlit foliage.
I’m glad that I was able to be of some help to you with location suggestions. If you got as far south as Athens Pond, then I am sure you had some great peak color to shoot.
