This is not a typical of my autumn in New England shots. This image was taken at a pond in Crawford Notch, New Hampshire. I went there for a sunrise that never materialized. It was cold enough that there was some light mist playing on the water, and was intrigued by the back corner of the pond, which in fact was turning into a spruce bog. I like how the mist softened the texture of the spruce trees, and the colorful fall vegetation along the shore. I did enhance this effect slightly by using some negative clarity in Lightroom, but the original image actually had a lot of this softness due to the mist.
To me this image has a soft, quiet mood that reminds me of that morning. And I think it that it shows that autumn images don’t always have to be primarily about bold color.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Any critique or comment is welcome.
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Canon 5D MKIV, Canon 70-200mm f4 lens, 173 mm, ISO 250, 1.0 sec at f 16
I love the misty mood and understated presentation. I would consider desaturating the color spot along the top edge, but otherwise, looks great. An alternative presentation is a pano crop down from the top, really emphasizing the reflection, mist and brush color.
Ed, this is a great example of making lemonade when plan A does not pan out. It is not typical of your NE work and I like the departure. As Harley points out the understated presentation is really nice. For me the spacing, light fog, separation of the trees and muted colors along the edge of the pond are just right. I agree with Harley about the color spot along the top edge but like the crop as presented.
I love the colour mix in this image and the soft texture in the foreground leading to sharper texture at the top of the frame. The comp feels well balanced to me.
I like the soft quality of the light in this image. The mood conveyed in this image is very peaceful and inviting. No nits from me - this is wonderful!
This looks good to me as well. I like the bluish factor in the mist over the water. The leftmost tree feels a bit crowded but not a big deal. The warm reeds help make this interesting. This is real nice, Ed. I like it a lot.
Hard pressed to be critical of anything here - Love this as presented. Well, ok, I suppose you could lessen the presence of the small patch of orange on the top edge, left of center. That’s getting pretty picky though…
@Igor_Doncov@Lon_Overacker@Harley_Goldman@Brian_Schrayer@Nathan_Klein@Alan_Kreyger thank you all for your comments and input. Harley, Alan and Lon thank you for pointing out that orange patch, I did not “see” it until you guys mentioned it. I elected to clone it away. And Igor, I agree with you about the cramped left tree. I actually had cropped this image, and did a rework to add back some space at the top, and to clone away the orange patch. When I went to do that, I also noticed the water line was tilted CCW so i fixed that as well. These tweaks have all helped to strengthen this shot, thanks for the help.
Ed, this is beautiful, and the rework is a nice improvement over the original post. It’s nice to see an atypical fall shot from NH, as much as I enjoy the more typical ones. The very light mist adds an interesting effect at the base of the trees.
This is awesome, Ed. The rework really nails it. I spent a few minutes just moving all around the image taking it all in. I especially love the dreamy look of the bottom third, almost like a subtle orton effect. Well done.
Ed, the image has a nice early morning New England Fall feel to it. Soft treatment of the colors is spot on…love the grasses and stone along the pond’s edge. The misty reflection is wonderful. First thing that caught my attention though were the cropped trees, especially the double trunk mid frame. I know there was some discussion previous about this with another image… but its topped presence in such a primary placement is a little bother for me. Also, the tree trunks with ther skeleton shapes seem to want or suggest a vertical format image. Just a few thoughts…I really enjoy viewing your work from the New England area. Thanks for this one.
Oh, wow, just gorgeous! I don’t mid the tips of the trees being out of the frame at all. The one thing that I saw is the stronger oranges of the left-most group of bushes at the water’s edge. Looks like the mist petered out here. Maybe a bit of negative clarity or negative dehaze just on that one bush? I’m glad the sunrise didn’t pan out for you, and you were able to capture this scene for us!
@Craig_Moreau@Michael_Lowe@Stephen_Stanton@Bonnie_Lampley thank you all for your insights and comments. Bonny, I agree with you about the clump on the left, I think some vignetting in the LRC may have affected the bush too much, good pickup.
Thank you for kind comments Stephen, I appreciate it. Having lived in New England my entire life, I enjoy sharing it’s landscape here at NPN.
And regarding the various comments on the tree tops, etc. here is a throwaway image from that morning that gives you a sense of what I had to deal with. I was trying hard to avoid including any of the yellow and orange foliage above, afraid that it would compete too much with the more subtle fall color along the shore line, which i was trying to emphasize instead. and yes I have many other comps that show the wider view too.
Yeah, you might think it strange, but I do consider this one a throwaway, the composition is too messy and cluttered by my standards. I guess that’s part of what comes from spending the past 25 years photographing autumn in New England, my standards for that subject have gotten relatively high. I do have a number from this same location/morning that I did a better job with though.
This autumn season I attempted to try some different interpretations of autumn in New England. The original post is one of my efforts, and I’ll be posting some others in the near future.
hmmmm, I’d be happy to have that in my portfolio! As in your original, the mist is still playing an important role. Love this one too!