Blair christmas

Quite nice , the sky takes the chill out of the winter scene of ice , not your best photo that Ive seen , but still a pretty good one for PN and the bank .

great sky!

Maybe I should explain why I have a ambiguous response and had the night to think about. Its nice enough but not fabulous and here are my feelings why.

I am not sure if the aim of the image was to evoke a feeling of calm and timelessness. A wonderful stillness of an image can sometimes grab the viewer and hold them in some trance like state. I find the restlessness of the trees on the right and left detracts from this kind of effect.

Why am I not taken up with the mood of the image? It is relatively dully lit with a pretty pink sky. It does not grab my soul. There is no play of light on the elements within the image which I find the most important part of landscape photography. I find the space in the centre rather vacuous due to its lack of texture and play of light. The composition takes me and dumps me there. My eyes are stuck behind the railings with no where else to explore. The large white foreground, lake and sky seem to lack a certain cohesion and are not as harmonious as they could be. The composition has too much of an awkward feel to make it a really wow landscape photograph for my tastes.

 

Jane

 

 

The photo is what it is because of the railing. It's a hard line that contrasts with the softness of the rest of the image.

From a compositional point of view: it works. The railing leads the eye to the curving river

or inlet, which leads into the photo bringing me to the horizon at the vertical golden third.

The eyes then travel naturally up the tree line and are brought back into the picture by the

sweep of the diagonal clouds, leading to the other side, (my left) where the large tree

brings me down, sweeping around the curve made by the snow meeting the water, and

back to the railing. It is a wonderful circular composition.

 

"To each their own." Personally, I love a painterly look in a photo as I do when I see it in

nature. The darks add a bit of punch, but not so much so that the serenity is spoiled. As

someone else said: "I would like too hang it on a wall in my home.

Excellent composition and color.. Great image..

vance...

The softness of tone and colors makes the difference in this picture even if there is not a clear subject , a point where eyes are adressed.

absolutely stunning photo, i am a novice in photography but i just love the vastness of the photo complemented by the beutiful colours. there seems to be no central point of the shot but to me that is what makes it good.

It is intriguing. I'm wondering why more of the color in the sky isn't reflected in the water and snow.

Particularly in the farthest back section of water. You say it isn't manipulated, but it appears to me to be.

 

It would be nicer if there was no structure (human element) in foreground.

Hi Perry

 

First let me assure you it isn't manipulated, I don't do that never have and I can't really imagine I ever will, it is just something I don't happen to believe in. Besides if I was interested in that sort of thing it would probably be a lot easier with a digital camera, the fact that I don't use one preferring instead to shoot with my steam powered Pentax 67II should speak volumes for my "old fashioned" approach to photography.

 

As for the "water" well actually it is the same consistency as a slush puppy the water is almost, but not quite solid it actually has the consistency of porridge. The reeds are picking up some of the colour of the overhead sky probably because they are straw coloured anyway albeit heavy with new snow. As for the foreground well there is a canopy of rhodedendron above my head and the woodland behind me is quite dense so the reflected light from the sky has been well and truly blocked out leaving a distinctly bluish cast.

 

As for the rest well it is only those middle distance clouds that are picking up the low sunlight the sky overhead is mainly blue or grey an ND grad has been used to control its brightness but nothing else. All I do is scan the original and then match the results to the original transparency as displayed on my colour balanced lightbox. I can offer no further explanation other than to say I have at least five more shots taken at around the same time exhibiting similar hues.

Very good balance between soft white-grey in the near and orange-blue-magenta in the far sky. An extraordinary walk from close to black & white in the down part and full soft colour in the background. The good definition in the natura elements (wood, trees, water or ice or whatever it is) helps the global relaxing effect. A very good work, Ian.

Nice shot!

i love the lightning!