It isn’t often on our paddling adventures that we find ourselves looking down on the scene. This camp site was quite beautiful – all rock with a great swimming area at the water’s edge, a lovely flat area for pitching our tent and then rising rather quickly to about 40 feet above the water beyond. I made this picture not too long after sunrise about halfway up the promontory. It was the interesting cloud formation, its reflection and the subtle colour that caught my eye. Nothing ground-breaking, a pretty classic landscape in the Romantic style. Still, looking at it makes me kind of antsy to get back out on the water.
Specific Feedback Requested
As always, I’m interested to know if this image has any emotional impact for you. It feels a bit “ho-hum”. I was tempted to push the colour in the clouds and water but these days my tendency seems to be, “less is more”. Any feedback - composition, colour, or technical considerations would therefore also be most welcome.
Kerry, I love this just the way it is. The pastel colors do remind me of the classic Romantic period. It is most definitely not “ho-hum.” I wouldn’t change anything there. I thought about cropping from the bottom to the outcropping on the lower left to decenter the horizon line. Not sure it did anything though.
Oh, looks like there’s a dust bunny in the upper center left…oh never mind, that’s a bird
This photo reminds me that some places really can be considered wild. Not necessarily untouched or pristine, but what a botanist I know called high quality. Where the hydrology and geology are relatively pure and as nature created. I really like the symmetry you’ve achieved and the choice of a 1:1 crop emphasizes that. The perfect mirror stillness reminds me of a painting, but has the immediacy of a photo. The light in the shorelines looks a trifle artificially bright, but it works as a piece of art. Makes me almost wish I camped. Almost.
Oh, this is terribly romantic! It’s a classic composition, elevated by the delicate colors. The reflection of the middle line of clouds is rather interesting - the reflection looks like a negative. Personally, I enjoy all of your canoeing photos. This is somewhere I’m unlikely ever to visit, so keep them coming.
This really captures the serenity of the Canadian lakes wilderness. They tell me the Boundary Waters is Minnesota is like this. The composition is also from the Romantic era of art in that there is no radical design elements or perspectives. That and the restrictive use of color contributes to the calmness. So I think it holds together really well. One seemingly minor thing but it adds up: I like that are grey clouds above the warm ones rather than have the warm ones up against the frame. And that’s both in the sky and the reflection. I think small things like that really make a difference. I don’t see any part of the image that isn’t interesting. The negative space is just as interesting as the land. Great job.
Beautifully balanced shot Kerry, the layers, reflection and high contrast to low really give this shot some great depth. I like the colors how they are, it matches the overall tranquil mood of the shot.
@David_Bostock - Thanks so much for your comments. Yeah, the centred horizon but then I decided to go with the 1:1 aspect ratio - so, in for a penny, in for a pound! @Kris_Smith - Thanks for your input. To be honest, this area could not really be called “high quality”. Back in the 30’s in order to provide power for mining in the region, they dammed the crap out many of the larger lakes, this lake being one amongst them. So, in fact, the hydrology was completely altered. If you look at the bottom of this frame about a third of the way in from the left, you can see what looks like a post coming up out of the water. That’s what is left standing of a thirty or forty foot tree. It is hard to imagine what this region must have looked and felt like prior to all the dam building. Obviously still beautiful, but if one looks with a careful eye, signs of the human footprint are, sadly, everywhere to be seen. @Bonnie_Lampley - Thanks so much for your support, Bonnie. I must confess, when I look at many of the images you have posted like your most recent, I am reminded that I have other aspirations for myself as a photographer. While these photographs do appeal to the Romantic in me, I want to go so much deeper and I’m just trying to be patient as I seek to explore what that might actually mean. @Igor_Doncov - As always, your reflections are always most appreciated. I hate to say it, but Boundary Waters, like most of the great American parks I’ve visited, is a bit of a zoo in terms of the sheer number of visitors. If you should ever decide you want to paddle in that area, take the time to go directly north and across the border. Quetico Provincial Park on the Ontario side, like Boundary Waters is vast and gorgeous but with a tenth the visitors. And yes, I agree that having the warmly lit and coloured clouds contained by the grey ones does allow the eye to settle and is probably why I chose this particular image to work on over many others that I took on that particular morning. @Blake_Randall, @Eva_McDermott - thank you both for your very supportive feedback. Much appreciated.
