First submission

[BillSwindaman]

I really appreciate this forum having a kiddie's posting playgound for us newbies who have never posted photos for critiquing. I hope I didn't mess up too badly in sizing this for posting. I followed one posters suggestion to sharpen the image a bit after resizing, but that caused the file size to grow, so I had to save it at a lower quality. A little amplicifation on that resizing/sharpening process would be helpful.
This photo was made at Lake Mattamuskeet in Eastern NC at sunrise on a foggy AM. Actually, late in the sunrise after the colors were gone, but the fog was still there. I thought it would make for some nice silhouetted images of the cypress trees. I'm still fairly low on the PS learning curve, but I suspect this image might look better if I did some adjustments to remove the slight orage cast (lower temp?) and maybe make the blacks blacker? Any input on the image/composition will also be appreciated.
Bill

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Bill !!!! Big Welcome Sure is a nice start !!!!

Love the created mood Delicate and beautiful Does inspire me to get out and do some landscapes The color is more of a personal preference and should be set at the time of conversion Use the temp slider in ACR or whatever conversion you are using Move it around to taste

I like seeing the fg tree darker but don't like seeing the black totally blocked Some detail in the upper part blacks would have been great Also would have moved around left right if it was possible to fit the fg tree Sure wish there was no overlap with the bg Horizon is in a good position

You could do some tweaking in PS for effect on the back Basically selecting parts and changing Over all very nice Looking forward to more !!!!

[Harold Davis]

great first post, bill. i like it a lot. cant wait to see some more from mattamuskeet!

[George DeCamp]

Hey Bill!

Very nice first post and welcome to BPN!

This is very different than what we usually see....I like it! A little more contrast perhaps or a little playing with levels if you want to play a little may work here. It could be this is the way it will look best but try a few of the suggestions thus far.

Here is a little tweak in levels. Is it better or worse? That is up to you to decide, you are the artist! ;)

[LeeOtsubo]

This is wonderful! I love the subtlety of the colors and light. If anything, I would go for less contrast. It brings out the Asian in me.

In photography there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality. - Alfred Stieglitz

[hal bruce]

Hi Bill, This image has an Oriental feel to it. Like an old Chinese print. Most attractive.
Maybe you were on land or in a boat, but if you could have moved to the left a little you could have had the main subject
against that clear background.. This would have cleared the trees on the left and made the composition much stronger
and more pleasing. Also eliminated the disturbing trees behind the main subject. Very hard to clone it out effectively.
I don't know if your image is large enough, but the group of trees on the right with their reflections would make a serene
composition on their own. Your image has a wonderful feeling of tranquility and artistry. Looking forward to seeing more :)
hal bruce

[Robert O'Toole]

Hi Bill, I like the image and the feel of the low contrast,haze and warm color. I would leave the image as is and experament with color temps as AL Forns suggested. Glad to see your first post keep them coming.



Robert

[Robert Amoruso]

An excellent first post. I agree with the color temp suggestions. When you were creating it, moving to the left to get the FG tree between the opening in the BG tress would have solved the merging problem.

[BillSwindaman]

Thanks for the encouraging comments and taking time to critique my photo. The comments on moving my feet to better place the foreground tree are understood -- the space I was photographing on the shoreline was fairly small so this might require getting my feet wet. But the Lake is generally only a foot or two deep, so I will zip up my rubber boots the next time I go to this spot. I like the lower color temp option too, and will play with that. This sort of venue for critiques is very helpful for a bit of a beginner -- it provides some understandable, specific things for me to think about the next time I go out to shoot. Thanks!