A Dusting of Autumn Snow

A grand and beautifully composed landscape.  The splatter of color front to back is wonderful, as is the streaks of light you mention.  The sprinkling of snow in the foreground adds another nice element.  

Nothing to be critical of here.  Of course I usually have suggestions of one degree or another, so why change now?    I'm always for small and subtle changes that could make an image even better than it already is.  And that little thing here would be the pine branch tips on the lower left edge.  It's not an issue that they're there, because subject, details and things help them blend in so that's not an issue.  What I would suggest though would be to selectively (paint) some desaturation so those bright yellow/greens don't attract the eye as much.  At least for me.  Very minor indeed.  

A grand landscape - well done by the way utilizing the vertical comp.

Lon

 

A beautiful landscape with an incredible cornucopia of color.  I find the tree in the right center a little distracting but it is a matter of choice.  I am less bothered by the saturation because it seems to meld with the image.

Beautiful image, Wayne. Well composed, with lots to look at enjoy. I especially like the foreground with the myriad of colors spinkled with snow.  

Hi  Wayne    You captured this colorful scene  wonderfully well. ..      the diverse colors and form  really hold  our attention...like David  commented.  the  saturated colors work well with this landscape.

Albert  Darmo
Canada

Gorgeous Wayne!  Love the light and that dusting of snow.

This is a nice grand landscape, but I find my eye wandering around. Given that, you might consider cropping some of the immediate foreground and desaturating the pine needles as Lon mentioned. I'd also like to see more detail in the brightest areas in the clouds, if possible. The color looks nice, and I like the sunlight on the trees.

--P

Lots of fine detail to enjoy in this one.  The FG snow look a little like lichen that I see in these alpine areas.  A busy image that I think holds together pretty well.  The center tree interrupts the scene a little bit for me.  There is some funky banding in the sky, especially on the right side.Really nice color palette. 

This is simply fantastic, Wayne. The view is spectacular as is the lighting. I love all those autumn details in the FG. I have to make it to the Adirondacks one of these days for fall.

Ed

Thanks everyone.  As usual, you gave me some great ideas for improvement.

RE: the dead tree, right of center.  It's part of the character of this ridge, and it's illegal to fell any tree -- living or dead on Adirondack Forest Preserve land, so I don't do that -- even "virtually."  ;^)

RE: crop from the bottom?  My first version of this was actually a 4x5 crop, eliminating some of the bottom.  After did that, I compared it to this full-frame version and decided this was more exciting to me, even if more busy.

RE:  Pine needles on left border.  I cloned them out in the 4x5 version, but left them in here since they seemed to fit in with the busy foreground OK.  Toning down the the brightness and saturation of those needles is a great compromise idea.  THANKS.

RE:  "some funky banding in the sky, especially on the right side."  THANKS TO HARRY for noticing that!  After I decided to revert to the whole frame instead of the 4x5 crop, I did a quick tweak to punch up the the saturation and contrast -- too quick!  Easy fix.

RE:  Harry's comment "The FG snow look a little like lichen that I see in these alpine areas."  I probably should have mentioned that the "dusting of snow" was pretty sparse -- just little flecks on the red and green leaves.  If you can't see the fine details it's hard to tell that the more solid white stuff in the foreground is REINDEER LICHEN, which is common on the alpine tundra ecosystem, but it's delicate and slow growing, so it can disappear from popular, heavily trampled areas.  I really like the heavy growth of reindeer lichen on this steep, off-trail ridge, (as well as the blueberry plants) so I am careful not to step on it.  Including it in the composition was important to me, so I should have mentioned it. 

RE:  Ed's comment " I have to make it to the Adirondacks one of these days for fall."  If any of you want to visit, the last few days of September, and early October can be spectacular.  I'll be happy to point out some good spots, or even be your guide if you can put up with the world's slowest hiker!  :D   I am usually the first one to start up a mountain in the dark, but I often get passed on the way up.  The last time I trudged up this mountain before dawn, I was passed by two college-age girls out for their morning RUN!  (Made me feel like a tree, but I'm OK with that.)

Wayne,
This is beautifully composed with a lot of depth. Processing looks spot on. I like the way the image is framed by the two evergreens.

Wayne, this is a terrific view, with the snow in the foreground, the mixed light and fall colors leading into the distance and a fine sky that sets off the distant peaks very well.