Ok yes. This is a weird one. It was just after the sun crested the treeline way down in the southern Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana. I came around a bunch of trees that was largely shading the background and rendering the reflection ghostly pale. The hint of sun coming in and lighting parts of the trees in the fg make for an arresting contrast. At least it was when I took it. I literally gasped when I first saw this vista. The knees drew me and I carefully positioned the boat so the right end of them was under the moss in a complimentary way.
Specific Feedback Requested
Does it translate? It was a very deep field of view from front to back and sometimes that much depth just doesn’t come across in 2D. Plus I was using my medium telephoto so that flattened tings a bit, too. No time to switch to the wider lens & I didn’t realize how high my ISO had gotten. Is it too noisy? Also, I processed the living daylights out of this in terms of dodging, burning and other selective editing methods to enhance the differences between the shaded trees and the sunlit trees. Could anything else be done to make this sing if it’s worth listening to?
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Lumix G9
Lumix G Vario 35-100mm f2.8 @ 100mm (200mm equiv)
f/8 | 1/125 sec | ISO 1250
Handheld in a kayak
Processed in Lr to even highlights and shadows, add texture & clarity, denoise & sharpening, horizon leveled & massaged tone curve for a more mysterious look. Unfortunately I only got one shot because another kayaker came into the view and didn’t move again until the light was gone.
This had to be a real treat as you came upon this idyllic scene, Kristen. I love the color palette you captured here and the processing looks very natural to my eye. It is a little noisy as you mentioned, but I think it enhances the feel of the image. While I like this as posted I could see it tightened up just a little on the right and left sides to emphasize all the good stuff even more. I hope you don’t mind, but here is a repost with what I was thinking. Wonderful job on this.
Kristen,
I can see why you were attracted to this scene. For me the depth does not immediately jump out of the image, but if you study it enough it does come across. As @Ed_Lowe mentioned the colors are very natural. I think the kayak and handheld situation was a challenge given the dynamic range in this scene. Considering those constraints I think you have made the most of it.
I also think there are a few other very nice possible compositions in this one. A vertical of the stump and tree on the right being one.
The longer I study this image the more it offers!
Thanks @Alan_Kreyger - kayak photography is a whole different beast. I had a tripod with me, but that can be awkward to pull in and out of the water to adjust and limiting in that it takes up a lot of time to set up each shot. Some folks really like working that way and maybe if I had a taller tripod I would, too, but I enjoyed paddling around with more freedom of movement even if it meant I had to work with higher ISO or more open apertures.
I hadn’t though to carve slices out of this, but I see now what you mean. I have some other shots of that back ‘wall’ of trees that might work for slicing, too. Hm…
I use to live on the water and have a Kayak. I have shot handheld and with the tripod, so I really do appreciate your challenge! I sometimes have laughed at myself trying to steady the kayak against anything, use the tripod and not tip myself and gear into the water! Thankfully I never did.
The kayak stretch - how far over can I lean to grab something before I fall out?! So funny and yeah, sometimes getting something to steady the boat with is a creative endeavor all by itself. I love it though and can’t wait for bud break so I can get back out on the water.
Kristen, for all the warm / cool color contrast you have here, it does come across as surprisingly two dimensional. No doubt some of this is the perspective compression from a telephoto lens. But I also think part of it is due to the relative luminosity in various parts of the image. The brightest areas in the image are along the left and bottom edges, and they draw the viewers attention the most. And the rest of the image recedes away without creating much of sense of depth, neither the colors nor the luminosity of the background strongly invite the viewer to explore deeper.
I also agree with @Alan_Kreyger about the right side having some potential. So I did a rework, cropping away from the left and the bottom. And I burned both the left and the bottom after the crop. Then I used a TK Actions Lights 1 luminosity mask to dodge the lighter tones in the background. By dodging these tones, the viewers eye is more likely to be drawn into the background, and explore it further. Dodging just a lights selection maintains shadows and contrast and in the background, which keeps it more natural looking. This also makes those stumps more prominent, and they act as a beacon further pulling your eye into the background. I’ve ended up with a different take on this scene, and I hope you don’t mind.
I hadn’t read the other posts here before I posted the rework, but it looks like @Ed_Lowe was heading in the same direction with his rework too.
Oh my, @Kris_Smith ! I don’t think this is weird whatsoever. It stopped me in my tracks. I suspected this might have been taken by you…I remember another image from 1-2 months ago of sunrise (or was it sunset) on the water in a swamp with a kayaker out there that I also loved.
This is such an incredible scene. I’m so glad you were able to witness and capture it. Thanks for sharing!
I think this is a lovely image as is but can be improved. The left side is of less interest as is the water. I worked out two comps with the first being a bit better than the second. I also thought the sunlit stumps in the fg took away some of the beauty from the hanging moss so I desaturated them… There is still a small blue wedge of water at the very back that I would burn in. There are a few more hot spots in the moss that need attention.
More good re-imaginings and food for thought. I’ll make some notes and have another go at it. Wish me luck!!
Re-edited using several TK masks - I had to play with a whole bunch before I got kinda what I want. Then I used some quick mask layers to manage exposure in the fg and in some of the hanging moss. I’m still not sure it works, but I think I’m going to leave it for a while.
