One last snow?

[David Kennedy]

Canon 5D, 400mm f/4 DO + 1.4x TC, 1/13 sec. @ f/8, ISO 800
Racine, Wis.

Captured this evening--probably a little too late as the light was leaving quickly, but this was in the back yard and I noticed this while we were eating dinner. I couldn't just rush off! I'm in the process of editing the image but thought I would share it as I haven't yet decided what direction in which to take this one. I know that the little "blip" on the left edge needs to be eliminated as its distracting. Should I make the branches darker / black or leave them with some detail (as presented)? Suggestions much appreciated!

[Alfred Forns]

Its probably just and "optional" illusion but there seems to be a lot of tree under the snow !!! I think it would work out better with a simple tree pattern?

[David Kennedy]

The scale certainly doesn't translate very well. There's only about one foot of snow , with three feet of branches in the image.

[Robert Amoruso]

David,

I like it with some tones in the branches. I like the colors in the branches as presented now. A higher contrast presentation would be interesting as well as some midtone expansion. I have begun messing around with mid-tone masks to do this so I am no pro yet with that technique. If you do it, let us know how you did it.

Very simple composition but it works very well. Your more subtle tonal presentation suits it well too.

[David Kennedy]

OK, this repost is actually a different frame. I decided that I liked it ever so slightly better than the one I posted yesterday. New treatments in Photoshop but mostly Curves & Selective Color masked to a few areas. It's 80% Lightroom.

Avoiding the temptation to turn the tree black was hard, but I think this is far better without the contrast that sort of change would introduce. For some reason, I've really been turned onto low-contrast scenes. I think I can blame Artie for my new-found love of cloudy days. But for landscapes! :eek: