This is from Reflection Lake, near Manzanita Lake in Lassen NP. On a still day, the reflections in Reflection Lake are just perfect - hence the name. The lake also has abundant mostly submerged water plants that have interesting shaped, curved leaves. When the two intersect, the result can be intriguing.
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I’m good with this, but if there are bits that are distracting feel free to chime in. I’m also wondering about the light areas in the center. I tried to bring out more detail, but maybe it’s not enough. The two light areas feel sort of blobby to me. As always, comments on anything are welcome.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
a7r3, 105mm, 1/80s, f/16, ISO 400.
Flipped vertically and cropped; various local burn/dodge adjustments; overall contrast increase. I often try these in b&w, which I did here, but it did not work at all. The tonalities are so similar, and there is so much going on, it was just too busy.
I agree with @Igor_Doncov. I love how disorienting it is. I found myself staring and exploring, trying to figure out what everything was.
The two areas you mention didn’t strike me as much as the overall lightness of the image. I like it slightly less high key, and if done in rgb that would also richen the saturation a tad.
Was this taken after last year’s fire? Both my Grandfather and Great Grandfather were born along Willow Creek north of Susanville, and I was visiting the area in November working on genealogy. I couldn’t explore as much as I wanted because of the fires.
Intriguing indeed. As with @Igor_Doncov , I am continuously delighted by the ways in which you experiment. This image is so impressionistic and would be even more intriguing if I didn’t know how it was created. Yes, the two white areas are a bit “blobby” but, at the same time, consistent with the image as a whole so I don’t have a problem with it. If there is a little more detail to pull out of those areas without it becoming “crunchy” it might be worth the effort. But in this case, I’d much prefer “blobby” to “crunchy”
Indeed this is very intriguing. It has that “French Impressionist-like” quality to it, which makes it a very desirable image for viewing. I like the bands of the reflections and darkness at the bottom of the frame. The delicate features of the sky are perfectly exposed as well. I think this is both creative and awesome. Well done…Jim
Bonnie, this mix of reflection and water plants looks great. There is a distinct feeling of an impressionist painting with the slight softness of the reflections and the “swirly bits” from the plants throughout the frame. The light areas below the peak have plenty of details and their luminosity fits well with the brightness of the plants “in the sky”.
I did lighten it up some thinking that that would go with the more impressionistic look. I reworked it by undoing that and increasing the midtone contrast a bit. Thanks for the suggestion. As part of that adjustment, I fiddled with the sky, so it wouldn’t become too crunchy, ruining the delicate sky, as noted by Jim Z.
How interesting that your gf and ggf were born along Willow Creek - back of beyond in the day! Well, it’s still back of beyond, really. It’s too bad you could get out and about on your visit.
