This is one of many images I made on a walk in October through a gorgeous cedar forest. I’ve long loved cedar swamps and so anytime I get to visit one is always a great experience for me. Plus I’m a sucker for a boardwalk and this one is nearly 900 feet long. It extends the Ice Age Trail a bit, but also connects to another trail network and even has much needed Dispersed Camping Areas for through hikers. Anyway, when it snowed just a little bit I went out because I knew it would add depth, contrast and interest to these kinds of photos. It was either still snowing or just melting off the trees at this time, so that’s what you see in the middle distance.
Specific Feedback Requested
In terms of balance, I like this and the X made with the fallen tree below. Ideas for improvement welcome - I’ll probably hit this again in seasons to come.
Technical Details
Tripod
Lr for some wb adjustment and work in Calibration and HSL panels to boost some of the colors and luminosity values. Raised the mid-tones to give it a lift as well. A little transform to stand the trees up straighter. Texture & Sharpening.
Ps to remove a few distractions. The new Delete and Fill action is a marvel and really fast when combined with the new Object selection tools.
What a wonderful place to walk, Kris. It is a little hard for me to even imagine snow when we are still hitting the 80’s down here! For me, as always, your post processing is spot on, so no comments there. I’ve also been experimenting with the new tools in PS and so far they’re working out great. Nicely seen and can’t wait for more version of this boardwalk.
SNOW! Too cool. I’m so looking forward to seeing some snow here in the PNW this year.
I love the depth this scene has, Kris. That boardwalk just slides off into the distance. Love it. The little dusting of snow on the trees helps accentuate the boardwalk too. I also like the X of the fallen tree.
I can’t think of a thing to suggest. I think it’s perfect as is. Wonderful.
The boardwalk helps pull my eye throughout the frame and I agree with you that the diagonal formed from the fallen tree is a subtle element that adds to the composition. I do like the snow in the scene and how that together with the fallen leaves tells the story of the changing seasons.
Hey Kristen, I love the way you’ve explored this boardwalk - each picture tells a story but together there is a kind of meta story that says so much more. But my suggestion about this one is similar to what I suggested about one of the first ones in this series you posted. What I love about this image is not simply that there are “leading lines” - the boardwalk, but that they actually lead somewhere very interesting. That little bit of the boardwalk that curves to the right just at the edge of the darkening forest is soooo intriguing. And so, I find that the largish expanse of white in the very foreground, being so bright, really draws and holds my eye and feels like it’s blocking my way. I want to go into the forest!! I know it would change the picture but I’d seriously consider cropping from the right and the bottom and bringing down the brightness of the foreground snow that’s left in the foreground frame. Clearly you’ve found a very rich experience in this boardwalk and it is wonderful to see you dive into with such enthusiasm.
The views were endless, or seemingly. I had to stop a lot!
I left a lot of room for cropping in these and I took a lot of views. It was a gorgeous walk and I spent as much time looking down into the forest floor as I did into the canopy and down the boardwalk. An incredible labor of love on the part of the volunteers who built it.
And thanks to @David_Bostock, @linda_mellor & @Brian_Schrayer for chiming in. Not many people love a swamp as much as I do so I appreciate it. I think the tiny bit of snow helps a lot, but in almost every season, a cedar forest is a joy.
That’s a lot more radical than I had in mind. I was thinking of maybe cropping off about half the snow in the first portion and then bringing down it’s brightness. I like that the turn into the forest is distant and only just visible - that’s what makes it so intriguing (seductive?)
I’m having trouble visualizing a swamp in N Wisconsin! But other than that, I can’t discover any trouble with the image, or the one below. The boardwalk looks fascinating and I love the meandering path – it ways slow down and saunter, and visit with the trees! There must be a lovely fragrance there that changes with the seasons.
Oh we have tons of waterbodies up here - from vernal pools and streams to raging rivers and enormous lakes. Swamps, and especially cedar swamps, are common. We’re too far north for black gum or cypress, but white cedar abounds. Lately it seems the Ice Age Trail Alliance has been doing boardwalk projects this year and I love it. Makes things easier for hikers and less damaging to the trail if it goes through anything fragile like a peat/sphagnum moss mat.
You really wet my lips with that second image you posted, Kris. I love that even more than the original post. The snow in the original sort of takes over the image for me. Maybe it’s just too bright but it really dominates that scene. The second image is more balanced to my eye and I love that curve in the boardwalk leading to…where? I also feel like the snow in the foliage in the second image is balanced better with snow on both sides of the walkway.
I do like the original as well but just not quite as much as the repost. This is a way cool scene.
Thanks @David_Haynes - I have so many of these views that it was difficult to pick a single one to start with. That boardwalk is magic. So glad that the IAT Alliance raised the funds to build it. I really need to volunteer with my chapter so I can contribute to these efforts. A trail nearby had to be rerouted twice because beavers moved in and rebuilt an old dam that had been breached for a long time. It needs work again because now there are secondary and tertiary dams that have made the outflow wide and muddy. Another bridge has to go in.
But anyway…glad that the second resonates. I’ll do another post and you can see more.
I know it would change the picture but I’d seriously consider cropping from the right and the bottom and bringing down the brightness of the foreground snow that’s left in the foreground frame. Clearly you’ve found a very rich experience in this boardwalk and it is wonderful to see you dive into with such enthusiasm.