Little Pigeon Creek at Lake Michigan

Curious, David - how close to the original colors is this? Did you manipulate the colors much at all? The reds/pinks in the mud (mud?) are a bit, well, RED/PINK. But it seems to be what you have in the sky and clouds, too, and seems to be very directional, so I wonder if that's just all of the gorgeous sky colors shining on the mud (mud???) Lovely anyway! :-)

Thanks Lou Ann! I just re-calibrated everything. This is straight off from the scanner and is a close match to the slide. I only used levels to adjust contrast. The scene was lower in contrast than the film could record. By that, I mean all the values were stuck in the middle of the histogram after scanning. I spread them out just a bit.

 

The sun was a red/magenta fireball 90 degrees to the right and there was wonderful color on the sand shelf for about 2 minutes. You have to be ready and waiting for that :o)

David, the colours are beautiful. The composition is straightforward but the location is magnificient. I like the waves in the foreground and the light. The only thing that distracts me a little is this pole on the left. I would prefer it too without these trees behind it (their darkness does not match the colour palette of the rest of this image) but the right side of the photo balances them well - especially this cloud in the top right corner.

Thanks for your comment Michal. I didn't try to get creative on this one--just trying to show what it's like to be in Michigan on a fantastic night in September.

 

The pole is the mast of a sailboat. It will likely sit there for another month until the snow arrives. This is not an "untouched by man" location. Very few of my photos from the lakeshore are truly without signs of people. I deal with it by shooting mostly this time of year. It would be fun to work a black cat into the photo one of these days :o)

David, this shot screams Velvia to my simple eye. I like the idea and wonder whether a few steps to the right would have given you a continuous line of sand and water to better lead one into the image.

Hi Jeff. I don't know if want this photo to scream Velvia--certainly I want there to be dramatic color. I just noticed some extra magenta in the cloud highlights and pulled some out. It's a little closer now... Thanks for giving me your impressions on the color.

 

Stepping to the right was something I considered, but chose not to do. To see the glowing edge I would have had to stand almost on the right sand bar and shoot back toward the land.

 

It also would have 1. brought more man made objects into the picture 2. showed less of the lake 3. showed less of the sand bar on the right 4. eliminated the collapsing sand chunks as the main subject of the photo

 

I wish the left sand bar would have cooperated with a nice bend to the right, but it just wasn't so.

Thanks David. Colour is such a personal thing. I was referring to the magenta, particularly in the sand walls and clouds. My preference, in film, is for a more subtle palette such as Astia or E100G. I also find that the digital back is a far more muted palette.

 

As for moving to the right, thanks. It's always informative to hear why an image shows what it does and the choices that were made in arriving at it. I guess it also gives encouragement for further visits in the hope of a more rewarding alignment of the puzzle.

Thanks Jeff. I have to say your preferences for color have influenced mine over the last few years. Many others would probably say the same thing. So thank you for showing me the way!

 

Certainly you understand returning to a subject over and over, waiting for the perfect scene. One of these days it will happen!

Wonderful scenery, really awesome colors. Must be great as print hanging on the wall - even the large version here can only give a foretaste of the print, I guess.

I enter the scene from LL, follow the curve, but the mast is indeed a bit deflecting my exploration. Not a big issue, I understand your decision for an untouched version. What is a bit more distracting for me is the horizon, looks more slanted than it really is because of the curved shoreline. But I would rotate a wee bit clockwise (an idiosyncrasy)

Thanks Carsten! You're right, this one comes into its own in a large print. Every little cloud in center of the frame begins to stand out. At first I wasn't excited about the brightness in the cener, but it actually pulls the scene together. There seems to be an infinite number of clouds at the tip of the farthest sand bar.

 

The detail of the collapsing sand also benefits from a larger print. So far, I've only tried 16x20. Thanks for your suggestions, I will keep them in mind.