Summer Fantasy 6

I’m sure some folks may be getting tired of seeing the shots in this series. But it was a very productive couple of mornings in late July 2020 shooting the purple loosestrife flowers in the fog.

And this has been one of the few places that I have been able to go during this pandemic summer, where I can both get good photo opportunities and avoid other people.

Another shot from the second morning ,where I waited for the sun to start burning through the fog. This is a bracket and blend of several exposures for dynamic range, but the fog diffused the sun enough that the blend wasn’t too difficult to do.

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Any critique or comment is welcome.

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This is really surreal and excellent. Talk about a dream world look! No suggestions here.

This is amazing detail and color for the conditions, Ed. I can’t tell if there is some haloing due to the blend around the sun though as the light around the sun looks darker than the fog which doesn’t feel right to me.

I like this one a whole lot. In fact your images got better and better in this series - a kind of Rossini crescendo. I have a feeling that was no accident.

The way the warm sun enters from one area and suffuses the entire scene with light - that’s the most delightful facet of this image for me. The ghostly trees work well and the flowers work with everything else rather than competing.

No, not tired of this yet, Ed. Keep them coming. I think the image is very enjoyable but there is just a tiny feeling that there is just a sliver too much on the right. I perhaps will tighten it to cut off just a portion of the foreground tree on the right.

This is a wonderful moody image. I love the fog and how it mutes the colors.

Ed, this has a fine sense of mystery, with it’s subtle colors.

@Mark_Seaver @Harley_Goldman @Igor_Doncov @bob13 @Adhika_Lie @Richard_Wong

Thank you all for comments, i appreciate the input. Yes Igor, this is my favorite of this series as well, hopefully I saved the best for last. I do have more shots of this amazing morning, but I won’t inflict any more on NPN, it’s time to move onto other things.

Richard, the halo is natural and was there in real life, it’s just got to do with the density of the fog, and how the light passes through it. That does not mean that it doesn’t present some challenges in processing. I made the “halo” both lighter and less saturated to minimize it’s appearance. Here is one of the un-editted raw files used to create an exposure bracket and blend, you can clearly see the halo in the raw file. Maybe my blend could be tweaked to smooth it out a bit more.

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Ed, I’m not tired of seeing these images. I appreciate how productive the sessions were for you.

With this one I like the warmth of the light throughout, compared with the mix of warm and cool lights in one of the preceding posts which I found unsettling. Your processing is very pleasing too; the gradations are smooth and natural.

If this were mine, I would like to see a bit more saturation of the loosestrife, which of course would increase the coolness against the warmth of the light and contradict my earlier statement. But maybe it would change my mind…

Ed,
Well, I am certainly not tired of this wonderful series as they have all been fantastic. In fact this just might be my favorite one so far. You certainly hit the jackpot with the fog as it has provided some lovely atmospherics to this scene. I like the density of the fog as it has an air of mystery to it while still being inviting and your processing is superb as usual. The light throughout the image has imparted such a lovely glow and radiance to this scene. I am glad you were there to capture it for the rest of us to savor.

I love this image, the softness is wonderful and there is a good sense of depth. I might burn in the bushes on the right, maybe just those on the far right, just a hint to bring them forward in the frame compared to the next layer of trees on the left just to increase that feeling of depth just the next small step more.