Sun and Ice

[RussHeath]

I'm still very new to digital phtography. This image was shot at a park near my home on digital macro mode. First I thought the sun at top left blew out the image too much, but after looking more I like how the light travels through the ice and still gives a nice deep green on the bush. All comments are welcome. OK to edit and repost on DPS.

[jiminyClickit]

Newbie,

Want to like it, trying to like it. Do you do post-processing? If you were to crop this, what would you take away? If you wanted to make something stand out, what would it be? I love to experiment with photos; is this an important one to you?

[jiminyClickit]

Newbie,

These are the parts I wanted to like: richer colors, sky more visible, variety in ice, more contrast.

[RussHeath]

Thanks for the helpful comments. The shot is an important one to me. I do a little post-processing, but have always reverted back to the original with this shot. Most of the changes I had made (contrast, color saturation) always seemed to make the right side of the image too dark and I would lose the color. Attached is a cropped image that I think is a little improved. I also adjusted the color for more red in the highlights and more green in the midtones. How did you get the sky blue? Thanks again.

[KagoGrl]

Hi, and welcome.

This has the potential to be a very lovely shot, except I have to say that the left side (where the sun in shining) is over exposed compared to the right side.

I think if I were playing with it myself I'd do either what JiminyClickit has done and play around in post processing to get the look I want or I'd do what you've done and crop out the extremely bright side leaving the more colour rich and detail filled right side.

I have to say, for a newbie this is a very nice start. I too am fairly new and I have to tell you the more you shoot the more you learn and you will learn from little mistakes so don't be afraid to make them. Like this shot for example, I can guarantee you'll be a little more aware of the sun next time you're out shooting.

Please post more shots - we're all here to help!

[jiminyClickit]

newbie,

Indeed these examples will open possibilities for your next photos. And any skill in editting is worthwhile, like erasers on pencils or for those things you can't catch in the viewfinder.

The crop does deal with your sky, but for me the best part of your original was the additional orange, purple and pink of the branch, sky and snow.

If you do layering, my last layer was a sky blue gradient running from UL to LR ending in white at 30% Opacity, Overlay.

If you want to learn layering, lots of good tutorials here and on DPS blog. I find a new idea every day. Think of sheets of clear plastic that you stack one on another, all on top of an original painting. Whatever you do to an individual sheet affects original and the other sheets. As long as you label each and preserve original, it's a lot of fun.

[drt205]

It almost looks like your lens was fogging up a little. I tried to take some pics yesterday after a recent ice storm and my lens kept fogging up which adds to some of the glare. Always check your lens when you are out in the cold.

[RussHeath]

Thank you all for the feedback. This forum is a wonderful learning tool, and I look forward to posting more pics soon.