Mystix (Larger view available)

I have tried on several occasions to get a shot of the boathouse on

this particular part of Derwent Water, but they never really looked

right. This time I stood back from the water slightly and composed

the shot with the shadows of the sticks fully included. Then cropped

the image when processing. Your thoughts and comments are

always appreciated. Thank You.

I like the background images fine,they create a kind of melancholy feeling in this viewer with the foggy mist & feeling of remoteness with the boat house, but also a great feeling of quietness which is becoming harder all the time to enjoy in our modern world.I must admit I find the poles distracting,I can not see how they add to your image,some appear as a black lines drawn on the image.Is this the same boat house that appeared in a previous image, can just make out the home to the right of the boathouse.Sorry I had to add some negativity. As Alwys , Best Wishes -Ross

Just viewed your image in the large mode & it is a completely different image. The poles shown frame the boathouse perfectly.Please scratch my sorry feelings Just goes to prove,"Never jump to conclusions".A much better image-Ross

Hi Alf,

Well composed and great use of the Nikkor lens at F/5.6.

For myself, real scenes have no distractions. They are as they exist and that is the value that I derive from your work.

Nice work my friend,

Mike

Excellent composition with the well balanced scene. The sharp details with the fog behind add more beauty.  I think the larger one would give more pleasure to the eye.  Best Regards,

Very nicely composed work with beautiful lighting, Alf!

 

Those pilings appear to be protecting the house & dock. great imagery. I can see myself sliding back into the dock after an evening out on the water. Terrific.

The nice tones , great layers & atmosphere, lovely reflection exudes elegant & sense of tranquility...Alf, very artistic job!    Best regards

Alf,

  Beautiful scene with wonderful composition & reflection.  Take care, Patsy

Softness and subtleties with bits of interest, pops of red in an insanely nice time of day.  The gap in the poles is like the hole in a fence -- temptation -- a place to enter a "forbidden zone" of privacy and comfort, possible danger where one could get into mischief.  Also,  together the poles and their reflections join the reflection of the tall tree and the tree itself in a circular fashion, softening the scene, producing watery yard stirred so quietly, so beautiful.  Marjolein noticed a circular pattern in one of your latest postings, which helped me see it here. I love the dualities, optical illusions, and enticement.  Gap toothed poles -- I keep thinking of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, stateliness,  mischievous and soul -- you are photographing yourself!  Engaging

Beautiful image - these poles really made a picture.

All the best!!!

Alf.....I here what you are saying about having to go back to the same place and not being able to capture what you see or feel. I don't recall seeing any of your other images with these sticks, but I think you've accomplished your goal here. Best regards, Bob.

You certainly got it right, managed to create harmony. Regards, Tibi

The large view often proves to look more pleasant because the compressed view is not optimised and therefore looks quite blaand by comparison. I think in this case also, the larger view lets you step that bit closer to the scene, so I can understand your initial reactions, but very pleased you came back to take a second look : - )

This is not the same boat house, this one is much larger and situated on a different lake.

It is the poles that I have had problems with in the past, trying to find a way of showing them that will be in harmony with the background.

Many Thanks for your thoughts and invaluabe feedback Ross.

 

Best Regards

 

Alf

 

MIKE

 

Many Thanks for your thoughts and kind words, much appreciated!

From the initial information you so kindly provided, I am constantly challenging the camera and the lenses, by changing the settings and reviewing the results. I think by doing this I will get to know their properties far better than just reading about them.

Best Regards

 

Alf

 

WANGHAN

 

Thank you for your thoughts and positive feedback. 

I am particualrly pleased you view the image as "well baloanced" as this was somethng I was aiming for.

 

Best Regards

 

Alf

 

RUUD

 

Many Thanks for your posiitve feedback. There is no doubt the gentle dawn light had a great influence of the outcome.

 

Best Regards

 

Alf

 

MIKE

 

Sincere Thansk for your thoughts and invauable feedback. Its great to get an insight into the way people see things, and the pilings protecting the house was something I hadn't previously thought of.

 

Best Regards

 

Alf

 

RICHARD

 

Thank you so much!  This part of the lake is often quite busy with either boating or birds, it was unusual to get it free of any other activities, but then it was cold and early morning so I guess I got lucky : - )

Best Regards

 

Alf

 

PATSY

 

Many Thanks for your interest and positive feedback.  You would never dream that the busy little town of Keswick centre lay less than a mile away to my right.

 

Best Regards

 

Alf

 

DONNA

The best time of day on any day is dawn and just before and just after.

In Alfs fantasy world he would sleep for the other 22 hours and awake at a favoured location chosen from thousands worldwide, with camera at the ready. I might wake at dusk also if the conditions looked favourable, and maybe once in between to consume beer and food : - )

I quite like your "gap in the fence" analogy, I can't recall just how many of those places I have entered without invitation, mostly to commit the heinous crime of stealing apples!

Gulp! Yes I am photographing myself!

Your words take me from one vision to another seamlessly, you should have definately been a poet.

Thank you so much!

 

Alf

 

NEBOJSA

 

Many Thanks for your interest and positive feedback, much appreciated!

 

Best Regards

 

Alf

 

BOB

 

I don't think I have ever posted any of my previous attempts, in fact I'm fairly certain I deleted them fairly soon after uploading.  But it isn't the first time I've returned to a place knowing that theres a shot to be had, but not quite getting it first or second time.  On one location I think I travelled 200 miles on four seperate ocassions before I got the shot I wanted.  But in that particular case it was more about the conditions then the composition.

Glad you think I got this one right Bob : - )

 

Sincere Thanks & Best Regards

 

Alf

 

TIBI

 

I think the misty background to the right helped quite a lot. On previous ocassions the poles seem to compete with what could be seen between them.

Many Thanks for your vote of confidence!

 

Best Regards

 

Alf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very nice! 

A lot has been said, I agree with most so I'll just add... Perfect.  The lighting, the atmosphere and the solemn serenity is tangible.  It puts me "there" with you, I can't offer a better compliment... Mike 

top-class. The eye gets drawn in deeper and deeper inexorably!

Many Thanks for your interest and kind words.

 

Best Regards

 

Alf

 

MIKE (MLM)

 

From your response I think its "Mission Accomplished"  And I couldn't wish for a better compliment!

Sincere Thanks  & Best Regards

 

Alf

 

RANGA

 

Many Thanks for your thoughts and positive feedback, much appreciated.

On the very large files that this camera produces the detail is quite surprising. The original shows other little houses barely visible in the misty depths.

Best Regards

 

Alf

 

Oh I love this scene. This type of scenery will be a future shooting location for me :)

You have done a great job capturing a nice mood here.

Many Thanks for your interest and positive feedback.

I have photographed quite a few scenes on this lake, but a good photo from this particular area of the lake has always previously proved to be elusive, I htink the misty backdrop made the difference of this occasion.

Best Regards

 

Alf

My, Donna expressed herself so beautifully and I got 'taken into' her translation. Lovely words that tell such a beautiful story about this composition. Bravo Donna, I can't think of anything that could make this image sound better than you have described. Bravo Alv, for it is utterly 'Poetic' in it's entirety.

 

Lovely work Alf

Most sincere regards, Gail

A cold feel is effusing from the whole scene/time/weather! This is the power of an effective shot to convey the feel exactly being there and that time. The blue hue is coordinant with the misty hour and calm silent situation. A few nits in there, firstly wish the lower tips of that taller sticks not being cropped and included in this special scene, and secondly, was it possible ( or may you did it already ) shooting a vertical format including sticks and their reflection, as well as boathouse in one shot exaggerating their tallness and also resulting a more surrealistic landscape. This final result is also very effective and unique. Bravo.

Hamid.

Thank you so much for your interest and kind words, very much appreciated.

I too just bask in those words of Donna. She seem to express herself so freely and effortlesly, and with an eloquence born of affinity with nature.  Her artistic talent is muti faceted and her words reflects my images with a deeper significance. I'm so glad you noticed too Gail.

Oh and you don't do too badly yourself : - )

 

Warm Regards

 

Alf

 

HAMID

 

Sincere Thanks for your interest and well thought out feedback, very much appreciated!

If I had been critiqueing this image I would have raised exactly the same points that you have.

The original image was composed with the sticks reflections complete in thier entirety and with enough space to include them if I had wanted to. However with the image in that format, the resulting space to the left (which would be below my signature) looked very dead and empty, so with some reluctance (as I too dislike cropping reflections)  I cropped the image as you now see it.

As for a portrait orientated image, no I didn't take one.  Now this is unusual for me, as I usually explore both portrait and landscape possibilities, but on this occassion the image you see was the first shot of the day  (and only number 14 on the new camera, the rest being taken at home to test set up and focus etc), and I had taken it before I reached my intended destination. A sort of quick stop and shoot kind of thing, so I didn't spend as much time there as perhaps I should have.

Good points well mage Hamid, always good to hear from you!

 

Best Regards

 

Alf

 

 

Another magnificent image Alf. Everyone has already espoused the accolades that I would have made so congratulations are in order. I am glad that you explained your rationale for not including all of the poles reflections since that was my only nit on a perfect image.

 

I had some thoughts about reducing the contrast just a tad but after studying it a bit more, IMHO there is no need for any further post processing which I know you keep to a minimum.

 

All the very best and keep up the excellent work.

Sincere Thanks for your interest and invaluable review, very much appreciated.

The crop was something of a dillema, as was the composition in the first place. But I reasoned that if I included the entire reflections of the poles in the frame, then I could at least have a choice later wether to crop or not.

One other thing to bear in mind about the D800, is that in the event you do decide to crop images, the file size you are left with invariabley means you still retain file sizes that can produce very large prints.

You might have a point in your initial thoughts about the contrast, as I did increase the contrast, albeit selectively, to try and give the boathouse a bit more definition.

Cheers Tony!

 

Alf