I don’t shoot landscapes much at all but thought I would pull this one from my archives. Any feedback appreciated. What I like most about the image is the spring coming in from the left and the exposed tree roots.
Canon 40D, 17-55mm EFS, tripod
ISO 100, f16, 6s
I think this is a very lovely image, Allen. I like the main diagonal created by the main stream and I also like the “whirlpool” at the LR corner. I did not notice the secondary stream on the left that you mentioned at first but as I explore the image, it becomes a very nice surprise. I guess the branch showing on the UR corner can go away either by means of cropping or by cloning. I could see some hands-free burning around the edges to direct the viewers around the scene. That would be a matter of taste though.
Allen,
Lovely came to my mind as well. This is a beautifully composed. Just about every part of the image has interest and this scene is a pleasure to explore. The diagonal flow of the stream anchors the image and there’s just a pleasing balance between the flow of the water, the rocky terrain and the lovely green/yellow foliage. Oh, and let’s not forget the pool at the bottom with the shapes and shadows beneath and little motion going on in the LR. AND, the feeding of the stream from the UL. Just beautifully framed and composed.
Sure, I could do without the upper branch; but honestly it’s not much of an eye magnet; at least it blends in with the colors and details.
I don’t really have any nit picks and it’s pretty hard to find something critical. The only suggestion I have would simply be to drop the brightness a tad and maybe punch up the colors and contrast. I attempted that with a modified Orton layer at low opacity. The multiply blending mode helped drop the overall brightness as well. A couple Levels, vibrance and saturation layers as well. I did use one of Tony’s Color channel selection (greens) and targeted a little saturation boost in the greens. Overall, just slightly darker and a touch more vibrant. May or may not be the direction you might pick or want.
Lon
@Lon_Overacker,
Thanks Lon - I like your repost. It adds a lot of pop. I did a rework of my own to see what I could do. See below. I don’t have all your post processing skills but I think this is an improvement.
Allen, yes, I think this is definitely an improvement. I continue to believe how even the smallest of changes can have great impact on improving our images. thanks for taking the time to rework.
Oh, and I didn’t mention, but you may notice if you look - I also cloned out the orange/red leaf or whatever it is along the bottom right edge. No biggie, just some edge cleanup.
Lon
Allen, this is a very pleasing scene, the strong diagonal line of the stream is very powerful, and I think your composition frames it nicely with the trees and rocks. I also think you got some great advice from @Lon_Overacker, and i like both what he and you did in your separate reworks.
I am going offer a few additional suggestions, starting from your rework. I think there is a lot of negative space at the bottom, especially in the LLC, and I would crop some from the bottom. In my rework i have done that, and maintained your original aspect ratio, which also eliminates the branch in the URC (although I agree with Lon that it is not a big problem), and the bright leaf in the LRC. I also burned down the rocks above and below the stream, and warmed the blues tones in the water a bit.
@Ed_McGuirk, Thanks Ed…this gives me more good suggestions to ponder. I don’t do much landscape photography so these tips are really a big help.
