New NPN member and first time posting an image online. So looking for feedback on this sample image. It was shot two weeks ago in Franklin County, PA with a Nikon D850, Breakthrough Photography CPL on a tripod.
Excited to be part of the NPN community
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
What a cool bridge. The bluish gray tones of the bridge are a striking contrast to the warm fall foliage. While the log poking up in the foreground is interesting, it does compete a bit for my attention. Not sure that you could have done anything about it though. You could have shot from a higher perspective, so the log was below your field of view, but then you wouldn’t have that nice low perspective that you used. Maybe just a tad higher perspective so the log wouldn’t touch the bridge reflection? At any rate, this is a very lovely first post. Welcome!
That is a very cool bridge, with the reflection it almost looks like a pair of eyeglasses…
I think your processing looks great, nice level of contrast and the fall colors are vibrant without being over-saturated. The mix of yellow, green and brown colors is very pleasing. Regarding the log competing with the bridge. I think the merger of the log with the bridge reflection is more of a distraction than the log being a competing element. I think if you had separation of the log from the bridge reflection, some viewers of the image would see the log and its reflection as something that mimics the bridge. This is a very subjective part of this image, some comments will see the log as helping, and some not. I think without the log the image becomes more static, it’s just a reflection of the bridge. However, I just wish you had found as vantage point where you could have got separation.
Welcome to NPN. This is a fine introduction to yourself and to PA in the autumn. I enjoy the image for all the reasons other cited. I like the log and its reflection as an echo of the bridge. I think this is one of those strong foreground elements that convey the viewer into the picture.
I processed it in Photoshop to show that separation they spoke of. I took a slice out and Content Filled and then cloned to smooth things out. Wanted to try that since I saw it done by an NPN critiquer a few months ago.
I was going to play around with some other aspects, but I see that the image is only 1184x647 pixels, so a lot of details had been scrunched out in the downsizing. Any chance you could re-post a larger image? I would really like to take a closer look.
See the NPN>About>FAQ/Guidelines : 10 MB limit exists, preferably larger than 1500-2000 on long edge. I take my Photoshop files full size and save them as .jpg with a quality factor of 6 or 7 to get decent quality without a huge file for NPN, usually 1-5 MB.
Hi Dick,
Thanks for the valuable feedback on the image. The way I saw it there were two ways I could go with this image. Leave the log in as a foreground element of crop it out. I considered trying to clone it out but figured it would be a challenge to replicate the reflections along with the texture of the water. Also, without the log there would be a lot of empty water from the front of the image to the main subject, the bridge (even though the reflections are beautiful. So I opted to leave the log in. However attached is a cropped version without the log which I think works well too and puts 100% of the emphasis on the bridge and reflections.
Welcome to NPN, Steve! I think you will find this is a great place to get feedback on your images. I have been a member for a long time and the things that I have learned on NPN have shaped my photography as I started out as a complete beginner.
You have an interesting subject and the autumn color makes it stand out even more. The reflection adds to the beauty and symmetry of the scene. Speaking of symmetry I like how the scene is symmetrical across two different axis (top / bottom and left / right).
One minor nit is that the branch in the stream intersects with the reflection of the bridge. This is a minor distraction. I think that a little higher shooting perspective would have created some separation between the two elements. I posted my comment before reading others’ comments. I guess I’m not the only one who noticed this. 
This is still a very nice photo and a great first post!
Hi Brian,
Thanks for the warm welcome and feedback on the image. I agree the log in the water is a bit of a controversy. My obvious objective in capturing this image was to get both arches of the bridge. The shoreline was heavy with low trees and brush. So to get the shot I had to climb down the bank and stand in the water giving me a shallow angle of view. Trying to remove the log in post was difficult for me because of replicate the ripples and colors in them. So I figured the image looked more natural with leaving the log in. There was an open piece of shoreline further down but I could only get one arch in the shot. That image is nice but the reflections and light wasn’t as good as this one with both arches.
This photo results from a 2 image focus stack. One for the foreground and a second for the bridge. It was shot from a tripod using a Nikon D850, 24-70mm lens, and 55mm, ISO 64, f11, ss 1/40 sec. Basic post processing done in Lightroom. Focus stacking, clone stamping, dodging and burning in Photoshop. Color and detail enhancements done in Luminar 4. Unfortunately I don’t have an Instagram account.
