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Paul Marcellini
09-07-2008, 09:25 PM
From a few weeks back. Every time I go into the cypress, I have more appreciation for Clyde Butcher's work. What a hard place to organize. The underwater vegetation is what initially caught my eye and I spent more time on it, with no keepers. Then this scene presented itself. Not a grand scene, or dramatic sky, but a type of image I find more satisfaction in creating. This is not there yet, but that will take a lot of time wandering the swamp.

Thanks for looking,
Paul

20d, 10-22@12mm f13 iso200 1/4s polarizer

Kaushik Balakumar
09-08-2008, 03:22 AM
Lovely image of a difficult situation Paul. You've placed the elements well in this image. Liked the greens a lot especially the weeds in water which u've used well to ur advantage. The lower-left-corner look a bit soft (perhaps due to movement in water) which is not such a big deal. That apart, I might crop a bit off the bottom - say about 5mm to 8mm (just until above ur signature) so that the bottom edge which has some intermittent bright areas could be removed and this would also bring the foreground schrub-like growth down 'closer' to RoT.
But this is purely a personal choice. Have illustrated the crop below...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3210/2838596323_58ffc55776_o.jpg

Robert Amoruso
09-08-2008, 11:40 AM
I give you credit Paul on your compositions. Many probably do not understand how hard this is. I bought a bunch of Clyde Butcher's books to study the compositional technique as I still struggle with doing the Florida Landscape.

Douglas Bolt
09-08-2008, 01:49 PM
I've not had much experience with FL landscapes, but this one it looks pretty good to me.

I did wonder if the 12mm lens pointed at a pretty healthy angle down from level might not be "confusing" the viewer's ability to imagine the location. I did a perspective crop to bring in the sides at the bottom to correct the distortion a bit. Of course, capture from horizontal (pointing the camera with the wide angle lens at the horizon and then throwing away the top half of the image) would be a better test of this hypothesis.

And, I did boost the saturation of the yellows just a little.

Maurice Allen
09-08-2008, 05:48 PM
I love it!!

Paul Pagano
09-09-2008, 05:40 AM
Well done. An excellent candidate for b&w as well I think.

Roman Kurywczak
09-09-2008, 12:22 PM
Hey Paul,
I do know how hard this actually is.......Is this by Clydes gallery along 41 ???........or just along the road? If it is.......I've passed it a million times with much less success than you have achieved. Since you have been given a variety of options.......what the heck.......I'll give you another (I'll be exploring something like this when I get down there in Dec.). I felt you captured the mood of the swamp very well.....but thee bright spots were drawing my eye a bit........so I cropprd out the sky entirely.........and burned the brighter spots in the water and a few clone/healing brush clean up's. Gettign rid of the sky entirely helped IMO get a more cypress swamp feel. I'll be interested to get your take on the post.

Paul Marcellini
09-09-2008, 04:20 PM
Thanks for all the comments guys.

Kaushik, I didn't really see much difference to the image. I do like Roman's crop and that puts the airplant even further off rot, so it becomes even less important there. Thanks for the comments and time though.

Doug, I like the change in perspective but obviously that would destroy detail to alter it that much. Something to keep in mind for next time.

Roman, thanks for all the little details. i think it really takes it a step better. Especially eliminating the sky.

This is off Loop Road, much easier to explore, as it is a dirt road and cars don't go by at 70. I want to return so we can set up to go one day while you are down.

Thanks again,
Paul

Joanna Trescott
09-09-2008, 10:44 PM
Paul. I love that Loop Road...you really did a great job capturing a difficult shot. I have found shooting with that wide an angle with trees in the picture creates a whole new set of problems. When do those airplants bloom? The red always adds alot to the shot.