Lily Pond Sunrise

Craig,

Love this kind of light when it happens - sun breaks through the clouds to the west, and the sky darkening with clouds, really seems to intensify the light.  You've captured that well here.

My next thought though is where's the rest of the reflection? A smooth as glass reflection and I'm wanting more!  Of course I'm sure there was a reason. For starters I'm guessing it was the light on the forest/trees that attracted you.  Can't blame you, this image works beautifully as captured and presented. No nits or suggestions.

I'm guessing - and hoping you worked the reflection too?  

Lon

No matter how good the light quality, direct frontal light usually is the worst possible choice. Even though there is some layering I find this image to be busy. The trees, bg mountain, shrubbery, and reflections are all blending together in tone and color due to front lighting. If you could process to separate those layers it would help. Just my opinion.

Craig, the lighting here is very dramatic, and I like your processing of it. But I think the elements in the foreground do not have enough separation, the waterline, trees and ridge line are all compressed together. Part of this is the use of a short telephoto, and part of it is the lighting as Igor mentioned. Including more of the reflection would have helped achieve more separation, but there may be distractions in the water that led you to exclude them. There is more separation of elements in the right half of the image, a vertical taken in the right half of the scene might have worked better.

Lon: yes I do have some photos including, and some only of the reflection. I will be posting one or two of those.

Igor and Ed: I didn't see the lack of separation until you mentioned it, but you're absolutely right. I was just too excited about the light at the time, and didn't pay enough attention to what the scene really looked like through the lens, and I wasn't looking at it objectively when processing it either. I will be on the lookout for this in the future. Thanks, this is exactly why I post here.

I understand why you were excited by the light. When weather fronts are going through and the light is dramatic, you often have to shoot quickly because the light may not last. Lily Pond is tough too because there are so many rocks and other stuff in the water, that they can quickly become a distraction. The compression of a telephoto lens has flattened this scene. Maybe a wider angle view with more water would have created more depth to this scene. But when you have to shoot quickly in changing light like this, it's hard sometimes to slow down and think about other choices.

I like the composition, and the light is stunning. I think the layering of the reflection, shoreline trees, and back ground could be separated with some additional processing. This one sure has some great potential, and is worth more work.
--P