"Morning on Canvas"

I generally like to lean to the warm side when adjusting color temps, but this image was taken well before sunrise and was meant to be cool. The soft grasses and cool greens provide a painterly feel, hence the title. These are the types of images I take because they appeal to me visually. No drama, no fire in the sky, no imminent change in the weather; just cerebral and somewhat surreal, calm, peaceful and meditative, a valley that looks like it would not change for eternity. I love the different areas of detail that recede into the distance. While I love shooting vivid sunsets or capturing breathtaking vistas, it's the simpler compositions that give me pure photographic satisfaction. This is not "in your face" photography, instead it is quiet, steady, earthy. It almost smells good. Thanks for your thoughts!

Thanks for offering your impressions, critiques, suggestions! Enjoy the Larger preview.

Mark... Grandiose sunrises and sunsets, mountain ranges, seascapes all have their place; but then along comes an image that does what those many times do not... and that is place the viewer in the scene. This is such an image. Whether in California or the Smokies, we have all experienced similar views, and when presented as perfectly as this, it brings back such wonderful memories. Thanks for sharing... Mike

 

 

Thanks Mike as always. You and I must have the same appreciations for the simpler and calmer slices of nature. I am not sure why these scenes don't garner a little more appeal, I see so many good ones here on P.N. that never it make past the fifth page of rate recent. It is the unpretentious that easily get overlooked for their subtler qualities. Flash before mere substance I guess. Well, just for us to enjoy!

You don't need a colourful sunset to take a good landscape photo. And taking a good and visually appealing photo with more daily elements and making something unique out of them, such as letting the atmosphere shine through takes lots of skill to achieve, and in my opinion you succeed well. This reminds me of early fresh summer afternoons. Superb!

Excellent! I feel I am there.

So simple, so elegant, so absolutely beautiful. Well done Mark!

Thanks Ramunas, Dr. Didi and Leo for stopping by and offering your impressions!

A simple, elegant and beautiful image that has been superbly captured. Keeping in mind that not all monitors are calibrated and mine has not been done recently, I am looking for 'neutral gray' in the barks of the trees and what I am seeing is a slight blue suggesting to me that the overall color 'could' be modified if that is what you want to do. I still like it very much. Congrats.

Hello Tony! Ya know, my camera seems to record low light and shady conditions with very blue green results. If I change the white balance to shade, it seems to pick up yellow only and shift towards green, especially the sky. Therefore, I have gone back to daylight settings for all scenes. I made a fair adjustment to this scene, but I stopped when I reached a certain point to maintain the cool appearance. My interpretation of a scene like this is that there really is no neutral gray when the color temperature is like this, a full 20 minutes before actual sunrise, and much longer before the sun hits these hills. We all know that snow is white or neutral, but in the shade or pre-dawn light, it is truly blueish. As far as monitor calibration, I need to do mine soon, like yestermonth. It is probably close, though, because I use custom profiles for printing and my prints fairly match my monitor. I guess color temps, as well as beauty, is perhaps also in the eye of the beholder. Thanks for your valuable input!