Oh how I love to photograph ice. It’s a constant in my winter photography. This is one of my earliest efforts, but even so I think it’s a weirdly compelling image. The ice formed a thin sheet above the leaf litter on the forest floor and caught a reflection of the sky. The light was coming in from the top right very gently and lit above and below. It’s an older camera and so there’s a bit more noise in this ISO setting than newer models would have. For all that it’s still a favorite.
Can we have more than one entry for a weekly challenge? I didn’t see any info about that.
Specific Feedback Requested
I’m not sure anything is off except the focus could be crisper throughout the image. I should have lined the sensor up better than I did and also lowered the ISO & shutter speed, but there it is. Feel free to offer any suggestions.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Panasonic GH3
Lumix G Vario 35-100 f/2.8 lens @ 55mm (110mm for 35mm reference)
f/4 | 1/640 sec | ISO 640
Handheld
Not much processing in Lr considering. Smoothing of exposure, added texture & clarity as well as sharpening & NR. A bit of brightening in the orange and yellow channels and a shift toward a cooler blue.
I, for one, don’t think the noise or focus being slightly off really matters in this photo. It’s wonderful. The composition is good - placement of leaves and direction of lines. Beautiful textures.
A very engaging image! The noise is certainly not over-troubling. I got Topaz Denoise AI with one of their reduced-price offers and am quite impressed with not only its noise reduction but also its sharpening.
Kris, this looks great. There’s lots of texture in the ice, the leaves show well and the overall blue tones look good. As I tell my occasional beginners photo workshop participants, it’s not the camera that makes a quality photo, it the brain behind the camera knowing how to take advantage of the capabilities in hand.
You’re right about the camera not being the biggest piece to photography. You should do a challenge showing our earliest efforts v. latest. I’ve got some doozies from the 80s. lol
Kristen: This is really beautiful and very well composed. Regarding your question about multiple entries, you can certainly make as many as you want so long as you don’t post more than one in a 24 hour period. Looking forward to more of your work. >=))>
I just love the curves in this, Kristen. That’s what caught my eye first. Then the complementary colors of blue and orange/yellow. Very pretty composition as is!!!
Thanks everyone. I have a similar image with just ice and it’s more surreal. I think the leaves definitely add visual interest that the other doesn’t have. Nature gives us gifts sometimes, doesn’t she?
First off, I commend you for seeing the “big” potential in this “small” scene. From your comments, I think the color of the ice and its reflections caught your eye. It seems also that the leaf litter also attracted you, perhaps the warm colors in it contrasted with the cool blues in the ice. There are multiple compositions or “frames” that could include all these, but I’m wondering if you specifically picked this frame. What I personally am drawn to are the “lines” (or curves). Any framing is going to cut some off at some point, but the curves in the lower right and upper left really draw my eye. I would love to see more. Did you take more than one exposure? Did you take one with a wider view and explore various crops? If you did and liked this one best, great. I just wouldn’t want you (or me) to miss out on other possibilities.
Thanks for your response and questions, Rick. Weirdly I didn’t take any other shots of this exact area. I don’t know why, but I seem to remember I was frustrated and angry with my old crappy tripod and this shoot was the last straw with it. That’s probably why I didn’t do my best with this scene. I have many other ice shots from the day, but none are processed except for this one -
And none feature those leaves. Bah. Oh well. At least I got one. The attraction for me was the balance of the two leaves together, their slight frosting and the difference between the textures of the ice and the leaves. I thought the contrast was great. Plus the ice was so incredibly delicate that I was trying to convey a sense of that as well.
@Kris_Smith - I really enjoy the light and lines here. Both the more defined lines between ice “panes” and the more delicate white lines within. Having the leaves be identifiable adds and anchor or sense or reality for me. Nicely seen and it inspires me to go look for ice, although where I will find it with all this snow right now I’m not sure.
