I ventured onto the ice at Bemidji State Park on a windy “warm” sunny day with my telephoto lens (just because) and tripod. I shot pretty low, sitting in the snow and looking for distant snow drifts with pretty shapes. I think the lessons learned from sand dunes can also be applied to snow drifts. First time posting, trying to get used to the system.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
I always struggle to get my whites white as my eye really likes the blue tones in winter scenes, but definely don’t like gray. Sometimes I turn to black in white if there’s strong enough contrast in the scene, but not in this one. I wanted to capture the soft and subtle snow drift and its textures. In this image, I think I have a nice color balance and that the shapes and shadows stand out nicely from the snow-covered ice around it. I considered other crops, but liked the 16x9 to extenuate the group of 3 that I framed at the edge to let the viewer consider if there were more to see to the right. The telephoto lens may not be the optimal lens to use, but I had fun experimenting with it and learning what it is capable of. I was impressed that the wind didn’t affect the sharpness of the images. I’ve been experimenting with different ways of communicating the vast openness that frozen lakes provide and used 2/3 of the image as foreground for this reason. Open to all feedback and ideas, even if they go against “my intentions” as described.
Hi Ann,
this is a very beautiful first image. I love the colors and the soft mood.
I don’t know how your original crop looks like. Maybe you don’t have more space available at the right edge of the frame. But I would try to crop it slightly differently.
I took the liberty of messing around with your picture a bit.
I gave the beautiful snow hills a tiny bit of room at the top and the right edge of the frame. I did that by using the warp tool at the top and content aware fill at the right side.
Beyond that, I would not change anything. Your image looks great. I’d love I could shoot scenes like that in my region on a warm sunny day
Thank you for the kind comments. I’ve never used the warp and content fill, but have heard that mentioned in multiple image review sessions. I’m assuming that is done in Photoshop? I only know very basic things in PS, but I’m trying to learn as I go. I’ll have to give it a try!
I think you’re right with the philosophy that techniques for sand dunes can easily be applied to snow drifts like this.
I can understand why you wouldn’t want to make this image more white, especially if you don’t care for gray. Any step in that direction would turn a lot of it to gray.
Personally, white snow works much better if there are contrasting colors in the scene like trees or a cabin, etc., but it doesn’t seem to work well with scenes of just snow.
The blue color does well at implying the presence of ice because we often associate ice with blue and this is on the lovely Lake Bemidji isn’t it?
I used to enjoy as a kid, seeing the statue of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox in the town of Bemidji, the statues were just across the way from an old A&W Root Beer Stand (Similar to a Sonics Drive-in).
I was born in Bagley way back in 1959.
I assume you live somewhere in the vicinity of Bemidji since this is in the weekly challenge for local parks?
Anyway, I really like this image and I like the placement of the snow mounds on the lake, I also like the space left in the FG, and the use of 600mm did very well at zooming in on those shapes, the DOF is just right IMHO.
Again, Welcome aboard!
There are lots of very nice folks here with loads of experience in all areas including post processing and all are very willing to share their knowledge.
If you need assistance with anything specific, please don’t hesitate to ask for it (even help with site navigation if needed), I’m sure someone will do their best to help out in any way they can
You don’t necessarily have to use these tools for this image. I used them here for demonstration purposes, to show how the image might look with a little bit more room at the edges.
Maybe your original uncropped image has more space?
If you have any questions about using these tools, we’re happy to help.
I hear you regarding this image, but learning warp and content fill is high on my to do list and applying it to a real image is how I learn the best! Might give it a go this week and see where I get.
I do live in Bemidji. I think the A&W is now a souvenir shop and parking lot. I grew up w/A&Ws in NW Indiana. There is one in Bemidji, but not near the lake.
Thanks for the comments and warm welcome. I look forward to exploring more and more of the site as I get settled in.
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I’m wanting to learn more about the warp tool in Ps as well so I just brought up a video on YouTube that does pretty good at describing how to use warp to correct for lens distortion. Warp Tool in Ps for Lens Correction (Link)
Of course, I’m not convinced that lens distortion would be a big concern at 600mm.
I think it’s most useful on images taken with a wide angle lens but that’s just my understanding of it.
I’m sure it could be used for many other things like adjustments to get a certain look for artistic purposes, etc.
Welcome, Ann! A lovely first post and the repeating shapes are wonderful! And I love telephoto scenes. I think @Jens_Ober has a good point about more room on the right – that lets the eye wander past the last hill, which is faint, and wonder what more is there.
An easy way to add canvas in PS is to pull out a crop handle past the original canvas edge and check the box at the top that is labeled “Content-Aware.” (First expand the view window by pulling a corner so you have room to pull it out.)
