Winters Entrance

Gallery: LandscapePosted November 30, 2012382 views18 comments

I'd say fall is finally turning into winter with intense sunsets to welcome the cold. I know there isn't any snow yet, but here's the reflection I've been mentioning before...

To repeat myself, the color was so intense, and the glow so enveloping, I have to name it the best sunset of the year, at least that I was able to photograph. After running around for about ten minutes, setting up the tripod, switching lenses, I had finally come to this scene, ready to capture it the best I could. That is when I realized I had simply forgot to look around and enjoy the show! I consciously took five seconds to look around and stop shooting. I also took that time to try and memorize what the scene was actually looking like, with the colors, so I could accurately process the images. Don't know how well I did, so that's were you all come in.

I'm not sure what you think, but I thought the 'balls' of, well, I guess, weeds, were interesting enough to add to the foreground. This is a blend of two exposures, and I took thoughts from some previous comments (from my last posts), lightened the clouds on the top left, adjusted colors, etc. I should add that I was extremely careful about the saturation of the colors. I have not boosted any colors here. In some cases, I DE-saturated some.

Here's the specs...

Canon 60d 10-22mm @ 10mm
ISO 100 --- f/13 --- two exposures --- tripod --- no filters

Input greatly appreciated, and please VIEW LARGE!

Comments

18 comments

Comment posted by Kathy Barnhart on November 30, 2012 at 7:27 PM

Beautiful scene, and I like the weeds which are much easier to see in the large view. Sorry, but where is this? I'm still new enough that I don't automatically know where everyone who posts lives. I love the lacey silhouettes of the trees on the left as they decrease in size towards the sun. Really gorgeous piece of work!

Registered on November 11, 2011, 404 Posts, 1639 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on November 30, 2012 at 7:54 PM

Beautiful sky and reflection. Great sunset image. The backlit weeds work here. I would be curious to see one without for comparison, if you did one.

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Alister Benn on November 30, 2012 at 8:05 PM

I like this a lot, the crispness and coldness of the foreground are so well balanced by the wild colors in the rest of the image.. Lovely scene.

Registered on June 9, 2011, 23 Posts, 258 Comments

Comment posted by John Mumaw on November 30, 2012 at 8:46 PM

This is an outstanding capture, Nathan! Thankfully, the luminosity of the weeds is just right. Nature's own vignetting is quite nice and complements the scene perfectly. Pitch perfect job of 'development', too. Excellent work!

Registered on September 9, 2005, 62 Posts, 2289 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on November 30, 2012 at 8:59 PM

Symmetry and light are fantastic here Nathan. Not much else to say except this is view is gorgeous!

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on November 30, 2012 at 9:19 PM

Spectacular color right down to the glow on the weeds. I'm glad you took the time to stop and breath it all in, must have been an incredible moment to witness. Beautiful image.

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by Nathan Apodaca on November 30, 2012 at 9:47 PM

Thanks, all, for the comments!

Kathy--- I live here in Colorado---fun place to be!

Harley---I did not get an image without the weeds---well, at least in this lighting. Chances are I may post a separate image of this sunset (slightly different location, without weeds, still with reflection), captured a bit before this one. It's enough different that it may not fit here, at least for comparison...

John--- Glad to hear it about the luminosity of the weeds. I was really hoping they would retain quite a bit of detail, yet not look unnaturally bright!

Registered on November 16, 2011, 67 Posts, 1127 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on November 30, 2012 at 10:21 PM

Nathan, This is beautiful!...and what a wonderful mood. I love the looks (and Light) on the foreground brush too.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Joseph Campisi on November 30, 2012 at 11:27 PM

Beautiful light and color Nathan! The large version is really nice!

Registered on November 24, 2008, 304 Posts, 3211 Comments

Comment posted by Joel Hazelton on December 1, 2012 at 3:10 AM

Absolutely beautiful- especially the larger version. The textures and patterns here are amazing, a joy to look at and explore.

Registered on August 6, 2008, 194 Posts, 1315 Comments

Comment posted by Natalie Mikaels on December 1, 2012 at 11:40 AM

Nathan, I would say that this image is incredible. I love everything about it from the composition to the color. The "balls of weeds" make a great fg subject, which leads my eye right into the image. I can also appreciate the chaos it sounds like you experienced to find a composition and scout the area. I go through that myself every time I go out shooting, forgetting to just look around and take in the beauty. Well done friend!

Registered on November 3, 2011, 45 Posts, 181 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on December 1, 2012 at 2:29 PM

Nathan,

Awesomely beautiful sunset! Great job with the processing, color and sat look natural to me eye.

"I also took that time to try and memorize what the scene was actually looking like, with the colors, so I could accurately process the images"

That's great! I try to make purposeful mental notes of color and lighting and while most of us don't have photographic memories, I think it's a helpful thing to do and helps with processing.

Wonderful finale!

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on December 1, 2012 at 7:37 PM

What a great light composition. The "enveloping" feel of this is very strong. Very much love the intense colors and the way they wrap around to frame the scene.

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

Comment posted by Mark Metternich on December 1, 2012 at 9:51 PM

Got to love that when it happens! Great reflection and lighting.

Registered on June 19, 2009, 276 Posts, 6240 Comments

Comment posted by Chris Chamberlain on December 2, 2012 at 11:32 AM

I think this is pretty amazing! Like the foreground weeds. I have no suggestions. Excellent!

Chris

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

Comment posted by James Fougère on December 3, 2012 at 12:43 AM

Nice capture

Registered on October 25, 2010, 41 Posts, 831 Comments

Comment posted by Ian Cameron on December 3, 2012 at 6:01 AM

Nathan Its gorgeous the colour's look exactly as I would expect them too, rich per the contrast of the scene with great cold / warm balance. Its funny the more I take photographs the less time I spend looking through my camera to take them and the more time I spend in the field just simply enjoying the show. At the rate I'm going I won't need a camera at all soon. Great to see good dark areas in the picture with little or no shadow detail to discern.

Registered on August 6, 2004, 1125 Posts, 3318 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on December 3, 2012 at 11:59 AM

Gorgeous shot.

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments