Walden

Image Critiques Weekly Challenge
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I shot this t Walden Pond, which is near where I live. It was a perfect fall day in New England and, somewhat unusually for Walden, it was completely still with few people.

Walden
Walden2940Ă—2448 944 KB

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Sheila, welcome to NPN. This is a lovely fall view with some fine reflections. How nice to have a famous place almost to yourself. There’s some banding in the water, especially along the shore. Is that in the original file?

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The reflection is the star of this show and really pops nicely. Nice fall scene. I agree with Mark about the artifacts/banding in the image.

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Thank you, Mark. The banding is in the original file. Do you have any suggestions for editing? I shot it as a JPEG.

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Sheila, that banding is a standard jpeg artifact, that shows especially when the jpeg is limited to 8 bits of color depth. The best way to avoid it is to shoot RAW.

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Sheila: Beautiful scene nicely captured. I can also see shooting this as a vertical with only the brightest reflection area included. Great to have you aboard and looking forward to more. >=))>

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Yes, I can see that. Thanks for the suggestion!

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I agree with the others about shooting RAW, you will be amazed at the versatility and greater quality! That aside, this is a fantastic image and suits the “at the edge” theme especially with the low water level leaving the exposed bank. Colors and reflections are superb, well done Sheila!

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Thank you, Keith. I shot this awhile ago and, at the time, I was shooting jpeg. I have since moved to RAW and, yes, what a difference!

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Sheila, I live about 10 miles south of Walden Pond and enjoy shooting there a lot myself. It is pretty rare to be there without any people. I also agree that shooting raw leaves you much more flexibility to process more aggressively later. The refections here are pretty nice. But the artifact issues are a distraction.

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Thanks, Ed. I live about three miles from Walden and don’t go there all that often because it is usually so crowded. But on days like the one I shot this, it is lovely. I am shooting in RAW these days. I’m not sure what took me so long!