Posted by Doug Andrews on October 29, 2007 at 3:17 PM
Photographed this about a month ago on a frosty Sunday morning. I think it was the same morning several RMNP'ers were doing sunrise from Ohio Pass Road. My first time at Lost Lake Slough so I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. The sky was perfectly clear and had very little color warm color, so I cropped much of it out.
Nikon D200, 18-35mm, 3-stop GND
Posted by Mel Ladewig on October 29, 2007 at 3:57 PM
This is nice Doug. The mist above the lake is very nice and the reflection is sweet. The white balance looks off though. The sky looks a little gray as if the blue had been neutralized or removed. I'm guessing that you took a gray sample off the snow.
Mel-
Posted by Todd Caudle on October 29, 2007 at 4:22 PM
I exactly echo Mel's comments. The WB looks too warm, but the mist is killer.
Posted by Doug Andrews on October 29, 2007 at 4:28 PM
No, the sky actually was a kind of yucky blue-gray right at sunrise. Thats why I cropped much of it out. I did shift the white balance towards cooler blue tones a little when processing the NEF. (Now I wonder if I had the WB still set at shady with this shot as I took several shots prior to sunrise and Auto WB looked really blue) Within about five minutes of this shot, the sun had risen enough that the gray color was all gone, but exposure of the snow was really hard to control even with GNDs. I have some shots of this where I used a polarizer and the sky is more blue, but due to the wideangle lens I used, uneven polarization across the sky was really evident. Just another example of where my first visit to a location always ends up with lackluster results.
Posted by Dan Walters on October 29, 2007 at 7:40 PM
Nice shot! Like the light and the reflection.
Posted by Roger Rouch on October 29, 2007 at 9:17 PM
Nice mist and reflection! I like it and can see a few little color tweeks as helping. By my figuring, I was in the area several days the week before and at least you got some nice snow on the peaks. Any more, even with my best efforts with GNDs, I will bracket exposures and try some blended images.
Posted by John Klotz on October 29, 2007 at 11:38 PM
Doug, nice reflection and love the mist. I can relate to the "first visit" thing!
John
Posted by Ken Wyatt on October 30, 2007 at 1:36 AM
I like the composition in general, but the snow seems to have a slightly greenish cast. Maybe it's just my eyes?
I'm starting to use custom WB almost all the time now - even for daylight exposures (mandatory for indoor pictures). The AWB or WB presets are often "not quite right", which can easily affect blue skies. I'm not suggesting this is the case here, but that it's merely something to consider. I do tend to use "Cloudy" to warm up shady snow, etc. I've tried "WhiBal" cards, the ExpoDisk and the BalanceSmarter pop-out disk - with the most accurate results using the latter.
Discussion
7 repliesNikon D200, 18-35mm, 3-stop GND
Mel-
John
I'm starting to use custom WB almost all the time now - even for daylight exposures (mandatory for indoor pictures). The AWB or WB presets are often "not quite right", which can easily affect blue skies. I'm not suggesting this is the case here, but that it's merely something to consider. I do tend to use "Cloudy" to warm up shady snow, etc. I've tried "WhiBal" cards, the ExpoDisk and the BalanceSmarter pop-out disk - with the most accurate results using the latter.
Ken