A faint trace of the human race

The primeval beauty of Spitzberg, island of rocks, frozen soil and icea thousand kilometer away from the North Pole, makes you realise thesmallness of man in front of nature.

These footprints, suggested me a faint trace of the human race.Do they do the same for you? Would you have cropped it differently?

Comments are very much appreciated.

Honestly, I don't think they give the effect you describe. These scene is pretty--the light on the foreground is gorgeous. The water has a silky quality to it. I think to pull off the effect you describe there needs to be some other primary subject involved i.e. a mountain, a cliff, getting close up to one of the prints or at least some pattern to the steps.

 

It's tough to make footprints work to your advantage.

Down and low with great DOF, good job!

Bella luce bei colori e belle ombre. Forse io avrei schiarito un po' la parte in basso a sx per dare un po piu di risalto alle orme ma non credo che avrebbe migliorato molto la tua gia ottima foto. Ciao

Lovely wide-angle view and superb light.

 

Here's a prime example for some creative use of a grad-ND filter that is oriented diagonally to hold back some fo the light on the top right-hand corner.

By doing so, the diagonally opposite end will lighten up.

 

You might be able to do this in PS using layers.

delicate light and perfect crop! The footprints are most important as a texture for me, adding graphical interest to the foreground.

Comp works fine, but i think that to get the mood you described, the lightning has to be different.

Now its relativly harsh with the traces appears as black shadows. I can imagine this scene, with some late light at the end of the day, and GND's in addition, "lift up" the footprints . Perhaps a few steps closer to get even more attention to them... And then i guess the colors would decide what kind of mood that would come out of it. Since its far north... deep blue would probably match your description best. Regards!

Thanks for your feedback, it's indeed appreciated.In particular, let me comment on a few open points.

• @David I see your point and I agree that the chaotic footsteps maybe do not work amidst such natural harmony. I thought this contrast could play in my advantage, but maybe it does not.
• @Arthur Many a time in this trip I regretted having left the split ND at home, and I agree with you -and with the similar comment from Alessandro- that here a diagonal compensation of the right would have pulled more out of the right.
• @Atle I cannot figure out how to get some later-in-the-day light... that's already Midnight!.

...Yes Of course, i forgot that..;-)