Heron Pond

I always love shots of Cypress swamps and this is no exception. I like the processing choice of the pastel tones over the lush green banner.

Matthew,

Awesome Image. Very nice composition. Cypess Swamps is a place I'd love to shoot someday. Nice work and welcome to NPN.

Interesting, different image. I particularly like the foreground. Looks like an interesting place to shoot. I would not have guessed Illinois. Good first post.

Truly wonderful image. Love the details everywhere. Great depth in the composition but not too much clutter - a rare combination in the woods and swamps. Well done!

Welcome to NPN Matthew, and fantastic first post! I love the Cypress swamps (haven't been myself, but very much want to!), and this is a great rendition. Great job ordering the chaos, and the green and falls colors contrast beautifully. Looks like a little more web sharpening or less compression would help a little - a helpful little article: web sharpening.

Nice shot. I'm partial to dark images, so I'd perhaps put a vignette around it. Otherwise, it's very interesting.

The south seems to be the most neglected place for fall color or least one of them. This is evidence of that! I like all the colors harmoniously intertwining themselves there Matthew.

Welcome Mathew to NPN! Beautiful first post, so many fabulous colors and textures to study in this image. IMO the yellow leaves at the top add a special significance to this comp, that whole thin tree on the oblique angle really brings this whole thing together for me. It seems a little bright however, I would play with underexposing it if it were my image.

Well done,

Shane

Welcome to NPN and the ES&S Gallery Matthew! Great to have you hear and we look forward to your images and participation.

Another thumbs up for a very nicely captured cypress swamp image. I like the vertical comp and the soft and varied color throughout.

No real nitpicks, but would agree with a couple things already mentioned. Take a look at our web sharpening technique. the larger version is pretty good, so there is most likely some compression going on. And if mine, I would drop the overall brightness a hair, less than 1/2 stop. And lastly, no one has mentioned this, but to me some of the trunks look to be a little on the magenta side; very slight and in all fairness, a personal choice/taste thing.

Welcome aboard.

Lon

I recognized this immediately. Nice, Matthew. I agree with a few of the comments...a bit bright and perhaps more sharpening. I'm wondering about the pastel color. I don't remember Heron Pond as pastel. Perhaps we have just visited at different times of the day. Anyway, welcome to NPN. You'll find this is a great family of photographers with lots of support. Looking forward to seeing more from around Shawnee Forest and the cache river area.

The color makes this one bloody brilliant!

Really enjoying the combination of colors and shapes her Matthew. The softer colors work wonders together.
Nice capture.

very nice image, Matthew. I like the comp and the vertical orientation. I was there a couple of times about 10 years ago. Wonderful place.

This is real nice/beautiful! I don't know if this is all ambient light, but I think you could add a little shadow/midtone adjustment. It's gorgeous as is, so either way. The fall color is sweet.

Oh yeah, what's a tupelo?

Chris

Welcome here, Matthew. Nice first post with a very well balanced composition. Not a lot of things to criticize - they all have been mentioned before. Enjoy your stay here.

Hi Matthew,

Terrific first post and welcome to NPN! This is an otherwordly scene and I enjoy your composition very much. All those pointed little tree stumps reminds me of the medieval times for some reason. I agree with what many of the others have already - and for what it's worth - I find the image slightly oversaturated for my tastes. The green moss growing on the main tree looks a little blue and the trunks are a bit purple looking. If it were mine, I'd try to render them a more natural grey. Again, this is a personal preference and I think this is an awesome shot even as is. Thanks for sharing.

Michael

Welcome to NPN - I like this a lot! The trunks give it some great lines and those shapes in the foreground really give this a unique look.

Thanks so much to everyone for your feedback. I agree that underexposing helps significantly (as does removing the magenta cast). Chris, tupelo's are trees of the genus Nyssa, common to the swamps of the southern US (had to look that up).