Sweetness-&-Light- (Click for larger view)

I really like this one Alf. Your title fits beautifully. There is a feeling of simple pleasures I get when I view it, yet of utter beauty as well. Nice work my friend.

 

Dear Alf, compliments for this artistic and wonderful landscape.

I've been waiting patiently for another masterpiece.  Lo and behold, this one materialized before my very eyes.  Thanks a stack for another image to place in my favorites.

 

I must begin by noting how amazing my viewing experience has been by moving from front to back, noting a progressive decrease in sharpness.  This really allows the fog to do its work, disguising the mountains in the background.  The fog also helps to divide the frame so that the other elements that are visible.  Your minimal processing was a gift, inasmuch as the gentle, almost desaturated colors present the landscape structures and vegetation in a way that for all intent and purpose is indescribable.

 

My best always,

michael

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for your kind words! 

 

Best Regards 

 

Alf 

 

GAIL 

 

Many Thanks for your interest and thoughtful feedback.

There are not many images of my own that I really like, but this one makes me very happy, if someone else had taken it I'd wish it had been me : - ) If that makes any sense.

Take Care 

 

Alf 

 

MAURIZIO 

 

Thank you for your visit and positive feedback, I really do appreciate it.

 

Best Regards 

 

Alf 

 

MICHAEL 

 

I am really pleased you liked this one and of course very honoured that you consider it to be a favourite! 

Your description is not only very gratifying to read, but it is also very useful. It relays an objective viewing experience that is simply impossible to simulate from viewing my own work, and I get to know what works and how it effects your perspective of the image.

The desaturated colours come from the density of the mist, as you may have noted, the closer the vegetation is to the camera, the more saturated the colour appears. 

 

Sincere Thanks & Best Regards 

 

Alf 

Such a wonderfully composed image Alf! The fallen tree in the foreground and the symmetry of the trees in the background as well as the reflections and mist all add to dreamlike quality. All you need is a ballerina dancing through the frame. Wonderful!

Thank you so much for your thoughts and positive feedback! I'm not sure I'd want to share the peace and solitude with a Ballerina : - ) 

Best Regards 

 

Alf 

To kick things off, I really like the feel of this image, and the composition is technically fine in terms of leading lines and "rule of thirds". I tend to think, however, that it would be a stronger image if it had been framed to cut out the tree in the water in the right foreground. It seems to me that this focal point is competing with the trees in the left background for attention.

Hi Alf - Have been contemplating lately that some unsharpness can improve an image,& here you go & prove my point..It is a lovely image,remembrance of some early painters adopted this style.Like the three trees, named.the big tree as male tree,behind him, the female tree, the small one ,the baby tree all casting a nice reflection in the pond.Finally, come to the end of my walk at the dead tree which balances the trees nicely. The fog, of course, makes the picture & Alf,the lucky photographer who came along & captured this lovely scene for the rest of us to enjoy .Best Regards_Ross

Has a simple Japanese screen quality. The shadowed bush on the right actually add a balance to the scene as well as an enhanced depth. A simple but pleasing image. A gentle landscape with a little sweep of wind to add some life to the serenity.

What a show! It looks like a watercolor from the 900! Congratulations it's really beautiful! Gianni

The minimal land elements appear like a chiaroscuro painting on pastel water.

Just wish the top sky was cropped out to emphasize the panoramic serenity offered by a less busy composition and the glass like appearance of the water.

Still overall a very pleasant image to look at.

The composition is good but the oriental minimalism is disturbed in my view by the dark sky elements that also reflect their dull tone on the central and lower right foreground as well as diminishing the homogeneity of the light-toned clouds. If he uses post exposure treatment such as Photoshop, the author could eliminate these effects and greatly improve the beauty of his composition.

Arthur, are you referring to flections that may have resulted from the fog layer or the mountains in the upper right corner? If so, I don't understand your concern. To me, with or without these elements, the image has a powerful, peaceful atmosphere.

Michael, the image gains in large part due to its simple but effective composition and its wistful light tones which I feel are downgraded visually by the dark areas (whatever their reality) in the areas I mentioned. I understand that they are not incompatible with your appreciation, but they are for me. Art for a viewer is quite subjective, n'est ce pas?

En effet, il est. Arthur, I confess to using Google Translate. I apologize if the translation provided does not state, "Indeed, it is."

With the hope that your answer to the following question might illumine my poorly educated photographic mind . . . Might you agree that the darker areas help to frame the lighter ones and, in a sense, direct a viewer to them?

Just a quick word of thanks to all who have contributed their and took time to comment on this image Thank You!
I will attempt to answer some of your thoughts.
SAM
From a composition point of view, I always try to use diagonally opposite features as focal points when they are available. This usually lends a sense depth as well as avoiding a one dimensional image. Although I can appreciate simplicity as you suggest.
GERRY
Balance is always a good point to remember when shooting landscapes, it makes a scene easier to digest particularly when there is a relatively tranquil subject to shoot as there was here.
GIANNI
I like your analysis of a "water colour" it kind of looked a bit like that to me also.
TIM
There is no sky as such, the area above the lake is just mist behind which are the mountain sides. You can actually make out the clumps of grass illuminated by the sunlight (just under my name) in the larger view. But I like the idea of a more panoramic view. I tried it on one of the other shots I took of this scene and it really does work quite well.
ARTHUR
I do use Photoshop for sharpening and straightening, and generally enhancing an image. However I do not replace sky's or place things within an image that was not already present. I think in this case you may have mistook the mist covered mountain side for dark clouds. However you can see the warm colours of the vegetation through the mist in the larger view. The darker area's that you refer to are simply the shadowed area of the mountain which stands to reason given the position of the sun which was at about 10 O'clock. Although having said all that I do appreciate that "Art for a viewer is quite subjective" I also wouldn't rule out cropping which may remove the darker areas
MICHAEL
I think you may have seen the image in the larger view and possibly then may appreciate exactly what it is you are viewing. Mist can be very misleading and unless it is viewed for what it is, just as mist, it could lend the image an unintentional dark side.

dear Alf, this image reminds us how to feel peace in this chaotic world. But true to nature, the ominous black shape in the water reminds us how fragile peace is and that even while at peace there will always be questions ;-} dp

I agree with Arthur that the photo's more zen-like quality would be brought out more without the distraction of the darker areas and with a more even mist. If I did like the photo as is, with the darker areas present, I'm not sure I'd want to over-interpret in order to stretch a metaphor into a rationalization for what the camera and photographer framed.

DONNA
An interesting analysis of this image, I guess peace is a fragile state of events at the best of times, there is always something lurking in the shadows : - )

FRED
I seem to remember the particular morning as being rather manic in reality. The mist was burning off at an alarming rate and I had to wade swiftly through boggy marshland in order to get to the desired point to take the shot.
Arthur has caused me to re-think the images darker area's (though I am loath to change anything to this degree in photoshop) but having reviewed the rest of the shots I took that morning and the ever diminishing mist, I think major re-editing would be the only way to achieve the desired effect

Alf, I'll let Arthur speak for himself, but when I make an observation about what might make or what might have made a photo work better for me, that's not necessarily something I think can now or could then have been accomplished. It's a visual thing. It's what I think would have made a better photo, not necessarily what I think now can or should be done. By no means was I suggesting now going into Photoshop to make the mist more consistent. My critiques are generally geared toward learning and looking differently in the future, not toward correcting what's already been done.

FRED
Thank you. Photography is a long learning curve for me and I suspect always will be. I welcome and take on board your comments and indeed all the comments that have preceded yours. My explanation of conditions were simply just that, an explanation. I think the kind of comments or constructive criticism that describe why a photograph is pleasing or not to the viewers eye can only lead to a better understanding of a wider audience and will inevitably help me to improve my photography by allowing me to look at a scene in a more informed way.. I think it has so far, and it is fair to say that this site has more open debate and interchange of ideas than any other photographic forum I have visited.

Alf, Congratulations on POW, a worthy choice. Too bad it didn't come with a bag full of money. :-) Peer recognition will have to do. I've commented once before on this gem and will stand by those comments. Best, Len.

As to the darker shade in the upper right, I believe something would be lost if if were removed. It seems natural and of the same hue or chromatic scaling as the rest of the work, and even adds a little tension which does not hurt the overall watercolor feeling. If I tried removing it, and I won't, even for test, I think I would swing back to the original. Sometimes the original as found is atmospherically correct.(Ma Nature knows best -so she likes to have us accept).

 

My compliments on the POTW, Alf. One that is both nourishing and worthy of discussion as to why we admire it. Thanks too for your thoughtful and informative comments.

The left and right side of the frame are at odds with each other and furthermore I do not see that the submerged bush and dark corner of sky add anything, therefore I've gone ahead and done the unthinkable.

I like End's crop a lot. It homes in more on the simplicity and, interestingly enough, the trees being centered, actually adds to that zenlike feel I originally responded to. Sometimes the things we're "told" to avoid, like centering, are just the ticket to a good photo. I think the cropped version draws me in and enhances the overall feel of the scene. It creates much more presence, IMO.