Snow Penciled + Repost

Gallery: LandscapePosted January 4, 2011182 views14 comments

Sorry I have been missing in the forum for a long time. My work keeps me traveling with no much time to photograph or work on my photography.

In the last month or so, I was able to combine my family trips with some photography, so I will be posting some of those. In 2011, I will try to make my time for photography and hopefully being more active here.

We spent the new year's weekend in Lake Tahoe, where it snowed a lot during the time. So, I woke up early and photograph this area near Fallen Leaf Lake and photograph while snowing. In the large size image you can hopefully see the streaks of snow falling, creating the effect of a pencil strokes in the image. On purpose I increased the ISO to get the detail of the snow falling.

Any comments, input or critique for improvement always appreciated.

Nikon D700, 70-200mm at 180mm
1/15 secs @ f/16, ISO 800

Comments

14 comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on January 4, 2011 at 9:40 PM

This is so nice Edward! I just kept exploring the larger version, finding more and more beauty. Absolutely beautiful.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Chris Chamberlain on January 4, 2011 at 10:46 PM

Edward, That is gorgeous! I love the snow caked against the tree trunks, and the elegant composition. Very nice!

Chris

Registered on March 13, 2007, 500 Posts, 8365 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on January 4, 2011 at 11:07 PM

Very graphic with the strong verticals and lots of different snow shapes. While the cool color balance looks natural, I could see playing it a bit warmer to see how it looks.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Zack Clothier on January 5, 2011 at 12:26 AM

Beautiful wintry scene Edward, the falling snow adds so much to this as does the snow on the trees. Large version is even better! I agree with Tony on the slightly warmer WB.

Registered on January 28, 2010, 343 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by Edward Nunez on January 5, 2011 at 1:16 AM

Thanks for the comments... here a version a little bit warmer! Let me know if this works better

Registered on April 19, 2007, 65 Posts, 711 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Richter on January 5, 2011 at 5:41 AM

The composition is impressive with the trunks contrasting to the tiny twigs, wonderfully balanced. I especially like the second version, as it has a much more natural look; in the first version I was distracted by the blue shade.

Peter

Registered on November 10, 2010, 218 Posts, 2723 Comments

Comment posted by Raymond D Smith on January 5, 2011 at 9:15 AM

I really like that you have captured the snow falling Edward. I also like the graphic nature of the framing.I don't see much difference in WB between the too pics. Could be a browser thing, I also could see lightening the lights a little. Cheers

Registered on January 22, 2009, 12 Posts, 479 Comments

Comment posted by Lori Kincaid on January 5, 2011 at 11:47 AM

Love the composition, Edward. The blue tones have a nice wintry feeling, but I also like a more graphic depiction with some good, clean whites receding into soft blues in the background. It's a simple change--I can show you what I mean if you'd like me to post an edited version.

Lori

Registered on November 15, 2003, 90 Posts, 2033 Comments

Comment posted by Edward Nunez on January 5, 2011 at 11:50 AM

Lori, Please go ahead... I'll be glad to learn.

Registered on April 19, 2007, 65 Posts, 711 Comments

Comment posted by Dietrich Gloger on January 5, 2011 at 11:59 AM

Works very well for me Edward! The composition is very nicely made, and the snow adds an extra appeal and dimension. I did not mind the originally cool color, but there was a cyan cast that is also much less in the repost.

Registered on January 26, 2007, 360 Posts, 9876 Comments

Comment posted by Lori Kincaid on January 5, 2011 at 1:18 PM

Okay here it is, Edward. This is a different look from your original post and may not be what you have in mind, but to me it has a cleaner, fresher feel. I did a screen grab of your image and then used a threshold layer to find and set a color sample point on one of the brightest points in the foreground. I then canceled out of the threshold layer and opened the white point tool dialog box in a curves adjustment layer. Next, I set the white point target color by control-clicking on the color sample point, kept the resulting L (luminosity) value, and changed the a and b values to zero. Next step was to close the dialog box, save the new target colors as defaults, and then click again on the color sample point with the white point tool. This adjusts the RGB channels to eliminate any color cast in the white point while maintaining the luminosity of your color sample point. That's it, except for a minor adjustment in the opacity of the curves adjustment layer to make sure no highlights are burned out.

Lori

Registered on November 15, 2003, 90 Posts, 2033 Comments

Comment posted by Floris van Breugel on January 5, 2011 at 10:14 PM

Lovely snowy scene, Edward. I like the pencil sketch look. I do like Lori's repost, though I would bring a little blue cast in (see Guy Tal's recent blog post) - but be careful not to bring in a cyan cast, which the original has. The blue will help retain that cold feeling, but it looks more natural than cyan.

Registered on December 19, 2008, 306 Posts, 4840 Comments

Comment posted by Edward Nunez on January 6, 2011 at 12:44 PM

Thanks everybody for the comments, and suggestions.

Lori, I like your post, and I will work some of that into my final image. Thanks, really appreciated!

Registered on April 19, 2007, 65 Posts, 711 Comments

Comment posted by Vance Gese on January 6, 2011 at 10:53 PM

Outstanding, beautiful image. Wonderful composition, textures, and mood. Remarkable work.

Registered on November 13, 2008, 298 Posts, 6629 Comments