Taken back in January, near the outlet of a small lake, so the outlet stream kept the water open. Fresh snow covered absolutely everything, and it was an overcast day.
5d MKIV, 100-400 L, f11, 1/400 sec, ISO 3200.
Cropped, Levels, Sharpened
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Oh, this is fabulous! The shaggy snow-covered branches have great energy, and their reflections make it a bit surreal. I’m wishing I could see more of the scene, though, because those branches are so interesting. And maybe the reflection could be brightened a bit (but not too much). The snow on the land/trees looks nice and white, though - doesn’t need to be brightened, It definitely appeals to me.
Genny, what an elegant image this is, it’s a nice bit of seeing on your part to extract this scene. Technically you nailed exposure/contrast, and maintained detail in the snow. I also love the look of the reflection, your shutter speed did you a favor here.
At first I thought I was bothered by the reflected branches in the LRC, so I downloaded and cloned them away. But to me, when I did this it made the hanging snowy bough less prominent, and concluded that I like it with the LRC as you presented it.
Genny, I am struck by this image. The simplicity in such a complex scene is very good. I can see two alternative to this image.
Flip the image vertically so the reflection is on top. With the defined reflection and lower contrast on the actual riverbank, I feel that it could improve the visual flow because I find my eyes would then scan the image from top to bottom.
If you keep this orientation, I would suggest lowering the contrast on the LRC and some of the darker spots along the bottom edge of the image. Here is a quick and dirty edit to show what I mean with that. I think it will address @Ed_McGuirk’s initial concern about that LRC area.
A perfect solution to the concern I expressed, nice idea Adhika.
Thank you all for the comments. I tried changing the contrast, but I didn’t like anything I tried. Those branches in the LRC bothered me a bit, too, and I think your idea of changing the local contrast, Adhika Lie, is pretty interesting.
There were some other branches in the upper left, that I cropped off. I was limited in taking the original photo because of overhanging branches along the creek on my side.
Definitely a photo that draws your attention. I find that sometimes the simplest images have the greatest impact, and this soft, delicately handled image drew me right in. The only thing that I might personally do, is lower the highlights in a minor way at about the 1 o’clock position on the patch of snow, unless you intentionally did that as a way of drawing the eye there. But I love all the light-plays in this image…and have to commend you for finding the scene originally.
Genny, this is a great abstract. I especially like the bits of distortion from the moving water that are scattered throughout the reflection. Well seen.
