fall reflection

[jentenna]

Originally Posted by Putian

Thanks for taking the time to provide comments. It is indeed trees reflected in the water where there was a slight wind on the lake. There are also lily pads on the lake. Here is the unedited image. As you see, there isn't much in the way of post processing. Cheers.

As many others have said, I think this shot works well as an abstract. It's very impressionistic, but I knew right away that I was looking at fall foliage in some disturbed waters.

But to my eye, the original shot looks better than the edited version in the OP. I think it has higher contrast, so the colors pop a bit more and you really get a feel for the vibrant scene.

[SwissJon]

Originally Posted by LeeR

I agree with Richard and others who feel it works well as an abstract. I think if it was me I would make a couiple of adjustments. First, I would adjust the levels a bit; it's a little flat right now. I would also consider rotating it 180 degrees to emphasize the abstract qualities. Give it a try and see if you like it.

I really like this idea.. Turning the whole photo upside down will really make the most of the abstract nature of the photo, enhancing the Impressionist feeling (My favourite kind of painting!).

I don't find the photo paricularly flat, I think popping the colours might push it too far from the original, but then that's a subjective opinion and looking at the pictures by Monet, Saurat and the other impressionists, it might work.

[graciousness]

Darn it, I can't open the original! I really want to see....

I think as an abstract photo, I do think it can still use just a little bit of definition (focus) to bring out the colours a bit more. It doesn't need to be a lot, but just a little bit. I think the flatness/muddiness comes from the little lack of focus and so the colours are bleeding together. The little bit of focus would bring a little bit of depth to the water, I think, and so you can see more contrast. I mean this isn't easy, as I do experimental shots like this one with water (esp when I used to live right next to the harbour and water was only 2 feet away from our window). The lights would dance on the water and the deep blue and green of the sea just makes fantastic colour blends with the golden lights of the sun. But then it's hard to get the camera to focus and requires a bit of practice (I still haven't managed to do it quite right).

I think if you play around with saturation, make the magenta and add a little bit more yellow to it to make the colours more red (as in autumn vibrant red), then you may find a lot of the muddiness or flatness get fixed. Get the colours a little bit more 'brighter' to make them pop a little bit.

Also, it's been suggested that including the shot of the subjects on land reflecting on the water may give it a little bit more interest or subjective point of view. I don't disagree to this - it doesn't need to be the whole half land/half reflection on water shot, but maybe 1/3 land, 2/3 water. Then you would have added some lines to the scene that may have added to the abstraction. Again, this comes to personal taste.

Anyhoo, regardless, I think you should play around with the colours in post production and see varying degrees in saturation. This is an abstract shot anyway and you can do that so that you can interpret the scene the way you want it to be seen.

That's what I would do, anyway, if I was painting this. I would apply the same principle in my photography. But then it all comes down to your own personal taste.

[Fuzz62]

to be honest i think making the colours pop could recreate "one" in a way, having just read this on another topic (composition) on here, its a very similar photograph where nothing seems in focus yet in a strange way it all seems to work for me.

Nice photograph, maybe framing with white then black outer frame would help the shot ... i dont know though im still a newbie!

[Putian]

Thanks for all of the comments. I like the idea of flipping it; it looks pretty cool that way. I'm going to bump up the colours a bit too but not too much, I think. Cheers, Jan

[Michael_2010]

That is reminiscent of Lik's "One" but not quiet as refined. It might be interesting to put the two side-by-side and analyze what makes the difference. Is it a technical difference between the captures? Strictly composition? Or, is it all in the presentation?