River Scene with fresh snow

[phil24]

Hopefully I posted correctly. This is a shot I took this morning driving down the road. I cropped it down from the original and am looking for input about the composition of the photo. Did it capture the scene in a way that makes you feel you are in a spring snowstorm? What might I look for in the future to help a scene like this to "pop".

EXIF
Nikon D90
Lens Nikkor18-105
ISO 1000
Exposure1/125
f/stop f20
Focal length 105mm
Flash Did not fire

[EOBeav]

It's a nice scene and I'd like to be able to see more of the water. Hopefully next time you can get out, walk across the snow, and get closer to it?

[Krusty79]

I get the feeling this was taken AFTER the storm, because of all the snow and I don't see any snow falling now. Was it snowing at the time and I just don't see it?

I think you shot lacks a subject or focal point. Where in the shot did you want to lead the viewers eye towards? Maybe there is a distinctive tree around there that you can use as a subject. Or is there any bridge nearby so you can use the creek as a leading line into your shot?

[milosh]

First, this shot doesn't make me feel like I'm in a spring storm, instead it makes me feel like I'm looking at a really quiet winter morning scene. I would like to be closer to the river. You could for example have those short snow covered branches on the river bank (lower right corner) as a foreground, the water as a middle subject, and the big trees as a background.

Second, the snow in the lower part of the image is almost white, which is good, but that makes it harder to differentiate it from the white of the web page. I think adding a black frame would help the foreground become more evident.

Third, regarding your exposure, since you zoomed in all the way to 105mm and your lens was probably focused to infinity, there was no need to use f20 aperture. "Sweet spot" of this lens is at f8, and by using f20 you had to increase the ISO which resulted in very high noise in the sky and possibly loss of some detail in the trees. Also, when you use apertures smaller than f16, you loose image quality due to diffraction.

[Nicole Hanna]

A f-number of about 8 with a higher shutter speed should give you good exposure but reduce the noise and require a lower ISO. Usually, outdoors, even at dusk or dawn, you can get away with an ISO of 200-400, if your shutter speed is faster. If you aren't trying to blur moving water, you don't need a slow shutter.

It's a lovely scene, but I want way more of the water, personally, take a blanket out there, lay down on the ground right in front of the water, and shoot low across the water. That might make for an interesting perspective. Perhaps there are some rocks along the bank or some low-laying bushes covered in snow that would make a nice focal. There's too much going on, in this image, for my tastes, without a strong focal point. Still, there's something incredibly tranquil about a fresh snowfall and you did catch that kind of "quiet" feeling I always like about snow.

[TBrown00]

In addition to what the others said about wanting more water, I would overexpose the scene. When you shoot snow, your camera tends to underexpose and make the snow more gray than white. Next time, use exposure compensation and tell the camera to overexpose

[phil24]

First of all THANK YOU all. This has been extremely helpful.
What I am taking from all of your input is:
1. Find a focal point
2. Get closer to show more of the water
3. Use a lower F/stop number
4. Faster shutter speed
5.Pay attention to the ISO setting


Hopefully I got it all!

[mykadog]

I like to have something in the foreground for a shot like this...maybe a boulder, a stump, the trunk of another tree or a even a bush. It just seems to make it more interesting.

[phil24]

Thanks for commenting, I plan on getting into this place again when snow starts flying and will look for something in the foreground to add. It is a bit to barren in the foreground I agree