Please share your immediate response to the image before reading the photographer’s intent (obscured text below) or other comments. The photographer seeks a genuinely unbiased first impression.
Questions to guide your feedback
Here at the base of El Capitan the endurance of the evergreens is reinforced and reflected.
Other Information
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Image Description
The calm state of the Merced really provided some excellent reflections and I feel the snow covered ground and skim of ice along the shoreline adds to the quiet tranquility of this Winter In Yosemite scene.
Technical Details
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark III. Lens: EF28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM @ 28.0, f/11, for 1/15 sec. ISO 100. Edited using Photoshop.
Specific Feedback
All comments welcomed.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
My first reaction is, ahhhhhh. I love reflection shots and this one is no exception! I like the sort of muted tones here, but I just cant help but wonder how it might have looked to see more of that delightful granite that Yosemite is legendary for! A lot of times I like to set up down close to water level and show more below the shoreline than above. Reflections are always richer in color and I love the way that water does that. Your image is fairly centered, and while rules are made to be broken, it just leaves me really wanting to see more of the mountains.
Thank you for your comments Paul. I understand your thoughts about more of the face of El Capitan showing, indeed I have several other images that do just that including a wide angle shot of all of Capitan showing and its reflection. I selected this one instead for this challenge because of its greater emphasis of the trees. Also for some reason this image upload didn’t display the richer and deeper colors that my image shows. I even tried to upload it a couple of times, but just couldn’t get it to work right. Bob
Robert, I saw your comment about the upload and I downloaded the image. You had uploaded as ProRGB? I converted it to sRGB only and it has more snap as near as I can tell.
As this is for the WC theme of evergreens this pano of the trees and reflections works very nicely too.
Thank you for your very kind works and the information concerning conversion from PRO RGB to sRGB. This is what the edited image looks like on my computer. Thank you so much for the information. I have already set up a new action to cover that for future submissions. Robert Engle
Though your original post does not show the intended colours, it has a special winter atmosphere which reminds me of winter landscapes by B. C. Koekkoek. Lots of brown barren trees and then some golden patches of sunlight. The reflections are great and I do like the symmetries of the image. There is of course the natural horizontal reflection in the water. But the placement of the big tree on the right and the dark patches on the rocks left, suggest a vertical reflection symmetry. Comparing the two versions for a second time, I still prefer the first version…
