Rio Grande

I went for a painterly feel to this. I wanted to soften up the scene a bit and still preserve the energy of the water flow. This was shot just after sunrise. I started with Simplify, and then did some layers of brush strokes to get a painterly feel. I then stretch parts of the image with NIK's flux to accentuate the textures. Nik's Polaroid transfer provided an interesting tint and evenness on the lighting. lot's of hand applied Tonal Contrast. A bit of shadow work, and here it is.................Looking forward to feedback.

I think this is very well balanced overall, and has a nice painterly feel. I might be curious to see this lightened up just a touch, but as I said, I think it is very well balanced. Just my initial thoughts. I do like it a lot.

Jay, I like the careful framing and your workflow is very interesting. I might try it myself! I'm wondering if blending the edges of the water fall in between the rock area on the left side just a bit might look good too.:S3: It has a lovely painterly look to it.

Good ideas...............here's a bit brighter RP, with blend.

Jay,

Greetings. I like the overall feel and look. The composition seems a little tight to me, my eye is drawn to the green branches and less to the water (but it wants to go to the water). The color and texture work well for me.

Our posts crossed... The repost brings out the water more and it doesn't seem as tight... Good show!

Cheers,

-Michael-

Hey Jay,
Way to go with the tweak suggestions! Works for me and the painterly effect you achieved works very well with the scene!!!

I love the repost. A great composition and a great job on all the effects you incorporated. My eye finds lots of interesting textures, planes of light, and colors to look at, all unified by the exquisite water flow. Funny thing, I really like that tiny rock that bridges the gap between the boulders in the foreground!

Nancy, thanks for kind words.....................funny thing, it was that little rock stuck between the boulders that first caught my interest. I hung around there for a bit thinking about, among other things, what are the odds that a rock the perfect size would find its way downstream and lodge between those boulders. Of course, I am amused by such stuff! :S3:

Jay, the repost knocks it out of the park for me....nice capture!:cheers:

Hi Jay, the repost is very nicely done. I too like the careful framing of this woodland scene. Very, very nice!

A fairytale image for sure. Like the repost.

Thanks everyone................great suggestions to getting the most out of this image:S3: