2007 Ice Storm in Ohio

Tried to capture the feeling of a 7-degree morning here in Ohio (this was last year)... still, something bugs me a little about this image. Thought y'all could help me pick it apart, which will help me compose better.

1/20 @ f/16 (hence the star pattern on the sun from the small aperture). Used a Singh-Ray 3-stop hard GND to keep the sky from blowing out. Taken near Cozzadale, OH (east of Loveland).

Thanks!

-Paul

Paul.

I think you've accomplished the feeling with this capture pretty well! Only thing I might do is crop a small tad off the bottom, just below the small clump of grass on the LRC. The small cluster of clouds coming in from the left adds to this.

Looks cold to me, Paul. I like the sunlit ice in the background trees. A slight crop off the top and bottom may improve the image slightly, but to me it's fine as is.


Nice image and thanks for sharing

I'd probably crop much of the top, down to about halfway between the two contrail-like clouds on the lower left sky, and then clone out the lower of the two clouds. Or maybe go as low as the lower of the two clouds.

I probably wouldn't crop from the bottom since that is where my interest in the photo lies.

Paul, we probably haven't helped you at all - our three suggestions cover all of the bases

I agree with Dan....my first thought was to crop from the top because there aren't enough clouds there to provide additional interest.

I'd crop 1/3 off the top. I'd also crop 1/3 off the right side. I think the crop would really accentuate the play between the sun and ice covered grasses. I love the warmth from the sun against the cool blueness of the snow. Very nicely done. You have wonderful control over the highlight and shadow tones.

Just to further complicate things, I'd crop a bit from the bottom, to slightly below the first bit of frozen grass and more liberally from the top, to about the point that Dan suggested. That would leave you with an approximate square. Just my two cents.

You have a nice image to work with here, any number of crops will work, nice job

These are ALL good suggestions, I'll definitely play around with it based on what was suggested. I guess that's what bothered me, not much in the sky, although some like that simplicity. I appreciate all the feedback!

Funny, after doing a little sharpening, I sensed an unusual amount of halos in the trees. Then I realized that was ice coating the branches.

Thanks everyone!

Paul

The ice will do it every time, Paul, along with making twigs appear slightly blurry when looking at the full size image!