Le Tombe (Fall in the high Cascades)

I posted this over at ESS but thought you guys might enjoy it here as well.

This was taken at Lake Julius, an alpine lake tucked in the Chiwaukum mountains of the High Cascades in Washington State. This place is accessible by human foot only, and more than a few miles in/up. I waded out to almost my waist to get this composition. Then I waited for the sun to sink into position, while standing in water so cold it hurt. A little pain never killed anyone.

Le Tombe is French for 'The Fallen', which is representative of all the downed trees at the bottom of the lake.

D80
Sigma 10-20mm
Cokin filters

Nice effort getting this shot! I love everything going on in the lower 3/4 of the image...the water, the curve, the reflection and the light. I find the sky pulling my eye upward away from the interesting stuff and then leaving me hanging. I'm not a huge fan of cropping images and losing pixels unless it really helps the composition. In this case, I think it might work to take a bit off the top, right down to where the ridge meets the sun.

The curved log in the foreground leads into the rest of the image nicely. A very well thought out image. If I were to change anything, it would be to lighten up the midground just a smidge.

Thank you so much for your input guys. I really appreciate it. I'm always looking for thoughts to get me thinking on how to improve my work.

Darrien, I love this one. The log is a wonderful anchor. Another interesting and maybe complimentary crop would be a horizontal with the top set just below the shoreline.