This image was taken during a very cold snap in NS, Canada. I have tried to show that extreme cold to the viewer. .
Color ranging from too blue to too near b&w - neither work well. Suggestions for processing needed
Processed in PS.
Oh my, this does say cold! I’m always impressed by you photographers who get out into the extremes.
I love the way the jagged rocks match the jagged broken ice - makes for an interesting texture. The blues look fine to me, but I have no experience with shooting snow scenes, so I can’t offer advice.
Mission accomplished! I love it. It’s 80 degrees today and for here, that’s hot. I know, I know…it’s not, but I like it better when it’s 60. Or snowing. But that interferes with my kayaking. Can’t win. But this shot is a winner. I like the broken ice, the frosted trees and the muted colors. Looks like some of the whites may be blown, or close and I kind of wish you got low and close to the nearest ice, but overall super.
Oh and nice to see you pop in. I know life got busy, but I notice when you come back.
Patricia,
I’m in lock step with Kris and Bonnie - This absolutely makes me feel cold! In fact I first saw this before any comments and my very first reactin was “shivers.” Weird how that sense of cold can come out of a static image on a computer… But certainly the contrast, the sharpness of the ice and rocks as Bonnie eludes, but also the crisp, clear air - which is something that is often present when it’s bitterly cold outside.
Was the “too blue” one of your steps in the process? Because certainly it’s not too blue here - but for sure I appreciate and like that there are hints of blue in the open water in between the chunks of ice.
No nits at all or suggestions. Beautiful winter image that makes one want to be sitting in front of a nice fire and cup of hot cocoa.
Lon
Hey Patricia! I like this image, I think the composition works well and it certainly does convey cold effectively, as others have said! I don’t think it’s too blue, and I wouldn’t go B&W because the hint of cool color here gives it extra dimension that would be lost. If it looks too blue to you, you may want to look into calibrating your monitor, because to me the blue looks very subtle.
There are a couple processing nits for me. One is that the whites in the midground seem to be blown, so I would be careful at the raw stage of processing not to clip those. Another is a very minor nit, but the upper-left area of sky is pretty bright and could stand to be darkened to match the clouds.
The biggest thing for me is that it’s a cold, bright, snowy, icy image, all of which is conveyed very well by the slight blue tones. But I feel the rocks and trees (especially those near the edges) become too much of a distraction with how dark they are in comparison. It’s a bit of personal preference, but I like to keep the blacks and deep shadows quite a bit lower-contrast and brighter in scenes like this, to lean into the serene and “clean” feel of the wintry scene. Again, this might need to be done at the initial raw stage if they were clipped then.
Lon. My original image was quite blue throughout. The image posted was a compromise.
Bonnie, Lon & Kris glad you like the image.
