Golden Pond

[Tom Shaffer]

Golden Pond taken at Vedauwoo, Wyoming (between Cheyenne and Laramie).
Camera Sony DSLR A700, f:5.6 at 1/320 ISO 200. 24mm

[Robert Amoruso]

In the right light, this could be a great location to explore, but in this strong, harsh light you have too much going against you.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Tom,
Robert is right on with the light assesment. Did you explore just the lake reflections or the entire scene at an earlier or later hour?

[Tom Shaffer]

Well Roman and Robert you seem to be in lock step in your assessment. However the stream that feeds this beaver pond runs north and south. One side of the stream or the other is in deep shade except when the sun is high in the sky, though in October the angle is low at this time of the year. I take what Mother Nature gives me and make the best of it. I know that a high sun makes for difficult pictures. You all seem to think in terms of rules. Well there are no rules in photography, there are guidelines. One has to adapt the guidelines to the situation. By the way this picture made a sparkling vibrant print. It is an HDR image.

[Roman Kurywczak]

........... I take what Mother Nature gives me and make the best of it. I know that a high sun makes for difficult pictures.
Hey Tom,
OK I'll bite first..........what in your opinion......makes this a pleasing composition? I would like for you to describe which elements make this composition work for you.

You all seem to think in terms of rules. Well there are no rules in photography, there are guidelines. One has to adapt the guidelines to the situation.
Considering I was an art major...I find that quite amusing.........but I do agree about breaking the rules...but composition elements and light are still very important.........so again time of year notwithstanding......what about the fact it was around noon??? Do you find that time of day pleasing??? Mother nature has 24 hours of light in it...........why did you choose noon?

By the way this picture made a sparkling vibrant print. It is an HDR image.
I will take your word for it............but I was judging the jpeg presented.

I look forward to your reply.

[Dave Mills]

No rules or guidelines HUH! IF you don't want to have a critique of your image than you should say so otherwise your image will be critiqued on the"rules and guidelines" that generally make a strong image. Remember, you don't have to accept the critique but also remember the critique is not just for you. There are others looking at the image and learn valuable tips from the critique.
There is one strong guideline in photography. Light is everything!!!!! Generally(I say generally) if you don't have good light your image will suffer.
Famous Saying.."Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder"

[Tom Shaffer]

What do I like about the picture? For starters, the preponderance of the yellow leaves and the bright uplifting colors. The yellow trees on the left catch the eye and lead you to the foreground and up to the Aspens on the right. My eye then ends up on the reflections in the beaver pond. I like the sprinkling of red in the lower left corner because red in the fall in this area is rare (Wyoming). Yellow is the dominant color here. Those yellow bushes in the foreground turned brown in a few days. I managed to catch them at their peak. We have lots of strong wind here and a big blow can strip the Aspens bare in a matter of hours. The picture you see today can be gone tomorrow. The creek that feeds the beaver ponds, Crow Creek, runs approximately NW ? SE and I wanted to avoid deep shadows on either side of the pond. There is no trail along the creek and few opening where you can get a clean shot of the pond and the Aspens even though there are many beaver ponds. Checking the metadata?s date/time stamp, the picture was taken at 3:30 PM SMT, not at high noon at you have assumed. I just checked the accuracy of the time, it is correct within a few minutes. I keep the cameras time on standard time. The fall season is subject to change rapidly here, Vedauwoo is at 8,000 feet. It had already had frost, though is Cheyenne where I live (6,000 ft) we had not had any. Snow commonly falls in early October, though it doesn?t last long.
Yes, it is a jpg you are viewing. I have never been able to get the jpg to look like the tif file. I don?t like them and hardly ever use them. And yes there are no rules, just guidelines to give you perspective. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder! My apologies if my challenge upsets you.