First Day of Spring

I have driven past this area for years and thought it had some nice potential for some early springtime shots. After viewing @Ed_McGuirk’s beautiful springtime images I made up my mind that this was the year I would stop. As an added bonus it is only ten minutes from my home in a woodland area where we would not have any interactions with anyone. We were having a light rain the other day so I thought this is the perfect time so I called my brother to see if he was interested and away we went. As always thanks for taking a moment to stop and leave a thought.

Be safe everyone!

What technical feedback would you like if any?

All C&C welcome

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

All C&C welcome

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Nikon D800, Nikon 80-200 @ 200 mm, f 14 @ 1/20 sec, MLU, ISO 200, cable release & tripod

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Ed, I was struck first by the harmony of colors in this image. The background red and the foreground yellow come together very nicely. Definitely not the colors that I would associate with spring. Very pretty nonetheless. After the colors, other elements like the leaves and the branches start to come into view. The branches provide the structure to the image and that seems to bring me back to reality. So, my impression is that the image breeched into the realm of abstract images but perhaps not abstract enough, if that makes any sense?

2 Likes

I love the tones and hues here, Ed - fairly dark and sombre but with a strong hint of warmth in the yellows and reds. Even without a real point of focus this works so well with its pattern-like effect on the eye. A striking image !

How lovely - the harmonizing colors are beautiful. Instinctively, the colors feel fall like, but I know those willows turn that lovely shade of yellow in the spring, and the soft reds must be blossoms. Adhika made an interesting point about abstract vs. not-abstract for this image. With the low contrast and muted tones it feels almost abstract. You could make it more not-abstract by bringing out the branchwork more, especially the more prominent lighter ones in the middle.

Ed, what a subtle, but lovely spring image. Autumn color in spring, indeed. And thanks for the reference to my article, I’m glad that it got you motivated to get out there this spring. As @Adhika_Lie mentioned this color combination works really well together. The colors are enough to get your attention while still maintaining a softer, quieter mood. The other thing I like about this image is the textures of the yellow plants and the red leaf buds, these elements seem to pop from the image. One minor tweak, I might clone away the brown bare branch in the ULC, since it is so close to the frame edge. A really nice study of spring color :+1: :+1:

Beautiful understated scene, Ed. No suggestions here, just really enjoying this one.

Ed, I love all the great textures and nice warm color combo.

That’s wonderful @Ed_Lowe . I love the mix of red with the yellow framing the bottom. This is a great example of where chaos is clever.

I could see playing with a sharp version too: