(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
John, this is a very beautiful and peaceful image. I absolutely love the color palette. The only thing that bothers me a little bit is the bright blue sky poking through at the top because it draws my eyes away from the rest of the gorgeous scene. Maybe try toning that spot down a bit???
Thanks Carol for the kind words. Do you mean the the area left of center at the top? Or do you mean the bright white clouds above the hills? JT
I mean the blue area left of center at the top.
John: A quiet scene that creates a very effective image despite a dominating element. I like how you rendered the sky and clouds and the reflections. That spot you circled does grab a little extra attention but if Carol had not mentioned it I know I certainly would not have commented on it. Nicely composed and captured. >=))>
Oh my. This is just an exquisite image. I just love it. I have always liked the color blue and there is plenty of it here. I would crop a bit off the top and bring down the highest highlights in the clouds and water.
A beautiful image, John. This pretty much defines tranquility. A strong composition and a nice palette along with very nice processing makes this a real treat. I do agree with @Igor_Doncov’s crop idea, but I think he took it a little far. I might crop down to just below the blue points @Carol_Nichols mentioned.
Hi John,
I like your image and thanks for letting us comment. The background mountain are in wonderful color/shadow but seem flattened due to wide angle (?) lens. There are a few tips taught to try and get this mitigated at point of capture, or you can ‘resize’ the mountains in post. The foreground had those interesting rocks but the green sand seemed to distract from the image story. The foreground rocks were warmed up a bit to have the viewers eye move into the image (artist trick). You had a few dusts spots in the clouds and directly in the middle of image while not overexposed (227,227,227) there was a white cloud area that seemed to compete with the overall sky tonality. Most of my lighting and darkening down was done with various dodge and burn tools to provide texture, a signature skill of Sean Bagshaw. Noise reduction was carefully applied with Topaz.
I agree with others that this is a uniquely solitary and tranquil image, which was nicely composed. Being a native of NH, I’m going to add a few way-points to my GPS and hopefully make a run to see this lake.
All the best and thanks for allowing my edits and comments…
John, yes the circled area is the spot I was talking about. Just tone it down a bit like the other blue areas to the left of it. (This spot may look different on your monitor than on mine.) I would not crop from the top or the bottom. I love the sky and love the green area at the bottom, but everyone seems to have different opinions on this. I would be printing it big with your composition and hanging it on my wall if it were mine!
Hi John - I like your original uncropped version. I agree with Carol to clone out the area you circled.
Hello John,
I like your image a lot (in the original uncropped version).
I has a beautiful balance and it conveys a sense of peace and suspension.
Very nice!
Really nice work, John. The original works best for me, I love the depth of the full version. I agree with the clone suggestion, too.
Thanks to @Carol_Nichols @Harley_Goldman @Bill_Fach @Antonello_Provenzale @Bill_Chambers @Igor_Doncov @Ed_Fritz @Eva_McDermott for all the input.
I hope the rework takes care of the distracting elements in the sky that were mentioned by Carol and others. If not, please let me know.
I think @Ed_Fritz’s rework is quite beautiful and I appreciate his technical skill. Color work is excellent. Lots of post techniques for me to learn. Thanks for taking the time to edit this.
I downloaded the cropped versions and compared them to my original crop and decided to stay with the original. There’s a sense of space and of being “invited into” the image that gets lost with the cropped versions. So I suppose I echo the thoughts of those who favor the un-cropped version.
JT
Thanks Ed for the time you took with this. Can you point me to instructions on how to “resize” the mountains or did you simply mean to crop the image to make them appear larger? JT
Beautiful, John. I’m really enjoying the peaceful feeling and the contrast of the blue mid/background with the warm foreground, well done.
Thanks Reno!. I’m glad you’re enjoying it.
John, the re-edit is fantastic, to me it was the bright bit of cloud just above the mountain horizon that was catching my eye and this version corrected that very nicely. My only remaining comments is that there is a fairly strong green hue coming in on the edges of your horizon compared to the hazy blues further back in the distance. Maybe bring the green saturation down a few points in that area.
Thanks Jon. I’ll give that a try.
