Tree, reflected

[Caine]

I have been trying to improve my landscape skills, which aren't great. I'm more comfortable shooting macro. Thoughts?

Larger version here.

[Robin Sarac]

Fantastic colors! If I would change anything, it would be to have the tree further off center, right...or even left if the surrounding area demands it.

[texotic]

cool shot love the composition

[yurik]

Oo, relfections always make a photo more eye-catching! I like it.

If I had to critique it, I would say that the grass (thistles? I am so urban I don't know what to call that long grass :x) in the foreground is distracting. If you're up to it, you should consider cloning them out.

An alternative to cloning them out would be to crop the photo so that the tree is in the center of frame. That way the main object stands out more and you'll have significantly less "thistles" to clone out.

Overall, I think that it might be worth playing around with this photo. I think it can look better then it already is

[Caine]

Thanks, Robin. I took a lot of shots of this tree, and everytime I tried to move the tree farther to the right I lost a part of the reflection. Left didn't work at all.

Thank you Texotic.

Thanks, Yurik. I do love reflections. That's lake grass in the foreground, a type of reed. I'm not too much a one for extensive post-processing, but I'll play around with it a bit when I have time.

[jiminyClickit]

Caine,

Some of the interest here could be increased by time of day; this presents a little plain because of the overhead lighting flattening most of it. The richness of shadows is the variety they bring to a scene, same as Macros.

[Caine]

I agree, Jiminy. The weather here has been as usual, which means strange and unpredictable. We just had a very cold and stormy two weeks, very depressing for September as we'll be buried in snow soon enough. This past weekend was glorious, sunny and hot. This was taken in early afternoon, the sun was almost blinding. There were excellent drama clouds about an hour later, but by that time the reflection wasn't clear and crisp. I really need to work on understanding light better as well as training my eye for the big picture.

[jiminyClickit]

Caine,

Fear of Winter has triggered an almost-daily collecting of colorful images here because of memories of our own long season of white and offwhite. As you are discovering, a part of the fine art of photography is being where the shot is, when it's in its glory. Not easy, and as with many lucky events, being prepared is a big help. I hope DPS can give you suggestions that prepare you for such events. Your interest in learning all you can will be a boon.

[mdwsta4]

great capture! if i were to nitpick, i too would suggest cloning out the grass in the foreground, but it's still a fantastic shot.

[Caine]

Thank you, Matt!