Here’s another one from the Laguna de Santa Rosa, this time with fog and mist, but muted sunrise color. This one was from February 2014. The one I posted the other day was from December the same year. (That was back when it rained here…) Laguna Sunrise - #5 by Kris_Smith
Specific Feedback Requested
All comments welcome. I’m trying to decide on a large print and prefer the wider view and softer look here. A wider one from the December shoot looked imbalanced.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Canon 5D2, Canon 24-70 at 40mm, ISO 200, f/9.5, 1/20 sec. Reprocessed with the TK linear profile (the highlights were teetering on the edge), then to PS for NR and two TK masks, a Darks 2 for a curve to bring up a bit more contrast in the trees by correcting a blue cast there (I liked it but wanted a touch more tonal detail) and a TK Lights 3, also to a curve, to tame the highlights and bring more color into them.
Diane, this has softness and balance all over it. I think I prefer this one for printing. I like the symmetry of the horizon near the mid point. The colors are indeed muted, but that’s part of the appeal in my view. I would print this and display it proudly. Well done. The processing is perfect too.
I love this one. The colors are beautifully understated and the soft look and clouds give it a wonderful sense of intrigue and mystery. Definitely worth a big print!
Oddly enough, there is a significant blue colorcast to this image. Removed, it is still a stellar shot, just a bit warmer. I did put back some of the blue and magenta and toned down the yellow quite a bit.
The blue color balance was intentional. I love it against the gold in the clouds. I see now that there is an irregular dark vignette at the bottom, especially in the right corner – consider it mitigated. It may be a very OOF edge of a fence.
Some people ask me why do i keep going back to photograph the same locations over and over again. This image (and your prior post) are a wonderful illustration of why it pays to re-visit familiar places. Light, weather, fog, it’s always different. This image and the prior one have such different moods, I’m hard pressed to pick a favorite. I think they both work equally well, but in different ways.
I love the cool tones of the blues here, I think it makes for a much moodier interpretation than it would be with a warmer WB.
I totally prefer this image to your earlier post with the much more colorful sky. The blues work perfectly for me in this image and I love that there is a gap on the right end of the trees isolating this scene to water. This one just sucks me in with the soft, foggy light with that hint of light reflecting off the cloud and into the water. This would be a terrific scene even without that one standout tree on the left but with it, it just takes this to another level. This is the one I would print out of the two by far. Really well done Diane.
Absolutely. This is a real winner. Just a stunning image done to perfection. And yes, the blue cast is a big part of why this excels. The clouds and sky variability and their reflections is what makes this image for me. No nits from me.
Well, I’m with everyone who really likes this blue version. The blues don’t feel overdone or odd to me. The balance in this is superb - the yellow clouds + lone tree vs. the long row of trees. What really speaks to me is the lone tree bending in supplication to the group of trees.
Mark, Google Maps will show a meandering winter creek west of Santa Rosa. This view is just S of the intersection of Occidental Rd and High School Rd. There is a small pulloff and room for about 3 tripods. It’s the only view that isn’t obscured by tall scrubby vegetation.
I like to look at symmetrical pictures like this when rotated through 90 degrees (just for a moment). Here it helps me admire even more the subtle variations of tone and form in the reflection. I’d still lighten the very bottom a bit.If this was on my wall I’d never get out of the house.
Really terrific, for the tones and composition that others enjoyed. I noticed that if cropped from top and bottom to the glowing clouds and their reflections, there is a different energy to the resulting semi-pano.
@Dick_Knudson, good observation, but with the trees vignetting themselves on the sides, I think that fits with the look of the highlighted clouds coming to an end before the edges. In the final version I erased the finer bits at the top edge.
Missed this one, Diane. Outstanding. Very dreamlike and other worldly. The gold and blue are beautifully balanced. It really elicits a sense of awe in me.
