Ghost Forest

Beautiful, the trees have a very soft, ghost like appearance, the grasses are gorgeous, well done, Thomas.

This is VERY appealing.  I like your composition quite a bit, and the scene itself is just beautiful.  Excellent capture.  Just wondering, do you have any using a slower shutter speed in order to blur the water a bit?

Gorgeous image Thomas
just curious to know if you applied any filters in post processing 

Nice imaging, Thomas.  I like the soft light you finally found.  Fascinating how natural disasters often make interesting images.

Indeed, a very appealing image to me as well. Well crafted and processed! 

I like this image very much. I suppose this effect was achieved using the Clarity slider? I feel that this image is mostly about the trees and not the creek. I would crop off some of the bottom so that the bottom of the tree are 2/3rds of the way down from the top of the frame.  

Thanks for all the feedback. Bill, I didn't use a slow shutter speed, though the water does look strangely blurred. I think it's the strong light reflecting off the water from the bright clouds in the background. Krunal, to acheive the soft look, I duplicated the background layer, raised the brightness and contrast of the top layer, applied a slight gaussian blur to it, and then lowered the opacity of the top layer to around 15%. It's an effect I really like for certain images, but the fact that everyone noticed it tells me I need to reprocess the image with less of the effect. 

Tom,  this is a fine look at this mix of grasses, trees, and creek.  Love the combination of colors and in the grasses set off so nicely by the stark white of the silicated tree trunks.  All the vertical lines of the trees makes a fine graphical change of pace wrt the grass. The touch of "glow" that you've added fits well in creating a gentle dreaminess, which I think is appropriate for the location.

This is pretty rad. NIce work!
aF

Tough image to get right, Tom.  Love your interpretation here.  I do think the blur is a bit much as you noted.  Might make a very compelling mono presentation, it you are so inclined.  Good to see a post from you, and hopefully the fire season will end with a whimper.

This is excellent. Very well composed and lots of visual interest. Personal preference but I would back of on the blur a bit I find it too strong for my taste.

I think the processing is about 50% overdone, it kind of makes me feel short sighted when looking at the trees. I think if this were a bit more subtle you would be on a real winner here as the composition, colours and light are terrific.

Hi Thomas,   Last month I spent a few days with photographer Charlie Waite while touring the Palouse.  I was a glorified map-reader and side-kick acting to assist where needed.  My first role in this capacity.  I bring his name up because he is the master for making a landscape photo filled with subtle contrasts and complimentary colors and light.   His gallery has number of tree 'trunk-posts' similar to this.   There is a peacefulness and geometric balance to his comps that are beyond the ordinary.  You might check them and see what you think.  Each to his own voice, I get that...but, I also subscribe to learning from others.

When looking at this photo...It appears wonderful with strongly place individual elements ...soft grasses... bleached stumps...and their grey tops.. with a ribbon creek meandering.   But the aggregate seems too crowded and tight.  I don't have a suggestion that cures this ...trial and error... maybe a lot more of the tops of the trees...or move the perspective lower and move closer to the trees.  Anyway.... It is a tough assignment to create this comp, in my opinion.   You've made a solid effort...well done.  

Ken Smith. Thank you for mentioning Charlie Waite. His images are exquisite. Makes one feel humble. 

Exceptional perspective, fine detail, and great colour contrasts.
Congrats on a fine WP!
Sandy

Thanks again for the feedback everyone. Ken, I I'm a big proponent of learning from others too, and I just looked through Charlie Waite's website, and it's really beautiful work. Many of his images have a startling degree of balance and a real perfection of composition. Looking at his work, I'm reminded how it can so easily seem that a photograph was "obvious", as in, you were standing there, and this was the perfect scene in front of you. But any seasoned photographer knows that such a look is the result of just the right angle, distance from the ground, focal length, etc. I do find his treatment of skies to be a bit heavy-handed, but as you said, each to his own, and overall, I certainly feel that I can learn from studying his work, thanks for referring it to me.