THEME - Bosque Reflections

[Cheryl Slechta]

Before the snowfall at Bosque in November this was a scene taken from the South Loop Road. I used an Orton effect on this one but then sharpened the mountains in the background a bit.

[Dennis Bishop]

Cheryl, this is beautiful. The contrast between the warm oranges and cool blues is wonderfully inviting -- very Impressionistic and nicely proportioned with more warm color. You have tremendous framing and leading lines with the diagonal background trees in the upper right, the reflections in the lower right, the short vegetation in the lower left, and the shoreline and trees farther up on the left side. You positioned yourself nicely to get the reflection of the mountain peak where it is. And your sharpening of the mountains provided some more good contrast. It's well-photographed and processed. Give yourself a pat on the back.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Thanks, Dennis. It was really hard getting a good angle to shoot from - I took many, many shots and I liked this one the best.

[David Kenny]

Cheryl,

I like the photo, composition and processing but I find the bright areas actually hurt my eyes.It could be my monitor or I could be I am senstive to light.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Hi, David, thanks for the comment. Ortons can sometimes get very bright (oversaturated I guess). Here's another version - maybe it will address your concern. I did a duplicate layer using the Multiply blend mode at about 60%. Still saturated but not as bright.

Cheryl,

I like the photo, composition and processing but I find the bright areas actually hurt my eyes.It could be my monitor or I could be I am senstive to light.

[David Kenny]

Yes that is better. I really like this version. Good Work.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Thanks, David, I like it better also

Yes that is better. I really like this version. Good Work.

[Anita Bower]

Cheryl: you have mastered the Orton Effect. Love the results. As Dennis wrote--excellent composition. I, too, like the contrast between the warm and cool colors. I love the look or the leaves. The elements in the image create graceful curves that allow my eye to move around the image.
I'm conflicted between the OP and the reworked one. I like the darker blues/cool colors, but think the warm colors are a bit too dark in the new version. Maybe masking the vegetation in the second version? Either one is excellent.

[LinzRiverBalmer]

Very nice Cheryl and one of my favorite areas of the Bosque.

My only critique really is that I wish the main trees were kept more "real" if that makes sense maybe less Norton effect just on them but I'm not familiar with it that much.

The rest is so peaceful.... I get the feeling you loved being at the Bosque, great photos lately

[Jackie Schuknecht]

I like the OP Cheryl, but might try darkening the water just a bit. I like the processing, and your subject, it is a very peaceful scene.

[Dennis Bishop]

I agree with Jackie. With the greater intensity of the oranges in the re-post, I don't think the image is as well-balanced, and I don't get the same appreciation of the beauty of the scene as I do in the original post. If I were going to modify the original to tone down the light areas, I'd opt for something like this in which all the changes are restricted to the sky and water.

[Anita Bower]

Dennis' version is what I had in mind.

[Diane Miller]

Yes, I think Dennis' interpretation is good.

There are several (or several dozen if you count all the tweaks) ways to simulate the Orton effect in a digital capture, which was originally done with a slide sandwich where one was OOF. Using two exposures gives a more organic feel to the result compared to just blurring one layer. Try shooting two shots of the same scene with one OOF (use closer focus for a landscape to get more effect) but it takes some experimentation to know how much. If you're on a tripod you can bracket several. If handheld you need to shoot the two quickly to minimize camera movement. If you're using back button focus it's easy: manually defocus and shoot one, then quickly hit the focus button and shoot a sharp one.

You can leave both at normal exposure and combine them as layers with the top one in Overlay, Soft Light or Hard Light mode.

Tweak the brightness and contrast of each layer as needed -- a heavy-handed application of Curves (bringing up the black end and down on the white end) can be easiest but you may need Shadows-Highlights, depending on the blending mode.