(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Hi Eric, thank you for sharing this with us. I think this image has a couple things going for it. Obviously you have a strong leading line with the river. And most importantly, this is not a leading line for the sake of having a leading line. Instead it actually leads the viewer to something of interest, the tree and its reflection. And you have a set of complementary colors, blue and yellow, which usually work well together. The exposure and contrast look well handled here. So this image is pretty well handled from a technical standpoint.
From an artistic perspective, my question would be what story were you trying to tell the viewer with this image? The leading line is nice, but IMO it is not strong enough to be a compelling story by itself. To me the most interesting element you have here is the tree and it’s reflection at the end of the stream. I might have tried to grab a telephoto lens and zoom in closer on that tree, which you could do while still retaining some aspect of the leading line of the river.
I hear you loud and clear. Thank you for the feedback. I may go back to this spot and try a longer lens but, in the meantime, I’ve cropped it based on your comments. Feel free to add another!
Hi Eric. Welcome to NPN. This tells a nice story about winter with several interesting elements, including the reflection. One thing you could have done to help the composition is to stand a bit to the left but shoot a bit to the right. The river would then stretch diagonally across the canvas.
Looks like I was writing as you were downloading. This looks better.
Thank you.
I did try different angles. I was actually on the highway and turning more to the right made shadows and the road worm their way into the photo but, if I had used a longer lens, I probably could have done what you suggest.
Next time!
Hi Eric - Welcome to NPN, Your cropped version highlights the tree and its reflection. I also like Igor’s suggestion on composition.
First off welcome to NPN, Eric. You have received some wonderful suggestions already and your crop has helped greatly as it places much more emphasis on the reflection and the diagonal leading line with the stream. I think you will find a great group of photographers here willing to share their expertise. I hope to see more of your images along with your critiques.
Eric, your crop makes this a stronger image, both by making the tree more prominent, and affecting the flow of the diagonal river as discussed by Igor.
Hi Eric, from one new member to another bravo on submitting an image for critique! I live in Wisconsin so your photo looks very similar (minus the blue sky, just clouds 
) to the land surrounding me at this time of year. It’s not always easy to find interesting compositions but you did. The colors look good and I think the tighter crop improves it. Best wishes, stay well.
