I loved how the forest was reflected in the river. I kept moving around to get the right angle and light coming through the canopy.
Anything
Is this a composite: No
Rotated upside down to make the trees look right side up.
Nikon D3400
70mm
1/200
f/4.5
ISO 400
Cropped to 8 x 11
This is a really nice image. For sure you find the correct position, the composition is very good. I also like a lot the color scheme. Then you always have the decision how much to include above the water surface. I myself always find that difficult, but I think you have made a good choice. A minor comment, eventually the shoreline could be horizontal.
Thank you, @Ola_Jovall for liking my photo. I’m not sure I understand what you mean. But to clarify on my end this whole photo is a reflection in the water, nothing is above the surface or the real forest. 
Yes, I see that now. My mistake 
Looks like a watercolor painting to me Vanessa. I find the top fifth of the scene distracting because it feels like the shoreline but it’s not and its hard to figure out so I did a scroll crop and like the composition better with the top removed. The right side of the image is a bit bright and pulls the eye in the tree trunks but overall I like the watercolor effect that this image portrays. I can see other compositions as well if you crop heavily. Fun to explore this one. Lots of laces to go when you zoom in.
Thanks for your feedback @David_Haynes I adjusted the exposure a little on the image I posted, maybe too much but this is the original image the actual way it looked…as I mentioned, I turned the image I posted upside down, but maybe it looks better the way I saw it, someone said I should do it upside down so the trees looked like they weren’t just a reflection? What are your thoughts?..
I like the idea behind this but the lighting is really against you. The image is very contrasts and thus chaotic (busy). Wait for better light is my suggestion.
I like the pure abstract image here. Shore line cropped out makes this image for me.
Thanks, @Mario_Cornacchione glad you like it! I didn’t crop it, it’s the same image just right side up! I took the picture of only the reflection.
Forest reflections in water are always so fun. I love the colors here, and the textures of the ripples. I tend to agree with Igor, though, that it’s a bit chaotic, because of two things - the finely-textured ripples and the relatively high contrast. The fine ripples distort the trees just enough to make them almost abstract. Combine that with the large contrast between the darks and the lights, it adds up to a really busy image.
Because it’s almost an abstract, why not go all the way to abstract? Because I love these kinds of reflections so much, I had a go at it. Using your original file (posted in reply to David H., which wasn’t as contrast-y), I evened out the exposure by dodging/burning, then lightened the entire frame. Then, I cropped it to a square to eliminate the largest tree which didn’t add to the geometry of the frame. That dark stripe felt like it should be a vertical element, so I rotated it too. This is probably not what you had in mind, but it was fun to do. Made me think that I should revisit some of my reflections shots to see what going full abstract would do.
Hi @Bonnie_Lampley ! I really like how you made the colors brighter. That’s kind of what I was going for in my original post, of course not with your whole abstract idea. But it is neat. Thanks for looking and sharing your ideas!
Thanks @Igor_Doncov for your feedback, I’ll probably not get to go back there, but what would better light be? When you’re in a forest wouldn’t you want it to be a lot of sun to work with for trying to get through the trees? Or do you mean like dawn or dusk? Which for camera can tend to be too dark…
Better light would be light with less contrast. Flat light works well in a forest setting. I also don’t think reflections of contrasty subjects work well. Mario likes to shoot high contrast subjects but they’re very simple compositions where the light and dark are carefully arranged. Ed likes to use good light and even augments it with fog. His compositions are more complex. I just saw Bonnies rework. By raising the shadows she’s overcoming the contrast in the image.
Dappled light can look good in a forest. It’s not easy to pull off. You need a high cloud layer or even fog that’s burning off. The Impressionists loved dappled light but it’s easier to pull off with a brush than a camera.
Vanessa, this is an interesting abstract reflection. The shutter speed combined with the water movement has created a painterly look. There is some very nice texture in the water as a result. I think your placement of the trees has also resulted in a balanced composition. I like the composition as originally presented, rather than flipped.
I agree with @Igor_Doncov that the high contrast light (especially the darks) is a bit harsh. The painterly look of this image might benefit from a lighter more delicate feeling. As Igor said you could wait for softer light (overcast). Or you could reduce contrast in processing. But if you reduce contrast in post, then you should bump saturation a bit, since lowering contrast reduces color saturation.
Here is one possible rework with reduced contrast, including a screenshot of my ACR/LR tweaks. I may have reduced contrast in the highlights a bit too much but you get the idea.
Screenshot of ACR adjustments
I do a lot of woodland photography, and I think the high contrast light of sunny days produces too many deep shadows and highlights, which can create a harsh look. I prefer to shoot woodlands on overcast days, where the soft light allows you to showcase the details, textures and colors that otherwise can get overwhelmed on sunny days. If I shoot woodlands on a sunny day, I prefer to use backlight, by shooting directly into the sun, and get the nice colors of translucent leaves that are backlit. And as @Igor_Doncov mentioned, I like to shoot forests on foggy days. Not only is the light softer, but the fog can also hide some of the forest chaos, and simplify the scene/composition.
With that said, to me this image is technically a reflection rather than a forest scene. My advice above applies to shooting forest interiors on sunny days, that’s really where harsh light can create problems. With reflections you can successfully pull off sunny day images, but in your processing you need to be careful handling contrast, which is the advice you have gotten from a number of the people commenting here.
Thank you for your interest and feedback @Ed_McGuirk. I was really hoping you would see this and say something! I really like what you did with it in processing! I think with these kind of images, where it looks impressionistic to me, I’m not really sure how or what to do in post processing. Thanks for showing me your screenshot too, so I can actually go in and try it on my device! I have a question about contrast… It’s not always wrong for there to be strong contrast is it? Or is the general rule to make things more soft and even looking? I’ve been doing a lot more slower shutter speeds with flower landscapes lately and have noticed that the end result looks softer and blends more. Maybe should I have gone slower with this to get closer to what you did in post processing?
It’s hard to make generalizations, it depends on subject matter, the light in the scene, and whether you are talking ICM vs. “Straight” images. My comments above essentially pertain to “straight” images of forest interiors. ICM images create blur which softens the image by creating blur. This also inherently reduces contrast. Your reflection image here does not look like an ICM, so assuming no camera movement, the duration of the shutter speed would not change contrast. Although it would affect how the ripples in the water look (subject movement). Shutter speed does not drive the contrast in a “straight” image, the light present in the scene does. You then can attempt to modify the contrast in the scene via processing.
There are times when strong contrast in a forest scene can work well.
Backlight with translucent leaves
Directional light beams in a forest
Frontlight or sidelight where you can use the contrast of shadows and highlights to emphasize key shapes. In this case the deep shadows serve a useful purpose, instead of creating a distraction.
But in woodland interiors, I usually prefer soft overcast light and fog. This lets me better emphasize shapes, textures and colors, that would get overwhelmed on sunny day. The shadows would block up, and the light would look harsh. I would not shoot this scene on a sunny day, unless I tried to use back light.
@Ed_McGuirk thank you, so much, for explaining and demonstrating! Yeah, I was trying for the water to have a ripple effect. I had tried different shutter speeds and I liked where I got it the best, too slow for this image and you couldn’t really see the reflection as well. I really love your sunbeams! I’ve been trying to do something like that with the few opportunities I have. It’s not easy!
