I have plenty of time during the day when out doing fall photos (when I should be napping) so I end up doing a lot of ICM. There was so much color in this patch and some rocks in the back, which you can see. It kind of looks like a rainbow threw up all over this photo, but I like it!
It was a colorful area, but I wonder, should I desaturate a little? Any CC and feedback is welcome.
Hi Martha, quite a colorful ICM image with gold, greens, and purples sprinkled throughout the frame. Looks like a lovely scene to photograph. I like how the main aspen trees are balanced in the scene.
The bright golden foliage on both sides of the frame pull my eyes away from the center. The same is true for the bright upper left corner. You could try bringing down the exposure of those areas or cropping them out completely to focus on the main aspen trees in the center.
You are absolutely right! Those bright yellow areas are pretty distracting. I’ll try both, bringing down the exposure and cropping and see which I like better. Thank you!
Great description! Certainly a great splash of color! I think there’s enough movement with the ICM that really allows that color to stand out - (as opposed to a straight shot where the subject matter (the trees and vegetation) would dominate. But the motion blur does great to bring out the colors.
Speaking of the colors, in general, magenta is my least favorite color in photographs and it seems I’m always trying to mitigate it. but given your “rainbow” description, I’m liking the color as it does in fact represent the rainbow colors.
I’m with Alfredo on some of the bright areas, especially the upper left. And one of the great things with ICM’s is that you’re not restricted to your original framing; I think there are some pretty cool alternative crops. Here are a couple I’m thinking about:
slight crop, dropped the brightest values and painted/burned the brigher trunks ULC:
Square crops, also used luminosity masks to drop the highlight values a bit. Not sure why, but I like the square crop with ICM’s:
May not be your vision, but some alternates to consider.
Thanks for posting!
Martha, this is a beautiful ICM. I don’t think your should desaturate the colors at all. I have said this before, but my favorite ICMs are the ones that I can tell what the subject is. This photo makes me feel happy. I like @Lon_Overacker first crop too, but I really can’t make a decision on which one I like the best. I think they’re both great, so it’s kind of a win, win situation. Great job!!!
