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Frosted


marcadamus

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Landscape

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Ahhh, the first snow of the season. I woke up to this pleasant surprise Sunday morning in the backcountry of Oregon's Three Sisters Wilderness. Only a dusting fell overnight, much of which had melted off the meadows by 9am, when I captured this image. For whatever reason, these pines held on to the light snowfall a little longer, inspiring me to take out the camera here. I did so just in time, as a minute later the sun appeared over the entire scene, melting away the remnants. A sad turn of events if you ask me ;-) but at least I was there to catch the fleeting beauty of it.

 

5D, 70-200 at 170mm, no filters, 1/10 second at F14.

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Excellent shot marc. the melting of frost and warm autumn colors is really nice. I can see something somewhat pink in the grass, it adds something dreamy.Original and great capture !
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A nice shot Marc, the difference between the colors of the trees and the ground is wonderful ! The composition is also very good with these pines in the foreground.
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These delicate colors are wonderful. I had a similar experience a couple of years ago at Rainier -- very memorable.
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Wonderful capture with interesting contrast in the pastels. I expect to see fairies dancing about at the forest edge. The only thing I might suggest is to PS out what looks like a lightening scar on the large pine back right, as my eye stops there and I find it a bit distracting.
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I think the "lightning scar" on the trunk of the tree in the back simply shows that nature isn't perfect. It might stop the eye for a moment, but that might not be a bad thing. When I first saw it, I started thinking of things that could've given that tree that marking... a bear, lightning, etc. Just shows how powerful nature is. Great colors Marc, it seems insanely dreamy.
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I think this is a wonderful composition of a beautiful moment.

 

I would love to see the pre-PS, RAW version of this photograph. I'm struggling to reconcile the light here; it's direction and intensity. While I know you are not a photographer to be held back by notions of trying to adhere to strictly reproducing a natural reality (and I respect that artistic direction) in this case I do not find the color rendition to be "delicate."

 

I would find this to be a better photograph if the space between the two groups of middle ground trees was darker and less saturated. Also, the background forest seems too bright and full of detail given what it appears the early morning lighting conditions were. We mustn't be afraid of the dark ;-)

 

Your photographic and PS skills are clearly world-class but I would not consider this to be one of your best efforts.

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Hi Dave. First off, my PS skills are anything but world class ;-) But I use what I do know to my advantage. A lot of the time it's just dodge/burn. I'm actually not sure about how to post an additional image on the same thread here, but suffice it to say that the RAW version looks quite similar to this image. The light is directional from my left, filtering through a large stand of trees intermittently. It was very soft, as I purposely waited until the sun had just begun to appear. The only evidence of this soft light on the scene is at middle right, background meadow and in the background trees if you look closely. I used a curve and mid-tone dodge to reduce the contrasts in the background forest, which were originally a little blocky and drew my eye too much. I could also see how one would favor it being a little darker, which I corrected when printing yesterday. Other PS work included minor dodging of the foreground areas and adding some saturation to the reds. Maybe a little burn here or there too. I can't recall. That's about it though. 5 minutes, tops. I guess no picture will please everyone all the time but I must say this has certainly been one of my most popular recent images. I think much of the appeal comes from the soft brightness throughout and color contrasts.
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I do not intend this to be offensive, but you have posted for critique:

 

I don't particularly like this picture. It is not so much the picture itself as it is the body of work in which it sits. On my list of favourite photographers, you sit right at the top with no competition anywhere near you. This is because your pictures are so harmonious and natural. The colors in this one are jarring. I do not doubt that this is what it actually looked like, but then again I don't always like what my eyes show me.

 

Natural, believeable colors are very important to a picture holding appeal for me. I absolutely HATE Morraine Lake. The colors make me throw up a little in my mouth every time I see a picture of it.

 

Now, imagining that this was taken by some other photographer:

 

What a beutiful and unique shot. The colors here are surreal and dreamy. Congratualtions on capturing such a fleeting phenomenon.

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>>"Now, imagining that this was taken by some other photographer:

 

What a beutiful and unique shot. The colors here are surreal and dreamy. Congratualtions on capturing such a fleeting phenomenon."

 

 

 

 

 

Never judge a photograph by anything the photographer has done in the past. Never be afraid to experiment and try new things otherwise you will never grow as an artist. If you find it a "beautiful and unique shot", then nothing else should matter. Just within the many comments on this gallery alone, you'll find that the most common suggestion/critique is the similarities between many of the images. This one is quite different. I'm very happy with that.

 

BTW: Once you go to Moraine lake and see it in person you'll have a new appreciation for how natural those colors are.

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Marc, I think your last comment is well-stated. A photograph should be "judged" for what it is, not who took it or how it compares to others by the same photographer. Your natural images set a very high standard. I'm also impressed by those who capture great natural scenes as well as engaging portraits, street scenes, floral shots, and other diverse subjects. I don't try to do that, because I'm most intrigued by landscapes, for reasons that I outline in my biography. But I'm always trying new things within that relatively narrow range of subjects, and I think that's good.
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I could have been more clear. This is a good picture. I do not love it, and I do not think that it approaches anything else you have done in its appeal to me, but it is very interesting in its own way. Ansel still holds true: "There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs." I guess my intial reaction was due to the fact that it was hardly what I was expecting when I saw Marc Adamus updated on such and such a date. It is starting to grow on me. We shall see yet.

 

As for the lake, I'll take your word on it for now, but will be sure to let you know when I actually see it. The colors may be natural. They may just be, however, naturally my least favorite color ;)

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Hi again Marc, thanks for your reasoned reply.

 

"I guess no picture will please everyone all the time but I must say this has certainly been one of my most popular recent images."

 

 

On what do you base "most popular recent image?" I'm not sure that "popular" is necessarily an appropriate metric; after all, Thomas Kinkaide is extremely popular and successful, yet he is not taken seriously by much of the critical art world. (No offense to any fans of the "Painter of Light" out there ;-)

Dave

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I could have used a different word, I suppose. I contribute to about a dozen online forums, so it's pretty easy for me to judge the mass-appeal of a particular new image amongst other photographers. This has far and away garnered more positive interest than anything I've posted lately and several print sales have been a surprise as well. Different is good - this is rare and different. It may well not hold the same aesthetic as most of my dramatic near/far work, but there are certainly many out there who encourage the departure from my usual style.
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and I have come to the conclusion that I actually do like it. That sometimes happens with me when confronted with art, usually music, but sometimes the visual arts. I recind any previous negatives. The tonalities of the background trees are very pleasing and halp make the shot overall.
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I really like the balance of this image, marc. I think the subject matter offers a new challenge for your eye, and I believe you faced the challenge very nicely. As exceptional as your other images are, they need something lighter to provide contrast to their impressive boldness to magnify their strengths, and scenes such as this do that. These types of images are kind of like the airpockets one needs when looking through your portfolio to catch one's breath from the suffocating power of the big-wide-angle images.

 

Critique:

 

I think you did what you could with the elements available; however I find the top of the frame a bit disrupting to the order held in the lower.

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La originalidad..., un concepto bastante subjetivo y sujeto a interpretacion..., la estetica..., tambien subjetivo, aunque algo mas homogeneo... Una bella foto con un bonito colorido y un efecto "pintura" bastante llamativo, la composicion...,y la originalidad... (6/4)

 

Un Saludo.

 

 

The originality..., a concept very subjective and subject to interpretation..., the aesthetic..., also subjective one, although something more homogenous. A beautiful pretty photo with colorful and showy "painting effect", the composition..., and the originality... (6/4) = (Very Good/Fair)

 

Greetings from Spain.

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No quabbles here. Another wonderful shot. It's just amazing how you are in the right spot at the right time. What's that saying - the harder one works, the luckier one gets?
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Marc,

 

Having lived in Oregon and having been to Three Sisters wilderness area, this image was a JOY to see. To my memory you actually captured this quite accurately. Oregon & Washington look like no other place in the world, and the "standard" of what we perceive as normal color and texture don't apply in the Northwest when those two to four-minute bursts of unexpected light or ground fog or precip grab us from behind, whether in Prineville or Klamath Falls or in Cannon Beach. Great job grabbing one of those moments here. Your composition is a lesson for me with every image you post.

 

-Paul

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I live in a place,where there is no snowfall,and the climate is hot,hotter & hottest:-) I am admiring the composition and beautiful pastel colors.
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