"Reflections of the Feather"

Thanks for your observations and impressions.

Taken last fall along the North Fork of the Feather River in Plumas County, California. I blended two exposures to bring out more detail in the shadows. As well, I made no global color adjustments, allowing the shadows to maintain the coolness of light. The frost along the distant bank accentuated the cool appearance. The low distant fog and mist has a cool hue, closer to the original color balance. Thanks for looking and enjoy the Larger preview!

Beautiful image, very nice reflection and romantic atmosphere. best regards Christine

Great work, Mark! The cool tones of frost and fog against the rest and the exact placement of this cool stripe so that it does not overlap the warm autumn colours in the reflection is what makes this photo so appealing.

Mark, I'm humble enough not to attempt to rate this!

 

This is simply outstanding! It has the feel of a oil painting! The mix of colors enriched by the sunlight is brilliant!

 

Happy new year!

 

Sriram

This is one fine photograph!!! Just love it! Very original take too. IMHO the RHS trees don't add much and would suggest a 4:5 crop...just my 2c.

Thank you Christine, Sandris, Sriram and Younes. Reflection images always seem to grab attention. I arrived here before the light bathed the distant Aspens and Cottonwoods and waited for it to take hold. I wanted to make sure to have a mixture of both ambient light conditions, so I exposed for both. I have found that exposing for the highlights is my primary exposure and then I open about three stops for a "Shadows" exposure. I process the shadow exposure separately and then blend in. This method has resulted in excellent tonal range in the darker areas. Opening the shadows with curves or levels often results in excessive noise and pixelation, especially after sharpening. This method has greatly improved the cleanliness of my image files, an important thing for producing large prints. Younes, are you saying remove the LHS trees which are silhouetted or the RHS trees? I could see eliminating the ones on the left, but I don't want to crop the RHS because of the cattails.

super job on this one Mark! The misty atmosphere rising off the water makes it for me. Regards.

Hi Walter. Thanks so much. Oh and BTW, a very Happy, Healthy, Prosperous and Photographic New Year to you and yours. Hearing from all who have commented so far is like confirmation for this image. I guess I can keep this one on the circuit!

Mark - I was immediatey struck by the cool water/fog and the warm tones of the trees. Bizarre but beautiful. Reality is cleverly left by including th left trees( the dark ones). Magical shot. The only thing I might change, from viewing on my laptop, is increase the contrast in the evergreens. The shadow don't look deep enough for me, and it might add a bit of impact to the imge. Cropping the dark trees on left would create a more abstract image, which migh also be a good choice.

 

Harry

Magnificos colores, una foto limpia y muy atractiva.

I like these reflection photos and you got a wonderful example here. Stunning is the word, and the colours are outstanding. Regards LKV.

This is really incredibly beautiful! I love the lighting conditions and the gorgeous fall colors palette. I too wonder about a bit of a crop on the left-side; but it clearly stands supremely well as is. I love the mist coming off of the Feather. Just a terrific shot all in all; and into "My Favorites" this beauty goes! Happy New Year, my friend; and I look forward to tons of new adventures with you in 2009! Cheers! Chris

Thanks Harry, Javier, Lennart and Chris! I have added a mid-tone contrast, Harry, to the image since your comment. I actually had it done previous to your comment because I made an 8X10 proof print and it looked soft in the yellow trees and the green pines. I appreciate your observation. The difference is subtle, yet profound. Sriram had mentioned this looking like an oil painting. To me, when a photograph has that painterly appearance, it is a good thing. I have been looking for images with that appeal for some time now, but they are elusive. Thanks again Sriram! Chris, I hope we can get together in the Spring for a quick jaunt. Anything after June is questionable, I will probably be changing lots of diapers by then.

Yes, I agree, reflection shots do capture attention. But this is no ordinary reflection shot. It's quite spectacular how you've used the diagonal so well. And the colors are glorious. Having said that, just a couple of ideas. I personally don't think you should crop the tree on the left. I played with it and just couldn't convince myself of any crop I tried. But about 1/3 of the way up, and about 1 inch from the left edge is a branch sticking up out of the water. And then there is that lone thin branch to the right of it. I'd perhaps consider what it would look like to remove those. They make what is such a pristine shot seem a little cluttered and messy. And I'd love to see a version as stated above with the trees a little deeper green. I love the way the contrast is now between the green and the yellow, so it may or may not improve it......worth exploring though. This is one of the best fall shots I've seen here on PN! When you (if you) end up with a final version, this is going into my favorites.

Thanks Christal. I misread your comment the first time through, thinking you liked the crop idea. I now see that you thought not. Several have asked what that would look like, so I have attached a crop from the left. I think this may well be a better rendering. It eliminates any potential distraction from the intruding silhouettes. When I print this puppy to 24X30, it will be the cropped version. I also added an S curve to the evergreens because they were a little flat. Tell me what you think Christal. It would be nice to see this go to your favs!

Okay....I think you've convinced me. :-) But I can't really compare apples to apples because your revised version came across huge! I can't view it in one screen without scrolling. It looks really impressive large, but I must say that to my mind there is just something so cool about your original.....those converging diagonal lines of yellow almost meeting at the left edge. But I agree that with the revision you don't need to worry about how to treat the left side. And either way, you should be proud to hang this on your wall. Maybe you could try it both ways. :-) I do see an improvement in the trees also. I'm happy to put this in my favorites!