Jan. 2016 GOTM

My favorite, Lon.  Love the colors, comp, exposure, sharpness of the leaves, most excellent

Stunning scene Lon.  Blue and Gold is always a winner for me.  Only nit (and not something you could do about with out disturbing the scene is the lower left branch.  It adds tension to the scene but something I wish was not there.  But none the less a great intimate scene of which the real star is the golden glow on the water.

Beautiful image, Lon. Well composed/balanced for the leaf covered rock and reflected light. Excellent job on the processing (exposure, colors, and detail). I do agree with Eva about the stick. My first impression was that the image would be cleaner without it and I wished it was not there. However, on closer study, I do like the stick's reflection and the leaf pressed against the stick.  

Love this one, except for the stick. Beautiful light, colors and scene. For some reason, that stick really pulls my eye to it and clamps it there.

Beautiful picture, with something poetic! Effective composition and good light. I agree with the others for the branch on the left, from the point of view of the optimal composition. In reality, often, you can not move these items.

Well, let's be original and say that the stick is a bit out of place in my eyes.... Still a beautiful scene though!

Absolutely gorgeous colors and textures, Lon!  Getting down low really paid off with that golden glow that not only completes a harmonious palette, but also creates a nice compositional element, fading out on the top.  As far as the branch goes, I always say, this it Nature photography, not studio photography.  Hey, without branches, there would be no leaves!

 The blue and gold triangles separated by the curves and the water tongues really make this work well.  The rock with the leaves just anchors the whole image.  Too bad you can't clone the stick....

Thanks for the feedback folks.  I expected the issue with the stick. It bothered me at the time of capture too.  I should have followed my own advice of "border patrol" and passed on the scene  I could have removed the stick, but it was wedged in there pretty good and of course most of the leaves would have washed away too.  

Just for grins, here is my first attempt at processing the scene.  It's a little darker, but the reason I'm posting is to show the leaf debris in the corner.  I had 2 thoughts. The first, it's still a distraction, and more so with added leaves/stems, OR does this original crop mitigate the distraction because more is included?  Regardless, the fundamental problem remains - the stick leads/pulls the eye out of the frame.  

This won't see print and thanks for the feedback to confirm my thoughts on this.  Maybe next year I'll return. It's a great spot anyway...

Thanks!

I like this Lon. Lovely colors.

Hi  Lon    Looks like the stick helped  land  some leaves  on the rock.,  making this scene so fine  to view....   .  like wayne said. without branches, there would  be  no leaves.   love the spectacular  colors in this  delightful scene.

Albert Darmo
Canada

A mix of my favourite colours blue and yellow.  Love the reflected light in the water both from what I assume to be sunlit foilage and from a clear sky.  The leaves trapped on the rock are good.  I was surprised to see so many largely green leaves getting caught up.  I too am not crazy about the stick but short of yanking it out assuming it was even in reach and running the risk of disturbing all those leaves, I suspect you did the best you could.

PS. written prior to reading both your further comments and those of your other visitors.

Love the color combo, Lon.  Having read the other posts, I would say I agree with what has been said.  I am viewing on an IPad  so expanding and playing with different crops is very easy.  I found the stick less of an issue when cropped up to the bend of the stick.  It may place the rock and leaves a little low in the frame but I like it.

This is really beautiful Lon.  Just wish that stick wasn't there.

Honestly, the stick doesn't bother me that much.  Sure, I guess if it hadn't been there, or if you could have easily removed it without disturbing the leaves, that would have been ideal.  But you framed the image nicely to make the best of it being there as well as its reflection.  I like the silky yellow/gold reflections.  What seems to my eye to be a little bit of a distraction is the darker straight reflection along the right border of the image.  It sort of disrupts the horizontal flow of the composition.

Both of them are just lovely, Lon.  I can't make a pick.  Perhaps with two prints to look at...

- Dan

The light, color, and detail here are very nice, Lon. I love the blue and gold. I am on the fence with the branch, though. The textures of the leaves and in the water are excellent, and you did a nice job with the blend.

--P

Very beautiful Lon! Water's surface, color gradient, placement of the rock in the frame and those leaves look all great.  Before I read the other's comment, I wanted to continue my first sentence with a but.. that stick. But someone told me that a but invalidates everything said before. So, yes I did not like the stick that much, it really takes away from the "perfect" rest.

Maybe I'm not as picky as some. The stick does not bother me.  I love the more surreal quality here.  Nice job.