Mysterious Morning (+revised)

Image Critiques
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1

Revised Version

Revision 1 (latest)

Revision 1 - IMG_22703-171201_WM1600_V2.jpg
Revision 1 - IMG_22703-171201_WM1600_V2.jpg2401×1600 1.82 MB

What changed: I straightened the trees a bit more and made a very slight adjustment to the horizon. The horizon is a bit of an optical illusion in this one as the island in the middle is closer than the far shore. I also used some local clarity along the shore, and did some dodging and local work on the log in the foreground to make it stand out a bit more.

Added after receiving feedback from the community.

Original Version

Original - IMG_22703-171201_WM1600.jpg
Original - IMG_22703-171201_WM1600.jpg2400×1600 1.61 MB

Critique Style: Standard

The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.

Feedback Focus: Artistic + Technical

About This Image

One of my favorite subjects is Lake Sidney Lanier in north Georgia. I’ve explored quite a bit of it, and looking forward to doing even more.

I left for the office one morning and noticed heavy fog soon after leaving. Since I nearly always had my equipment with me, I decided to drop by the local campground on Lake Lanier and see what the lake looked like. The time was early December, around 10am. I scrambled through the brush around the pier to get on the shore. Lake levels were fairly low at the time, which usually reveals something interesting for the foreground.

The atmosphere was magical, dead silent and quite peaceful. The sun was just beginning to burn through the fog when I started capturing images. I chose a fairly fast shutter to maintain a little texture in water and get more defined reflections. The images I captured weren’t the type I usually capture, but I’ve grown to appreciate that morning and the atmospheric conditions that existed.

Feedback Requested

I’m wondering whether the processing supports the mood or feeling I was aiming for, a mysterious mood.

Technical Details

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
Lens: Zeiss Distagon T* 2.8/15 ZE
Focal length: 15mm
Shutter speed: 1/200s
Aperture: f/11
ISO: 100

Tripod/handheld: tripod
Focus method: manual (hyperfocal)
Filters: none
Technique: I set up low to the ground, but high enough to get the reflected specular highlight at that position in the water.
Conditions:

Processing software: Lightroom Classic
Major adjustments: nothing particularly major. Increased exposure, slight contrast increase, whites increased, blacks decreased, minor color channel adjustments to adjust gray levels.
Blending/stacking: none
Other notes:

2

It’s a very interesting scenery and you’ve captured the moody atmosphere with the fog and a wonderful reflection of the sun. The log is great and also the bank forming the leading line. I like your composition very much.

Regarding editing, my preference is a bit different. I’m showing an example of the direction that I would go for, it’s not the final version as I can’t do much without an original RAW. It certainly can be done better. I’ve modified the vertical convergence a bit in order to straighten the trees while maintaing the horizon therefore the frame is a little smaller. What I’ve done: dehaze, increase clarity, increase sharpness with corrected liquidation, darken lights and lighten shadows. I would consider adding a very light vignette.

Processing example based on the original image:

processing example
processing example2258×1505 2.22 MB

1 Like
3

Thank you I appreciate the feedback. I like some of what you did, specifically the increased clarity. It might be a bit further than I would take it but creates a pleasing result.

I left the tree’s slightly converging by design. I would have love to get them completely vertical but doing so would have made me give up a portion of the sky that felt was more important.

I’m going to review this image again, and play around with the clarity. I think maybe I’ll used it as a localized adjustment to get some interest in the bank on the left.

1 Like
4

This is a gorgeous image and needs to be printed on some high contrast Baryta paper to grace your wall.

My suggested tweaks are very minor
-removed buoy that was pulling my eye
-enhanced the gorgeous light on the far shore

  • lightened the foreground log
  • played with the uprights on the trees and the far horizontal shoreline. To my eye the shore was sloping up to the right by a tiny degree, and managed to make the trees a little closer to absolutely upright. This is often done best by eye and is by nature a result of the wide-angle lens - but I’ve played a little. Not sure I’ve improved anything c/w the original :frowning:

Rest was dodging and burning the foregroud - made the log a little brighter and basically increasing the contrast of the whole image.

My alterations are just the way I would go… I only did them so you can see what a second pair of eyes sees in your lovely image. It may be moving away from the way you remember the scene - please feel free to ignore.
It also gives me practice in post-processing a mono image which I don’t do often.
I am very interested on where you go with this image

Huw Tweek IMG_22703-171201_WM1600
Huw Tweek IMG_22703-171201_WM16002400×1580 1.29 MB

I used transform in LR/cameraRaw but looking again I still haven’t got the horizon right :- :roll_eyes:

Kind regards

Huw

5

Huh, thank you so much for the kind words and feedback. Thank you for pointing out the horizon I missed it! I like your rendition of the image as well. It is interesting to see the paths others take starting with the same information.

I plan to take a couple of cues from the feedback I have received and take another pass at this image. I captured it years ago but that’s what is wonderful about raw files!

6

The original poster added a revised version of their image.

2 Likes
7

Great - nice changes - looks fabulous

8

Thank you Huw!

9

I can certainly see why you were drawn to make this image, Jonathan. The mood from the fog makes this very mysterious. My favorite part of the image is the light coming through those darker areas in the background. Very mysterious indeed. Are those islands or part of the shoreline in the distance? Your composition is well balanced and you used that foreground log to help lead the viewers eye right where it wants to go. The revision adds a touch of light right where you need it.
This is a really well executed image made with thoughtful intent. Well done.

10

This image has that early morning vibe and the tone being in B&W really shines … Really Nice. !!!

11

David, thank you very much for your feedback on this image. I thought I had replied to your comment previously, but apparently I made a technical error! Yes indeed those are islands, which sometimes makes it difficult to understand where the “level” horizon is. Particularly when it is obscured by fog to a large extent such as this one.

Gil thank you very much for your comment!