Early Snowfall

[Rachel Hollander]

It has been a while since I posted an image in the Landscapes Forum. I spent this past weekend in Estes Park, Colorado. Unfortunately due to the government shutdown we could not get into Rocky Mountain National Park as planned. I tried to make the most of it by photographing the aspens and the elk rut. Fortunately our first morning (Oct. 4) we woke up to snow but not the massive storm that had been predicted at one point. By the next morning the snow was gone except in the highest mountains.

Canon 5D3
70-200 II @ 70mm
1/400
f13
ISO 400
HH, ff, levels, curves, luminosity mask, selective color adjustments, LCE and sharpened in CS6.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Don Railton]

Hello Rachel

Been a bit quite myself although off to NZ again in a few days so hopefully there might be something worthy of posting on my return.

There is a starkness about this image that I find very appealing. IMHO this resonates with the still & cold environment captured here. The large tree in the foreground is a nice anchor for the eye and the yellow zig zag (Aspens?) lead the eye up the mountain nicely. well done..! The shadows or darker sections over the top of the mountain especially have a blue tinge that I am not sure is real..?

regards

DON

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Rachel,

guess now I have to lighten up our fireplace!! :w3

Very nice Landscape, I also do like what Don has mentioned with the tree and yellow zigzag.
My take on this would be, brighten the tree shadows a bit more, led the eye lead over to the zigzag bring you "upstairs" and give the mountains a punch of contrast, just the rock which is visible!
I like this one very much, but not the weather forecast for us over here. Snow too over the weekend :2eyes2:

Have a great day

Ciao Anette

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Don and Anette - The slight blue cast is natural and I did look at removing it before posting but thought the mountain was then too grey. Anette - I'll take a look at your suggestions.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, nice to see you maximising you time in this location and covering both bases in your photography passion.

I keep wanting to move the mountain to the right, taking it 'off centre', but then you loose the tree or the yellow zigzag tree path so not sure if there is an alternative crop? I could be wrong as I'm on the laptop, but bumping a Curves adjustment on the mountain & FG, then a 50% Lumo mask blend brings a bit more depth to the image, WDYT? I'll fire it off to you. You reminded me posting this, I must get round to properly processing the first fall of snow I shot a few weeks ago. :w3

TFS
Steve

[Don Lacy]

Hi Rachel, Wonderful scene here with a strong foreground and I particularly like the Aspens leading up the mountain, and while I can see adding more contrast to the mountain if it's not part of your vision of the scenes I am fine with it as is.

[dankearl]

Rachel, sorry to hear about the lockout.
The scene is a bit flat to me, a bit more contrast and a bit more color saturation on a few areas to give it a bit more oomph
would look good for me.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Steve, Don and Dan, much appreciate the comments and suggestions.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Cheryl Slechta]

Rachel, I like the contrast between the softer grays and the rich golden colors (and I love the zig zag!). Sorry you had to deal with park closures.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Cheryl :wave:

[Carl Walker]

Hi Rachel - I really enjoy this image. It does really look like a painting. To me there seems to be a lot of detail in it and the yellow zig zagging path leading up the mountain adds something to the image. I like that the contrasting changes from the FG through the valley to the top are subtle. I am pretty happy we don't get those cold extreme conditions here:S3:

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Carl, much appreciated.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Rachel, sorry for arriving late...a very nicely captured first snow fall on this scene. I really like the details in the foreground but might add a touch of additional contrast to the mountainside. Sorry to hear about the park closures.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Rachel, I don't mind the comp here, as it's all about the way the yellow jumps out of the snow. I would agree that adding a bit more depth/contrast would enhance this one.
Looking forward to more from your trip!

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Andrew and Morkel