This is the second post in what I’m calling my Summer Fantasy series. After an enduring summer heat wave, we recently had a two day respite from the heat when a weak cold front provided some relief. The cooler temps led to some interesting opportunities to shoot some early morning fog. My prior post was from the first day when I had total pea soup fog. The post here is from the second morning , when the fog was less thick, and was more of a ground fog. This image was taken as the sunlight first started to hit the trees. The purple flowers are loosestrife, an invasive species that grows in wetland areas. Hidden behind these trees is the Sudbury River, which was generating the fog. I like the gradient in color temperature inherent in the scene, warmer in the light, and cooler in the shadowed loosestrife. No messing with WB here in post-processing, this was how it looked. No Orton Effect applied either, this dreamy look came courtesy of the fog.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Any critique or comments are welcome
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Canon 5D MKIV, Canon 70-200mm f4 lens at 200mm, ISO 200, 1/5 sec at f16
Absolutely gorgeous mood and lighting, Ed. Thank you for sharing. This was a special morning indeed.
My only though was that the image could use a little breathing room on the right. The smaller tree seems a little crowded as presented. But then on a second look, I think it’s because the scene “reads” from right to left. To my eye, flipping horizontally makes a more pleasing and peaceful image. I’m not sure if you’re okay with mirroring photos since it breaks from reality, but I thought I’d do a quick flip to illustrate.
Stunning atmosphere Ed! I love the light kissed fog and the flowers just barely visible with a bit more inspection. My only thought is going with a 4x5 crop (maybe just because I’m in love 4x5 lately), the empty space on the left feels a bit unbalanced with the right and I think this helps focus more on the subject of the trees/flowers/fog.
I have been away for a few weeks and I am really pleased to be greeted with this image from you today. I think this is absolutely gorgeous. Yes to taking off some from the left but not quite as much as what @David_Kingham proposes. I think the lupine at the bottom of the frame is simply gorgeous; it’s not prominent in the image so finding them is like finding gems in the image.
I certainly hit the jackpot with these magical weather conditions both mornings. After having the Covid pandemic totally trash my spring and summer photography travel plans (sorry David), it was very satisfying to be able to finally get some nice opportunities close to home.
I knew the right side was an issue, there was a really weird shaped tree just out of the frame to the right that was a major distraction (I’ve attached another image that that shows the problem).
Adam, I do not mind the horizontal flip, I think it is a very good idea. Having the 3 trees now on the left, and having them bend left to right is a better presentation of the original image.
David, I agree with going with a more squarish crop vs my original 3:2. I really like what this does to the right side, although I agree with Adhika that I wouldn’t take as much off the left. I have another image that I will post later that crops in tighter on both the left and right, which was done via a longer focal length in another frame.
Adhika, thanks for the comments. I think you are the third person to call these flowers lupines, but they are actually loosestrife, a very different species. Attached is a better shot of loosestrife.
My rework in a general direction similar to @David_Kingham
Another gorgeous one. Your rework did the trick for that bit of open space on the left. That loosestrife in the fog makes for such an interesting texture.
While I like your last post a little better, this is also a gorgeous scene with great lighting and fog, Ed! I agree with everyone else that the original post was a little heavy on the right with some sort of dead space on the far left. I think your final re-post is the best version. Congratulations on another fine fog photo!
I like what you did on the left, but I would leave the right as posted and just burn down the highlights to the right of the third tree. I redid it but every time I try to post the image, it flips it horizontal (I did one version that way, then reflipped it - NPN will not post the resaved file, even when I rename it - weird).
Thank you all for taking the time to comment on my image, I’m glad that you enjoyed it.
Harley I really like your re-work on the right side, adding the breathing room on the right and the burning of the fog definitely helps. As usual, the sequential tweaks of NPN comments is getting this to where it needs to be.
This is a gorgeous image, Ed! Well seen, captured, and processed. Reading through the comments, it’s a thing of beauty to see how the NPN community came together to brainstorm on different approaches for cropping/burning, to balance out the image. I do like both the re-works from @David_Kingham and @Harley_Goldman, but also see the value of the suggestion from @Adam_Bolyard to flip and have it read more from left to right. If I had to choose one, I would be inclined to go with David’s crop, but maybe leave a bit more breathing room on both the left and right, as @Adhika_Lie suggested.
The way that the fog rests on the ground is really interesting. You have certainly been given a lot of device on how to crop this. The only thing I would add is to crop less from the bottom. I think that shady part of the fog makes the lighter part stand out more. I like how the fog looked in the raw un cropped version before it was cropped from below.
The wider view is from a different image (shown only to demonstrate the weird tree).
I have other shots that avoid the weird tree and include more of the darker fog below, and intend to make another post that goes in the direction you suggested. I agree that it creates another interesting look.
Wow, another gorgeous image, Ed. The light is so special here! About the only suggestion I have would be to crop some off the left side, but not quite as much as Harley’s. I was on the fence about the saturation of the Loosestrife, but I think at a larger size, it is fine as is. It’s just a little hard to see at this size, but at a 36x48 the flowers were be perfect. I’m not a fan and seldom use any “accepted” or “normal” formats, preferring to format as needed for image optimization, so David’s 4x5 seemed too cramped for my taste; just whack a little off the left and let her rip. Beautiful image!
