What technical feedback would you like if any?
Does the focus look okay? Should I crop out the bottom where the focus was missed slightly?
Is the distortion on the trees distracting?
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
How do you feel about the colors?
How does the post-processing look?
Does the symmetry of the “V” in-between the mountains and the cracks in the ice stand out enough?
Any pertinent technical details:
This is focus stacked to get all the ice sharp and bracketed to bring out details from the backlit scene
You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
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That’s exquisite Chris. Well done.
As to your questions, I only have one thought that jumps out strongly. I’d consider using a lens correction filter to narrow the top an widen the bottom. If you then cropped out the warped edges, I don’t think you would lose much of the better parts of the image, and I think it would remove some of the tree distortion and focus concerns.
Chris,
Excellent near/far composition and also nice take on the Classic image - I like that you’ve captured less of the bubbles and this is more about the glossy patterns on the surface. The “X” or “V” works well in the comp and ties the ice with the mountains and the “v” there very well.
Colors and processing look good. For me, I might try and bring out the pinks in the clouds a little it, but that’s minor.
As far as focus, if this is a stack, then I think any missed focus at the bottom could be softness on the edges of the lens, which is pretty common. But honestly, I don’t see the focus/sharpness of the immediate foreground as an issue at all.
The distortion of the trees is a little bothersome. I think there’s plenty of abstractness in the ice that I think where John is leading is that you could transform this in a number of ways to accomplish straightening the trees without losing any of the ice. Would be interesting to try.
Oh, and great job in handling the exposure too.
Lon
Thanks John, I will try that out tonight!
Thanks so much for the critique, Lon. I’ll give your suggestions a try.
I’m thinking that softness is due to the edge of my lens as well, or maybe I a bit too close to the ice for my lens. Either way I’m glad you don’t see it as an issue.
Definitely going to try fixing the crooked trees tonight 
Chris, an interesting take on this location, I too like that you chose to emphasize the textures and ripples in the ice rather than the bubbles. The shape of the ice has an almost organic look to it, it’s very interesting. I also like your cool treatment of the WB, it adds a sense of mystery to the image. Like the others, I am bothered by the distorted trees, it’s worth trying to correct that.
I have a nitpick with the composition. I really like ice texture and pattern on the left side, but it feels a bit cut off, I wish I could see more of it. Perhaps if you had shot a few feet to the right you would have been able to pick up more of it, while retaining the “X” shaped lines.
Ok Chris, I couldn’t resist the challenge. I’ve never attempted anything this extreme, but had to post because I was surprised it worked!
I simply extended the canvas. Then did a rectangular selection of the upper section, using the snow line as the horizon. I then transform stretched the selection. Then used transform - skew to straighten the trees. Then simply cropped. The ice field remained unchanged! And while you did lose a little of the mountains up top - but surprisingly very little. The image is almost nearly exactly what it was, now with straight trees.
Now, because of the selection and stretch, there was a line in the snow. I simply used the healing brush to fix. Lastly, I added a Darks Luminosity mask to set the black point, which brought in deeper blacks and also tweaked the saturation to increase yellow and red for the colors.
What do you think?
Final:
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Wow Lon I’m surprised that worked!! I’m definitely going to try that out for myself. I was displeased with the results after applying a lens correction filter because I had to make the image thinner. But your method seems to give the best of both worlds! Thanks!
Beautiful shot…love the color harmony here! I think the foreground works very well with the overall scene but TBH, didn’t see the symmetry you mentioned until after the fact. The distortion of the trees is a distraction, I wonder if this could have been managed by a vertical pano technique? Lon’s approach to correction sure is interesting! Great shot…you should be proud of this one!
I really like the composition and the processing for the most part, especially with Lon’s distortion correction technique. I would be inclined to play more with the bright wedge of light at the top. For me, that grabs my eye and dilates the pupils just enough that I am distracted by all the other wonderful parts of the composition. I don’t know what the answer is there: burning it a bit, reducing luminosity there? I know you will find something that does the trick. Light definitely moves us into the image, but in this one, that particular wedge pulls me too quickly into the end of of the view. Painting it with some of the pinks might do the trick.
ML
Everyone, thanks for all your input; it is much appreciated. I applied Lon’s distortion correction technique and tried to address other concerns. Here’s my updated edit, which I’m much more pleased with!
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