Lake Mackenzie is one of my favorite places in the world. Revisiting after a few years, I stood here in the quiet enjoying the clear conditions in light of an uncertain weather forecast for the weekend. I snapped a few shots but all were too ‘basic’ for my liking until this bit of cloud rolled in after sunset. I decided to go for a 30 second exposure to accentuate the movement of cloud and waterfalls in contrast with the stillness of the lake. It was a gorgeous experience.
Specific Feedback Requested
I feel I have not done enough to this image in post processing to really nail the mood I’m after. I’d love some advice! I want it to be as good as it can be but it feels a bit ho-hum. I am always after a natural look and never wish to go over the top, however, I feel this could use some tasteful subtle editing to enhance the scene. I’m interested to hear from those with more practice.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Shot on Fuji XT-2 with Fujifilm XF 10-24mm f/4 R OIS Lens - ISO 200, 10 mm, f/11, 30 sec
Processed in Lightroom with adjustments to clarity, texture, shadows, vignette, and noise reduction. Processed in Color Efex Pro 4 for brilliance/warmth, dynamic contrast, and polarisation.
There is much to be said for this image. At its core are the two peaks, which pull my eye right in . I love they way, with the receding cloud cover, they are being revealed (even though, having read your text, I realize the clouds aren’t actually receding but rolling in) So, for me, I want that to be the absolute focus of this image. For that reason I’m not crazy about using a landscape format for this image. I would be inclined to crop to a portrait mode by cropping from both the left and the right (maybe to around a 5:7 aspect ratio). That would accentuate the triangles, top and bottom and really give the image a dramatic sense of depth that culminates with the twin peaks. I might also consider a bit of split toning. The sky and water already have a blue, cool cast but I would try warming up the mid ground land, also for more dramatic effect. Finally, on a minor note, it feels that where the water meets the land is slightly tilted to the left, so I would straighten that. I hope you find this helpful.
I can easily understand why this is your favourite place and you made a beautiful image. I like the x shaped diagonal lines bringing my eye to the twin peaks. I agree with Kerry about a 5 x 7 crop and a bit of split toning.
Thank you hugely, Kerry and Richard! Great feedback!! I attach the following for your consideration. The first image reflects all of your suggested changes. I do understand what you mean about the portrait orientation focusing the eye toward the peaks. However, I’m a bit loathe to do this as I have an image that I love from this area that is portrait orientation and I was after something a bit different plus I really enjoy the waterfall details and reflected forest that gets cut with that crop.
At the moment, my favorite is the landscape orientation that includes your suggested edits. I’ll keep playing with it though!
Do you think that the split toning is moving toward what you’d suggest or should I rework this?
Crystal, I love the light and the mood created by the fog in this image, it makes me feel like I am right there at this lake. I like your processing of color here, with cooler tones it also enhances the mood of the image.
I think the discussion so far on composition is pretty interesting. I like the X shape, the waterfall and the forest on the right side, all good reasons to go with a horizontal composition if your goal is to showcase the supporting cast in addition to the mountains. The only aspect of the horizontal that I don’t like as much are the exposed stones in the lower right corner (LRC). I think they add too much weight to the right side and make the composition a bit unbalanced, and right heavy. For examples @Kerry_Gordon 's 5x7 vertical has a more symmetrical and balanced composition by eliminating those stones (in addition to placing more emphasis on the peaks). If you wanted to show the wider view in a horizontal, I would have tried moving more to the left and getting the exposed stones out of the shot. Here is a very crudely done clone job in a rework, intended only to illustrate what it might have looked like by getting the stones out. Of course my view on the stones is a subjective opinion, and not everyone may agree with it.
Really nice image, Crystal! The comments above made me think about a crop as well, but I chose square crop; that made the mountain range disappear into the top right corner, the clouds in a mirroring pattern to the left top corner. I really like the clouds, but felt they needed a bit brightening up (please keep in mind this was a quick edit; if I was to really work on the clouds, I would spend a bit more time on them. The foreground is stunning, so I just enhanced it with some clarity, highlights and contrast. Overall, brought up vibrance and a bit of clarity and contrast. Bringing up the Luminance on the colors in the mid-ground area helped that area stand out a bit more. Finished with a vignette using the radial filter, lowering the exposure and the clarity just a bit to draw the eye to the center of the image. Lovely image. that must have been a special moment…
