A Prayer Answered

Taken during a truly miserable afternoon. Comments are invited.

Wow. Beautiful light, well seen.

Walter, powerful image! My only (small) critiscism is the small sliver of highlighted roof(?) on the right side. My eyes want to go right there for some reason. The ones on the left don't seem to do that, probably because the church, sky, and reflection on the left are so bright, comparitively speaking, that they don't stand out as much. Very nice capture!

Magical atmosphere,nice shot!

Walter this is a great shot.

I know this spot...Fabulous Shot!

Ross, Kim, Guido, Tom, and Jay...thank you all for the visit! And Kim, the little roof on the right had the same effect on me. I considered removing it but decided to leave it untouched. Regards.

Well this certainly stands out from the crowd, what a wonderful scene, fabulous composition, great colours, absolute magic.

 

The only nit pick is that I would take out the light on the roof to the right of the church, its distracting.

 

Superb shot Walter.

 

Alethea

And the heavens part with a rare gift from the sun god. A beautiful, and I suspect brief, moment. --jim

Right time, right place and certainly the right photographer. A beautiful shot Walter.

magic moment!

I like this kind of "austrian" atmosphere. I've tried to darken the roofs (except the church) : it gives a very good dimension to the trees...

Something's wrong.. Why does the reflecting cloud look so different from the one above the church?? It seems this is a composite with the dramatic sky pasted in.... or am I wrong? Also a lot of work on the trees on the left.

Well Ron...it may be wrong for you but not for me. This was made from a single exposure. As noted in the Tech Details, I adjusted it in Photoshop to salvage what I could from a lousy exposure. A lot of work did indeed go into it; it would have been far, far easier for me to make it from a composite. What I did to it was identical to what I would have done with my enlarger, a lot of masking, and a whole lot of time. I have no problem with composite images, but this is not one. I also don't have a problem with digital manipulations. In the digital realm of the Internet, film scanners, and digicams, ALL photographs are manipulated; even the ones that you are posting. The firmware in your camera and scanner is manipulating your image whether you like it or not. That is one reason why I no longer check the unmanipulated box on any of my work.

 

If this were a composite, rest assured I would have noted it as such. I am posting the original scan so that you may see what I actually did. The brightest part of the sky is not reflecting in the lake because of my camera angle. That is obvious. The small cumulus cloud above the steeple is really the only one that is casting a definite reflection. The small brightly colored trees on the left actually required no work at all. After selecting just the lower third of the photograph, the Auto Level in Photoshop rendered them as you see in the final product.

 

In as much as this photograph disobeys the laws of physical science, I will agree. It is not possible for the natural reflection to outshine its originating source. However, I am not concerned with the depiction of physical reality here but, rather, the consolidation of an impression. It is a view of my own instant in time that you are witnessing. Regards.

Heavenly Walter!!!

Hi Walter. I really do like the mood & composition of this shot, but IMO you pushed the reflection a little too far. I don't feel you have to obey the laws of physics, but the overall tonalities and color would be more in harmony if the refelction was a tad darker. I've enclosed a variation.

Nice PS work, Walter. I can appreciate the amount of work that went into "restoring" the original. The reflection on the roof on the right is a bit bothersome to me too, but otherwise the final product is quite lovely to look at!

A pure pleasure to look at. Regards, Uwe.

It doesn´t matter the roof... The picture is nice and the Creator of Heaven and Earth is praised!

God bless you!

Great image. excellent the light and the dark sky!!!Congrats!!!!

Great work, Walter!

whoa! that's hale farm?! not at all consistent with the icky memories i have of the place. nice shot!

Stunning image... beautiful and very well done! Regards!

Another nice capture with a super mood here. Your photoshop skills are excellent and just the right amount used here in my opinion. I would only suggest cloning out the roof reflection...to me it is a mild distraction (can't really tell what it is) in this otherwise relaxing scene. Think I am reday for some zzzzzz after this. Aloha~

Excellent transformation/save from the original. Skillfully done !