Winter sunrise abstract

I’ve been trying to work on small scenes / intimate landscapes / abstracts more and here is one that I’ve post processed last week. It was taken in northern Norway while the whole surrounding was glowing with pink mountain peaks (I succumbed to my wide angle addiction first with those peaks, then worked on this :wink: ). I liked how the wind had played with the snow here and created these fascinating shapes and textures.

What technical feedback would you like if any?

I am not always comfortable with these more abstract shots yet and any feedback is welcome. Does the composition work, is this interesting enough, contrasts okay (I kept it soft)? Anything else?

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Anything is welcome

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
D810 + Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 with f/14 - 1/8 s - ISO 64 - 24 mm. Whitebalance and contrast adjustments in PS, some cloning (small spots (sandgrains?) in the snow.



Edit:
Real subtle lift of shadows of the darker curved line that enters the lighter section just left of the center and softening of the of that same part, and the edge from center to ulc. The edges were also masked out of the final sharpening. Is the difference visible? I think the edges blend in better with the others now?

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With edits:

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Great colors, lines and wonderfully abstract. Hard to tell what I am looking at without your description but I sure do like it.

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That’s certainly unique. I love the range of tones.

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I really like this, especially that you kept it soft. Although there is nothing to give me a sense of scale, that is a plus because it is an abstract. Not so sure I would have recognized it as snow without your information. Probably foam or soft ice cream or any number of things. A wonderful abstract.

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I like it Ron. I enjoy the soft waving curved lines along with soft subtle colors. The only think that I might address is that just left of center where the darker curved line comes into the lighter section. It seems too abrupt and sticks out, like it is floating above the scene. That curved section below that just right of center is great . If you could soften/blend that edge a little, I think it would elevate it to a fantastic abstract in my opinion.

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Ron,
This is a really sweet abstract with all of the curves, waves and shadows! My only critique is the area @Greg_Stokesbury mentioned. The contour line extending from the center toward the ULC is a bit sharp and less smooth (it grabbed my eye). I think a little blending of that edge would be an improvement and well worth it for this fine image!

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@Harley_Goldman @Bill_Pelzmann @Jim_Gavin @Greg_Stokesbury @Alan_Kreyger Thanks for the input and nice words! Glad to read that it works as an abstract, and gives room for creative interpretations. Funny to hear comparissons with soft ice cream (I would love this as dessert :wink: ) when I clearly remember the scene myself of course. There is indeed nothing to show scale, which is one of the fun aspects of these type of abstracts. There was a lot of snow and this was probably more than 1 meter in height (taken at 24 mm from under 1 meter in front of it) and very windswept. The wind had carved deep tunnel-like lines throught the snow, in several directions, it must have been quite the storm :slight_smile:
I will definitely rework that edge, a few were sharper than most others in the shot indeed. Maybe I’ll up the brightness slightly in the shadows of that spike just of center to the left too and see how that looks.

Really beautiful abstract, I would have guessed sand dunes rather than snow. I love the pastel colors that are in this image. That’s one of the great things about snow, it can turn some amazing colors depending upon whats in the sky. The other remarkable thing is how “sculpted” this looks, the wind must be fierce at this location. I hope you took a lot of shots of this from different angles, this drift is a potential goldmine for alternate images.

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Effortlessly beautiful. Love this sort of subtle understated yet mysterious landscape. Gorgeous well done.

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Ron,
This is a gorgeous abstract. The lack of scale sets the stage for this image and I love the soft glow of light along with the pastels and wind swept lines in the scene. Great work.

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@Ron_Jansen I’m s sucker for landscape abstracts, but in my opinion they either work or the fail completely. There’s very little in between it seems, at least that how I feel. I’m totally entranced and entertained in trying to interpret the subject and scale. It’s like a puzzle when the abstract is done right.

This photo stopped me and made me think, while enjoying the softness and beauty of it at the same time. All I would address would be to soften the line upper left. It looks like torn paper, which wouldn’t be at all bad if it lent itself to compliment the rest of the image, which is soft in this case.

Beautiful work man!! :slight_smile:

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Ron, I knew this windswept snow, but that’s all I could figure out. I can’t get to what this scene must have looked like in 3 dimensions, but that keeps me looking at it. The textures and colors are beautiful.

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Wow, this is one, unique and intriguing abstract, Ron. I took awhile to orient and figure out what I was looking at. Wonderful image.

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Thank you all, great seeing that this is pleasing to puzzle about. :slight_smile:

@Ed_McGuirk Oh, sandunes that makes sense! I really like the colors appearing in snow in the blue hour through the early morning/evening. This is very close to open sea, and I can imagine it can be very windy there. I did not take too many shots, because the pink light was everywhere and there was a lot of work to be done :sweat_smile:
@Ian_Cameron I’ve become more fond of trying to find these lately. It’s interesting to look for these, as well as the grand landscapes!
@Ed_Lowe Colors and shapes is what caught my eye with this patch of snow.
@Gary_Randall They truly can be a puzzle, where you think about drones or other things sometimes. :slight_smile: I agree, and can see on my hard drive, that many don’t seem to work! I’ve played with some edges after the comments about them, very good input.
@Craig_Moreau The wind really played around here and created snow hills well above 1.5 meters high. It was fantastic to ‘walk’ around here!
@Dave_Dillemuth Good to hear! :slight_smile:

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Ron, this works wonderfully. The subtle colors and wonderful shapes make this very compelling. I prefer the first post because I find the extra contrast in the main ridge holding my eyes longer. In abstracts, it’s shape, color, brightness and contrast that control how the viewer’s eyes move around the frame.

I don’t have anything unique to add, but definitely echo the above comments. This is really disorienting, and I like that. Quite an image to get lost in!

Ron, I love this. I also thought it was sand dunes at first. It feels like I am looking at a big structure even though it was actually very intimate. I love the repost. The lifting of the shadow at that peak seems to give a 3D feel to the image!

Hi @Ron_Jansen, really nice intimate shot. I love the shapes and the contrast. Very inspiring image. Thanks for sharing.

I love this… Wish it were mine…

But this one section feels weird… maybe the masking?

@Mark_Seaver @John_Williams @Adhika_Lie @masdamb @Drew_Armstrong thanks for your comments, thoughts and inputs! Much appreciated! I guess I need to finalize this one now! :wink: