Catatoga Lake

For the days around my son's wedding in western North Carolina, my brother rented an incredible lodge overlooking this lake. During my walk down the trail to see a reasonably nice waterfall downstream of the dam that forms the lake, I found this scene. Well, found and -- to a minor extent -- staged it.

Nikon D3S, 16mm fisheye, f/22, ISO 200, -2 stop exposure compensation, nine-exposure HDR at 1 EV intervals

processing

• Nik HDR Efex for a good histogram
• cropped right side for composition
• Topaz Simplify -- Watercolor II preset
• four Photo Filter adjustment layers -- 1 warm, 2 cool, 1 underwater; all masked, various blend modes and opacities
• Nik Color Efex -- Tonal Contrast and Darken/Lighten Center presets, partially masked from sky, reduced opacity
• Alien Skin Snap Art -- modified watercolor preset with increased color variability, Color blend mode, reduced opacity (This could be the start of something new.)
• Curves -- three masked layers, toning and contrast (all connected in one way or another with the chair)
• five B&W layers -- two Fractalius, Topaz Simplify edges, Alien Skin Snap Art Stylize Line Art; some reduced opacities, all at Multiply blend mode except one Alien Skin at Divide
• gradient vignette

So very relaxing...nice use of several layers to create the effect. I like that the sky "triangle" is in the lake because it hhelps break up the fass of green. And though the chair is basically brown, it has some blue tinges that help tie to the sky. I see a vertical line just above the left edge of the chair's far right board. Seems a bit strange. I like the one lone tree on the mtn, too.

Dennis, looks like a great place to hang out! Very peaceful scene and a lot of nice filter work. I haven't tried Alien Skin yet but I've seen some good results. Hazel has a good point about the vertical line above the chair - should be an easy fix:S3:

I really like your processing--you have mastered this beautiful look that has a painterly feel with definition. The first thing I noticed was how the top of the chair paralleled the top of the trees---nice touch. Second, I noticed the blue and green pallets--soothing. It allows the tan chair to be noticed without disrupting the harmony of the scene.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Anita Bower

. . . The first thing I noticed was how the top of the chair paralleled the top of the trees . . .

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Thanks, Anita, for all your comments. I'm glad you picked up on the top of the chair and the trees. That's the staging I did before taking the shot.

Dennis - what a great relaxing scene. Love the colors and your processing. I also like the pov it makes me feel like I'm sitting in a chair right behind the one pictured. Well done.

TFS,
Rachel

Dennis, I really like what is becoming your "signature" look that you achieve with your multiple layers of processing! The fisheye lens gives you a wonderful gentle curve to all the layers and colors. Very relaxing and peaceful...ah, to be there now...

I love, love, the processing and the painterly look. I love that you got just high enough to have the distant woods cover the top of the chair back....

I like the darken/lighten center to bring your eye to the center of the frame, but wasn't too sure about the trees in the UL and UR, but I think it adds to the intimacy of the photo.