early snow in Connecticut

[Gary Hamilton]

Snow starts to collect on the foliage from a big storm today in New England. We are expecting 10 inches in parts of Connecticut. Heavier snow image to follow. (Image was previously posted in landscape forum in error.)

Canon 1D mk iii
Canon 70-200 f/2.8 IS
ISO 500
1/30th
f/6.3
HH

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www.garyhamiltonphotos.com (http://www.garyhamiltonphotos.com/)

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Gary. This is a very nice image showing the mix of seasons. I like the colors, the vertical comp works well here as does the diagonal of the stem, and your subject is nicely separated from the background. I like the streaks in the background which indicate that the snow is still falling (but that is subjective and other folks may prefer to see them cloned away). Very well done!

[Julie Kenward]

Gary, I think there are two things you could do to improve upon what you have here. First, cropping down the image so just the lower branch is in the photo (as that is where the best sharpness occurs) and, second, lighten up the darker areas in the BG so they don't detract as much from the lovely colors you have here. You've got great "bones" here...and a very nice exposure - just need a few tweaks to really make it shine.

[Ken Childs]

Hey Gary, this would be nice without the snow but the snow adds the little extra that makes it much more interesting. Since I had Photoshop open, I just implemented the changes suggested by Jules and they really do make this a much stronger image. You'll need to do a little cloning work at the top to remove the partial leaves that the crop will give you but it's well worth the effort. :S3:

[Gary Hamilton]

Thanks for your comments and suggestions. I have cropped it and lightened the background and I like the result.