I tend to process BW with higher contrast than this has, but thought the higher key added to the winter mood. Thoughts?
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Does the composition work for you? Suggestions?
Any pertinent technical details:
I took this almost two years ago, and one of the reasons I’ve sat on it awhile was being grumpy that I took it at a lower resolution in jpg. I was trying to keep up with friends as we snowshoed out from backpacking, and I didn’t slow down and pay attention as much as I should have.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100, handheld at 35.3mm (95.0 mm equivalent)
1/640 sec at f/7.1 and ISO 125
I cloned out a small bit of stream on the left that drew the eye awkwardly to the edge of the frame.
This is nice and simple and effective. I think the high key look works well. I might add a little contrast to the snow to make the snow patterns stand out more, as I think they add interest to the foreground and sides.
John, I think you made a great choice in your processing given the falling snow and winter conditions. The difficulty with these scenes is being able to include lots of big, blank white space with little to no detail. Which is why the stream cutting through the field of snow is so critical to this scene. For me, I might be inclined to crop some off the bottom to reduce that 50/50 comp a little. The only other suggestion would be to selectively bring up the contrast of the stream/bank. Yeah, it’s a low contrast scene because of the snowy conditions, but also, the stream is closer to the camera relative to the forest and be more clear with more contrast. But of course this is a personal choice. This is wonderful as presented; small tweaks, personal choices and subjective of course.
This is good work. Bummer about the jpeg situation. I like the processing here. The amount of foreground feels off to me but that is a personal choice.
Looks good John. thanks for taking the time to try out the suggestions. I really like the upped contrast in the stream; the added texture to the snow at the bottom helps as well.
John, this is a neat shot, with the isolated zig-zag of stream and the trees disappearing in the heavy snow. It creates a fine sense of being there in the falling snow. As I compare the repost with the original, I like the extra contrast in the stream, but find the extra grey at the bottom with it’s tonal match to the trees distracting.
The repost looks like the ticket to me, John. Bumping up the whites that small bit looks much more natural. I love that BG with the forest and the falling snow; it has a wonderful textured look to it and the Z shaped stream is perfectly placed. This has me wishing for some snow. Bummer about only having a jpeg.
