Cold Comfort (Click for larger View)

Compelling, mesmerizing, a picture that is more than a landscape; it draws you in with almost elemental power. Only later do you notice human habitation, diminished and nearly inconsequential amidst the towering majesty of the ancient rock face and its twin reflection in the mirrored waters of the lake.

After waking up at 4.00 am with a stiff neck and having had a whole 2 hours

sleep in my van (off and on), I wasn't in the best of moods........but the

sight of this this lake did cheer me up! .......Just by way of explanation, the

stones in the foreground are submerged in about 9" of water (such was the

clarity of the water) and the stalk like things half way across the lake

(Loch) are dead grasses. The colours are quite muted in the original, so I

thought I'd try a B & W Your thoughts and comments are always

welcome. Thank You!

Absolutely stunning with a great reflection.  Getting up early (even with a stiff neck and little sleep) paid off.  You have captured a great image of a beautiful part of the world. 

Phenomenal presence  and mesmerizing detail.  For me there are two strong elements here, the stark reality of the rugged mountain landscape and the surreal lake reflections that appear to open up the Earth itself, a gateway to another world.  The small human element of house and pasture cement scale.  Excellent...  Mike

Wonderful.  To me it portrays a very raw, cold  scene that should be accompanied by music from Dr.Zhivago.  Congratulations, Phil

To be honest, the thumbnail looked rather bland.  So it was all the more surprising when I viewed it large.  I just wasn't expecting such phenomenal detail and exquisite textures.....just breathtaking!  IMO this is some of your finest work to date, and that's saying a lot because all of your stuff is great! 

A beautiful result with very nice lighting and reflections, Alf!

 

Breathtaking Alf, well worth a crick in the neck. Do I detect a hint of Silver FX?

 

Not only that is a clear sharp image but I like how you composed this after saw all elements here from top to bottom,I like too hoe bottom rocks in water look,for sure must be seen large view to delight the eyes.

sincerely radu

agree with all of the above - very well done- excellent bw rendering.

Hi Alf,

  Sorry you had a rough night, but this is an amazing image with beautiful details & reflection.  Looks great in b&w.  Take care, Patsy

Alf, the detail and perfect reflection in this image create an amazing artistic result, yet to me it is the small aspects of the image such as the house in its setting at far right that clinch the image.  Wonderful job with an excellent conversion.   Larry

After all the gales and storms we've been having I'd forgotten what still water looked like !!! Great shot Alf. , I like the tones and reflection and the ominous looking sky . Bill

Well it sounds like you put in a tremendous effort to capture this one Alf! This beautiful, tranquil, scene was deserving of the effort I think. Gorgeous reflection in the calm waters, and superb detail in the peaks. Excellent work Alf!

All the best,
Neil

Many Thanks for your thoughts and most encouraging words! 

 

The image appeared at first a bit abstract when viewing the RAW file, the patterns being more dominant than the detail, so I converted it to B & W and it seems to have worked.  

You identified my favourite part of the shot, the tiny house, a glimpse of human occupation amongst this wild place. 

 

Best Regards 

 

Alf 

 

BILL

 

It was quite bizarre, I had first visited a lake just a few miles away and the wind was howling and I couldn't get a decent reflection, so I was both surprised and delighted when I found this one.

 

Sincere Thanks & Best Regards 

 

Alf 

 

MIKE 

 

It is wild untamed landscape that can be harsh and cruel to it's occupants, but even on the most grey of days I've never seen it look anything other than beautiful. 

Many Thanks for your most descriptive words, very much appreciated! 

 

Best Regards 

 

Alf 

 

PHIL

 

Well, I have to agree it does look a bit like a film set, and not surprisingly there are a lot of movies shot close to this location. 

Sincere Thanks for your thoughts and positive feedback! 

 

Best Regards 

 

Alf 

 

CHRISTAL 

 

Wow!  Thank you so much! 

The thumbnails to appear flat sometimes, because I always optimise the image for the larger view.  Though in this case the RAW file appeared flat, and a bit lacklustre  hence my decision to convert to B & W  

I am very pleased you enjoyed viewing it! 

 

Alf 

 

RUUD 

 

Many Thanks for your interest and kind words.

 

Best Regards 

 

Alf 

 

GRAHAM 

 

Thank you so much! 

 

You have a very astute eye, yes indeed I did use Siver Efex Pro-2  to process this one.

Cheers mate! 

 

Alf 

 

RADU 

 

Many Thanks for your thoughts and kind words.

The clarity of the water and I dare say the air too helped enormously with this image, I think the early morning light helped too.

Best Regards 

 

Alf 

 

GREGORY & VERENA 

 

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

 

Best Regards 

 

Alf 

 

PATSY 

 

Sometimes I have a rough night at home and don't get to see this in the morning, so it was well worth it : - ) 

Sincere Thanks for your thoughts and positive feedback Patsy.

 

Best Regards 

 

Alf 

 

LARRY 

 

The tiny house which is almost lost amongst the gargantuan mountains is for me also one of the most pleasant aspects of the image.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful feedback! 

Best Regards 

 

Alf 

 

BILL S 

 

I know just what you mean about the weather, there seems to be no end to it! 

I did manage to get out last week though and get a few shots of the fishing boats near home. 

Sincere Thanks & Best Regards 

 

Alf 

 

NEIL 

 

I think you would feel at home amongst this kind of country, it's a wild untamed place, but very beautiful. 

Yes I agree, worth the cold hands, wet feet and stiff neck : - ) 

 

Sincere Thanks & Best Regards 

 

Alf 

 

 

 

 

I know that you have this in colour which I like very much too. This is a truly amazing picture my friend. A prehistoric landscape but we are brought back to reality by the little house which gives us a sense of scale too ! !.

 

As far as the two hours sleep in your van...No pain no gain Alf...:-).

 

Warm regards,

 

Dimitris.

 

 

Hi Alf! Although technically this image is extra fine, very sharp, great texture, great bw processing, I believe that the relative volumes of the composition are "too much". It comes a bit "heavy" to my eyes, if you know what I mean. I would like to see more of the sky and perhaps some kind of soft coloring...Anyway, just a personal opinion, as always. Keep up with your awesome work! Regards from Crete! Yannis

Impressive photo and great b/w. Bravo.

 

Many Thanks for your thoughts and positive feedback, very much appreciated! 

It was the little house that compelled me to take the shot in the first place, the overwhelming power of the rugged terrain just kind of help to accentuate mankind's small influence on this planet. 

2 hours sleep........well I suppose the up side was I woke up before dawn and didn't miss anything : - ) 

 

Warm Regards 

 

Alf 

 

YANNIS 

 

Thank you so much for your thoughts and and insightful comments, very much appreciated.

The volumes of the composition are very much dictated in this case by the subject. Of course I could have zoomed into the lake a bit more and been selective within the context of the area around the house, and indeed I do have photographs that would fit that description.  But here I wanted to try and capture the scene in it's entirety and so used the 14 - 24 mm @ 17 mm to do just that.  To get more of the sky would have mean't sacrificing foreground, and would also have mean't an image with even more proportional volume. But it's good to get your views on this and of course I appreciate that you have forwarded them as a matter of personal taste. 

 

Best Regards 

 

Alf 

 

HAMID 

 

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

 

Best Regards 

 

Alf 

 

Hi Alf, what a great image, the level of detail you have captured is stunning. I think the cottage really makes the image, giving scale to the rest of the shot. Well worth the pain you went through to capture.

Jed

Really a splendid work!

Hello Alf;

 

An amazing B/W landscape. The large view just drags me into and merge me with the landscape. Fantastic work.

 

Kind regards

Bela Dick

Many Thanks for your thoughtful feedback, much appreciated! 

I agree with you about the cottage, it's meek presence just kind of adds to the majesty of it's surroundings. 

 

Cheers! 

 

Alf 

 

MAURIZIO

 

Thank you so much for your interest and kind words! 

 

Regards 

 

Alf 

 

BELA 

 

Sincere Thanks for your thoughts and positive feedback. 

It's very gratifying and encouraging to read how this image affected you. 

 

Best Regards 

 

Alf 

"Formidable".

Here we have a paradigm case of the line between a representational photograph and an abstract one disappearing altogether.  I see an amazing array of patterns, shapes, and swirls in a grayscale universe.  The mountains and the lake may have provided you with the raw materials, but you did the rest.  Simply incredible . . .

My best always,

michael