Cold, foggy morning

[Nancy Bell]

In the winter ducks & geese will congregate in this stream as it rarely freezes due to the sewage treatment plant nearby. The down side is that it is very difficult to get the ducks in sharp focus since steam is always unpredictably rising, and usually right in front of the duck I am focusing on! So I decided to work with what I had and take images such as this instead of the single, close-up.

To the original I used a pre-set in the toned collection from Topaz Adjust 5. Then I added a bit of brightness in PS with the brightness/contrast control.

[Dennis Bishop]

I'd like to see the blacks toned down to show more detail in the shadows, but this is wonderful. I love the mist, and the sweep of the stream in relation to the frame is great. How in the world did you ever get the ducks to distribute themselves so well? The group at the top and the solitary ones at the bottom lead the eye very nicely through the image. It really works in black and white.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Nancy, this image works beautifully well in black and white and I love the fogginess. It would be great for Asian Week also I'm not sure about the foliage in the lower left corner - let's see what others think. Actually, this would make a gorgeous triptych. Or the two ends would be especially lovely as oriental scrolls.

[Nick Palmieri]

Very nice composition and the fog/mist is really works. Nice job.

[Mark Fuge]

Nice image and application, Nancy.

Like the fog effect.

[Nancy Bell]

Thanks all! Dennis, I'll experiment with the blacks. I do very little b&w and am glad for the feedback. Cheryl, that foliage in the lower left corner also caught my eye and I had removed part of it. I think your suggestion of removing all of it will balance nicely with the other side. I'll have to keep that oriental thought in mind.

[Anita Bower]

This is a good image for the current theme. I like the mist, the B&W conversion, the composition.

[Paul Lagasi]

Very nice, looks cold, love the composition..TFS

I finally booked for Chicken Run in Colorado, will be in Karval for Mountain Plovers on 15th of April, then Gunnison at Waunita site on the morning of the 17th. Hope the weather is nice.