Creekbed Reflections

[Julie Kenward]

Alright you mighty landscape photographers - I need your help. Is this too dark overall? It was taken today in the woods not far from my home and it looks how I remember it but maybe I need to lighten it up a little anyway? I just can't decide.

Canon 40D, EF 70-200mm f/4L
f7/1 @ 1/30th, ISO 400
Manual Mode, Pattern metering
Processed in ACR & CS4 - Small crop and levels adjustment

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Jules,
Hope I can live up to such high praise;),,,,,,,but here goes........i burned in all the lighter areas first...........then lightened the whole thing with levels slighly. Did a local contrast adjustment USM 25/35/0.........only on the 2 leaves..........added more pop overall.
Look for larger color pools to try even more of the reflection shots..........withough at much sky........but the burning boosted the color also. You may also try popping the leaes with a bit of fill flash........just be careful of the angle to the water..........so you don't get the reflection back.

[Ed Cordes]

Repost is much better. I would make the leaves less centered.

[Dave Mills]

Your center of interest are the leaves but with all the reflections and shadows it distracts the viewer from that center of interest. I have found that the simpler the composition the stronger it is. I would suggest not trying to get so much in the image but concentrate on a simpler composition. Leaves and reflections can be quite beautiful together when the two compliment each other.

[Robert Amoruso]

Julie,

I like the idea of going in tighter here as suggested.

Polarizer filter can be a big help too with these types of image.

[Bruce Murden]

Julie, the colors in the repost pop better, but I'm with DMills and Robert on a tighter comp. You can also play around with hieght of the camera relative to the scene, to get the leaves against different BG. I'm attracted to the sky blue reflections, but they are a different subject than the leaves -- and perhaps you look at a reflection-only comp when you're someplace like this.

[Kaushik Balakumar]

To be honest I'm not sure if this image works for me. More than the exposure aspect, it is the composition & elements of interest which I feel the image lacks. The reflections look too random & aggressive on eyes. Perhaps getting closer, trying other angles or may be long exposures might work. Just my thoughts...