This is similar to an image my brother posted a little bit ago, but since it was not a very productive trip photographically I guess I will have to piggyback onto his. The view here from the bridge is one of my favorites in the wintertime if you can catch a snowfall that coats the trees as was the case here. There was really no color in the scene so I decided to go with a B&W.
As always thanks for taking a moment to leave a thought.
Specific Feedback Requested
All C&C welcome.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Nikon D800, Nikon 35-70 @ 55mm, f18 @ 1/50 sec, ISO 100, cable release & tripod
Outstanding image, Ed. Composition, exposure, and processing all excellent. What I love most is how you’ve retained so much great texture in the snow. All the little mounds and swirls are fascinating to look at.
Hi Ed. Great winter scene here and very naturally and tastefully presented.
I like that you’ve excluded the sky and really kept the focus on the key elements of river, snow and trees.
I see you’ve gone to f/18 - presumably to get the shutter speed down. For my personal taste I’d prefer a slightly longer shutter speed to take the edge of the water slightly and give it a little more of a sense of motion. I assume you didn’t have an ND filter handy based on the aperture so perhaps this wasn’t an option.
I’m guessing you didn’t use a polarizer which can also be handy to give you a slightly longer shutter speed and take out some glare from the water.
In terms of processing, I like it. Very tasteful and the black and white works well. I actually couldn’t tell if these were just the colours on the day given the natural contrast in the scene.
Perhaps one suggestion would be to possibly consider subtly adding a little luminosity/ contrast locally and selectively to some of the key ‘rock islands’ and the central background tree at the end of the river to help draw the eye through. A very subtle vignette may achieve a similar effect.
And I wonder if you could get a little more out of those those whites by setting a white point on a curves layer in photoshop (or similar on the tone curve in lightroom).
I wouldn’t label this as a disappointing trip, there’s nothing wrong with these conditions. There’s just something about trees covered with fresh snow that creates a sense of purity and vitality in an image. But to me the strength of this image is the interesting patterns of the boulders in the river, you have a pleasing arrangement of the boulders and the river, so overall this is very well done Ed. And I like how your leading line of the river ends at something interesting, the big dark tree at the back.
I’m going to get super subjective and nit-picky with a suggestion, that’s likely a non-issue for most viewers. I think the bent tree branch in the LRC has more visual weight than it deserves, it just sticks out for me. I think you need the snow covered rock in the LRC for framing and filling negative space. But I might clone away that bent branch, super nitpicky, I know.
The shapes and lines here are more than enough to capture interest. My eyes were drawn to the back and that last group of conifers. It reminds me of a favorite grab shot I got 10+ years ago of the Piscataquog river in NH in similar conditions. The luminous quality of the snow is so pleasing and sets off the texture in the shaded areas quite well. Success not disappointment.
Juicy B&W capture, Ed. Lovely contrast and tones, and spot on processing. I’m not familiar with the spot, but if it were possible, I might try just a couple of feet more to the right so the view downstream might be expanded a little. Great catch, though.
