Arctic Blast & Alt. x 2

Brrrr, that is chilly!!! I am really liking the foreground patterns and blue tones leading out to the sea smoke and nice color gradient in the sky. It feels a little tight on the sides to me. Not sure what was lurking on the right, but this might be interesting to see in a landscape orientation. 

Beautiful shapes and textures.  Almost seems as two separate images at first, but it works for me.  

Gasp. This is one fine image. In addition to many of it's great qualities I like how the sunlit shore at the bottom curves around the rocks. I think that adds a lot to the image. This is excellent.

Brrrrr. This is a marvelous shot that definitely communicates cold. The bottom 2/3 of the image is fascinating with all those swirls and clumps, and the sea smoke is so unique. The soft light and blue cast is perfect. The plain sky contrasts nicely with all the textures on the sea. Not too tight on either side for my taste...just looks like a slice of a very cold morning.

Harry, if there is something like the decisive moment in landscape photography, you have got it I think! I really appreciate that there is just a subtle hint of direct sunlight in your image. The composition within the vertical format leads me nicely from the amazing foreground elements into the depth, always keeping my attention within the frame.

Peter

Harry,

Beautifully, frickin' cold... ;-)  Fabulous near/far image - there is so much to take in and enjoy with this, and yes, even the frozen temps.  I really like the curve of the formation at the bottom, framing and anchoring the composition (I'm kinda wishing for more at the very bottom, but that's quite minor.)

What really tops this off is the presence of the sun just at that moment of appearing - as Peter put it, that "decisive moment."  Well done on that count!  and that decisive moment that brings the light to the foreground ice - as Igor already points out.  (I'm just copying what everyone else says.)

Seriously, a very beautiful winter scape.  No nits from me.

Lon

Very nice job on this one Harry, it looks like you had great conditions at York too. I really like your choice to compose this as a vertical, it creates such a sense of depth. With these killer foreground ice formations, some folks might have gone horizontal with this image. But you have some interesting ice floes in the mid-ground as well, and I think a vertical composition provides for a stronger foregound / midground / background transition between the key elements.

Kudos on this, excellent vertical landscape scene.
The only thing I might like to see is the image warmed up a tad.
Blue looks cold, but maybe a bit less blue caste would a bit more "sunset".

Very unique conditions indeed.  Way to get after it. And not freeze :P

aF

Clicking Image will open a Larger Image

Here is the wider view, stitched with 2 horizontal images.  My lens wasn't wide enough to do a single capture - or I would have had to move too far back from the FG to include all of the elements, which would have diminished their scale in the image.  I didn't want to change lenses in the conditions and quickly changing light, so this was my only option for a more landscape like view.  Just before the sun came above the horizon.  A slightly warmer WB per Dan's observation.

The compositions of the 2 images are hard to compare fairly because the really great warm light on the fg snow is missing in the repost. Regardless, I think the original is superior. The perspective has changed in the repost giving greater emphasis on the middle ground which I think makes it less impactful. The bottom arc is less impactful in the repost which is weaker. The OP is mainly about the fg while in the repost the fg just doesn't have the impact. In the end for me it's all about emotional impact and the OP has it far more than the repost.

The circular foreground works nice to base the vertical format.  The ice is interesting with its cow patty shapes too.  I wonder about a touch more brightness overall. 

I much prefer the comp in the repost, but I do miss the sun at the back. Hard call! 

Hard to pick a favorite as they are both beautifully done, but I prefer the repost with the wider view, Harry. I do miss the sun in the repost, but I think the wider view with all those wonderful ice patterns makes up for it. Kudos for braving the cold.

Ed

I found a slightly later exposure that had a little more of the sun star and more luminosity from the lighting, thought I would post as well.  May be my favorite of the series.  Has a little more room around the ice formations as well.  Single Raw x 2 processing.

yep. #3.