Tetons sunrise

Just back from the Tetons, first trip there in the 'off' season. After looking at so many awesome sunrise/set shots in this forum, i took it as a personal challenge and envisioned the Tetons with a lake in front. Planned the trip so that i could scout Saturday, shoot Sunday, when i knew i had a decent shot at a great sunrise/set (fringe benefit of my profession). A long roadtrip, but enjoyable; this is the first time ive taken a trip for the main purpose of photography. When i got there it suddenly hit me that the Tetons are N-S, so forget the sunset! And the lakes, even Jackson, were all snow covered/frozen, so had to revise my "vision"
Anyhow, hit pay dirt Sunday morning at a spot i scouted out Sat, the Snake river right off the highway (guess the park planners aren't photographers, since i had to pull off into the snow to park, obvious that a few others had done the same before me!) Would like to hear your comments, so i can pick the best. Here's number 1, taken 10 minutes before sunrise, at 5 below zero (my fingers were in pain!):

Great Composition Stan! Nice leading line into the image. Well worth your effort. Robbie

I would have to disagree with Robbie on the composition, I feel the mountains are to much centered in the image. IMO there is not a lot going on with the foreground, but heck what does the crazy Brit know? But the lighting is good though. Just my 2 cents.

You've captured the soft morning light very nicely.

I love the colors/tones in the photo. It could be sharper, but that's easy to fix. I hope you post more.

Thanks, Momo. The lack of sharpness is due to resizing it as a jpeg to meet posting requirements. I'm still trying to figure out how others get sharp jpegs on this forum--is there some trick to downsizing that i dont know (i use a photoshop bicubic)? Or should i just oversharpen for the web? I was pretty satisfied with the composition, my troubles with the image were 1) the steam from the river doesn't show up very well (can barely see it under grand teton). 2) I had to use a fairly long exposure due to lack of light, would have liked to use even longer but then the movement in the water would have been completely 'blurred out', which i didn't want. So, had to compromise. Next image is coming soon.

Here's image #2: just before sunrise looking downstream. Would have liked to get the tree over the water, but then i would have drowned (after freezing)

I'm not sure if it is just because of the sunrise light, a color balance change, or if you were using a warming filter, but the color of the evergreen trees on the first picture looks very red and unnatural to me (unless they are all getting killed by beetles!) The color on your second photo is a little better. This is just my opinion. I have to also agree a bit with Jody on the composition, especially regarding the second image, I wonder if the tree could be moved a bit in either direction. Nice job of braving the cold though!

This is just wonderful. I love those pastels!

Guy

Thanks for the comments, guys, ive learned alot! I boosted the midtones in the first image, that's why it appears somewhat reddish on the trees (because the light was pre-sunrise). For comparison, here's the unaltered, uncropped original (as a jpeg) Do you think this is better or worse? Id be particularly interested in what Jody and/or Josh think?

Sorry Stan my opinion is still the same as the first image.

The color on the trees looks better. You've maintained the nice reds in the sky too. Maybe try lightening up the midtones just a tiny bit so the trees don't look as dark (and to keep the pastel colors Guy likes) and I think you'll have it! I actually don't mind the composition on this image so much. I think it has some nice leading lines like Robbie said. As far as the other image with the lone tree, it is maybe a bit too much in the center of the frame. These are just personal nitpicks. Keep up the nice work and keep posting!

Thanks, Josh, that helps. My pics 3 and 4 (post sunset) will be posted tomorrow.

I have to agree with Guy..love the pastel colors.

Joe.