Got up at pre-dawn and made my way to this gorgeous mountain lake in central Oregon. Sparks Lake is truly breathtaking! That’s Broken Top Mountain and the Sisters Mountains in the background.
All C&C most welcome.
Is this a composite: No
Nikon 10-24mm, 15mm, 1/80, F8, ISO 200
This is a really beautiful picture. I love how the clouds from above and below (with the reflection) frame the mountains. One can completely get lost in these endless clouds. To me the trees on the left feel a bit crowded. I would have loved to either have them take more of the picture or not be there at all as they seem a bit lost there. But I can spend hours looking at these clouds.
Beautiful reflection Scott, it gives an almost perfect mirror image.
For me the overall strong blue is almost too strong …but then the image may not work as well if it was toned down.
Lovely and majestic, but oh, the polarizer was cranked a little too far. I hate it when I do this and have worked pretty hard on methods to correct it. I can point you there if you want. Otherwise the composition works for the most part. I think you could crop from the right a bit and not lose anything since that’s the least interesting side of the photo, plus there is some haloing around the peaks. If it were mine I’d think about lifting some of the deepest shadows in the treeline, but not too much. Such a perfect reflection. Not sure what your processing software is, but a run through Topaz Sharpen would be a nice touch, too. What a grand vista!
Thank you Tamar! Appreciate the feedback.
Thanks Ryan! I agree the blue is a bit too strong in places thanks to my polarizer. Need to work on that.
Thank you Kristen! Yes, the polarizer went ballistic on me and I realized when I got home. Appreciate all your other comments too!
Such a lovely scene with great clouds and a nice reflection in perfectly calm water.
That said, I just can’t get past the overwhelming blue. The polarizer didn’t do you any favors here as noted. When colors just take over an image for me, I want to see what they look like in B&W. So…
Here’s a version in B&W with an attempt at working the ULC to deal with the uneven polarization.
Thanks Keith! That certainly makes the sky look for even in BW. But yes, the polarizer did me in on this one. Appreciate the comments!
Scott, this is a lovely scene, with a great reflection and beautiful puffy clouds. I agree that the blue is too intense. You can probably dial that back in either in RAW or in any post processing that you’ve done. I’m actually amazed that blue in the sky is as even as it is here with a polarizer on that wide a lens.
Thanks Mark! You can really see the change in hue as the image goes from left to right. It’s darker on the left. I’ll work on that. Thanks again!
@scott_fenton This is a really striking image. I love the clouds and the reflection of them. I absolutely understand why you have captured the grand scene, but my eyes keep going to the left half. I think it would also make a nice vertical. This seems like exactly the sort of thing I would do with a polarizer. 
Thanks Karla. Really appreciate the feedback.
