Something was bugging me and I realized it was the lightness of the small trees on the left, so I darkened them a little and I like it better. Adds balance and weight there and it needs it.
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
From a couple weeks ago after some new snow hit the trails. Another storm is blowing through now and there’s probably another 6-8 inches accumulation, so more snowshoeing to come. Some people new to this area talked about putting the snowblower away in March. Uh, no. Not till May.
For this shot I stepped up the hill a bit so I could get as much of this curve into the frame as possible. Again, the shadows are another element that plays well with the trees and the texture of the snow. The pockmarks are from it falling from tree branches.
Specific Feedback
Winter images are often processed with a heavy hand, but I like lightness and positivity to come through in my winter scenes so I don’t hit it with a lot of contrast or deep shadows. This one was difficult to crop though. Tighter was weird because it felt really closed and the background trees are needed for context. There’s an openness to the woods, but they are crowded, too and so the curve in the path. Does it work?
Lr for a bit of a crop and some work in the Transform panel to correct geometry. The usual s-curve for some contrast, but I kept the shadows and the blacks lighter. Masked for the shadow tones and lowered those a bit so they would be more striking. Linear gradient to add contrast, texture & clarity to the foreground and not the back. Applied a Landscape 08 preset which brought up some blue in the snow. Blue saturation slider in Calibration panel brightened that tone.
So much to love about this, Kris. I miss the snow. . .sometimes. Love how the unmolested trail curves perfectly into the scene and how the shadows of the trees fall gracefully on the snow. Very tranquil image.
Thanks @linda_mellor - come on up! We got plenty o’ snow! It seems crazy but it’s normal. We often get a big spring storm, usually around April 1st - “you thought it was spring, April Fools!”
Yes, I get it. . . we used to live on Colorado. The last year we were there we got 4 feet of snow in May. Although even for Colorado that was a lot it was not unusual to get snow in May. Having lived there for 24+ years I have developed a love/hate relationship. It is beautiful, magnificent and a power to respect . . . .it is also dreadful to drive in and and shovel😩 I am totally enjoying your photos.
Yeah, dealing with it is a bit of a hassle and I’m going to do my best to enjoy this latest round, but I am getting to be done with it for this year. I’ve had enough. I actually kind of like driving in it after the storm - I don’t mind manageable accumulation when I can see where I’m going. LOL.
Quite a change for you from Colorado. Do you miss the non-snowy bits?
Do you miss the non-snowy bits? Absolutely! All the time. . .especially when we have summers like last year when the temp was up over 100 for a record breaking season! Can’t wait to see what we get this year!!
The curve definitely works Kristen; it’s essential to the image and I think your crop is fine. This has a story-telling feel (as opposed to eye candy), and it makes me wish I was snowshoeing down that path enjoying the sun spilling through those trees.
Thanks @John_Williams - this trail has a lot of curves so there were several good spots along the way. The trail system is well maintained and there are many loops to choose from depending on how long you want to be out. Since winter is so long, we need them!
What a wonderful winter scene; classically simple with the implied pathway s-curving thru the woods. I say implied because there are no tracks! (yet anyway…)
At first I was thinking the forward tree was “blocking” a little… but then I decided there is enough room and space; and of course the path is easily followed allowing the eye to get past the first tree.
Given this is your vision of these scenes, it makes zero sense for me to impose my own heavy-handed impression of B&W scene with black blacks and white whites… (the old printers standard…) And in all honesty, your “light” approach accomplishes an airy “crispness” that brings the viewer there - rather than just “looking” at a scene of light and shadows. Hopefully that made some sort of sense.
The only suggestion I have would be to check the WB. I didn’t really notice as it is so subtle… but after bringing in to PS, I ran TK’s “Neutralize Color Cast” action it ever so slightly moved it from leaning redish, to more blue. And the only way to see any difference is to just toggle back and forth. And now thinking about this further, I don’t know in reality what the colors are in the trees? Maybe they do have a red hue to them, thus reflecting that on to the snow? This was hardly worth mentioning anyway…
Spectacular, Kristen! This really screams “look at me”. I love exploring the small details in the snow and the small golden leave in the path just makes the image for me. It’s funny how one tiny element can make such a big impact. The semi-diagonal and curving path is also such an important element and leads me further into the image. Great job!
That tree gave me fits, @Lon_Overacker - but I hoped the bend would help it feel more like an included and necessary element rather than a block. Tighter crops did make it feel that way. Very closed off. Airy crispness - I like that and that’s exactly it - teens and twenties with sun are perfect snowshoeing days. I like that you were able to absorb another aspect of winter and woodland scenes. Not just snow and shadows.
I think the color cast you mention is a result of the Adobe Preset I used and it is very slightly blue, something I liked for the additional lightness it conveyed. The trees don’t have lot of red tones, but some new bark has an orange tinge so the Preset may be playing that up a little. I like the complementary color aspect of that.
Thanks @Bill_Chambers - and I’m so glad you noticed the leaf. I had many a thought to remove it, but it makes a kind of grace note for the scene and that tiny bit of color is a focus if you pick up on it. Right about now most of us northerners are dying for some color - especially green - and so I will often leave these bits of detritus in a scene by not moving them on site and not removing them in software. Glad it engages you!
Hey! This is a really nice photo and composition. A great scene. I might recommend working with the shadows and darks a little bit. It might be even easier to do if you switch this image to black and white.
Thanks @David_Johnston - I’m glad you like the scene, but as I said in my post, I didn’t want to hit this with the usual high-contrast b&w treatment. The woods aren’t ominous, scary or bleak places to me, even in winter. They are open, joyous and full of life and wonder. Winter can be airy and light if you catch it on the right day, like the one above.
Got it, got it. I will say I do like this composition a lot. I think the path meandering through the scene works way better than going straight up the middle of the photo.
No prob, @David_Johnston - sometimes we can just skim over things and I do tend to put a lot into my story of the photo. The curves were what stopped me in my tracks on these trails. So many of them and with little hills, too. I’m happy these and others are around.
