Of winter willows

Here are a few of the willows around Lily Lake from Saturday before last.

The first one I cropped to square.

Comments and critiques always welcome, and thanks for looking,

Morris

#2 Is a typical horizontal

#3 is more of a portrait attempt

"Summer Home"
This hornet's nest was about 8-9" tall. Hard to miss it in the willows and I am glad I was not here in the summer.

I'm afraid that this set isn't quite working for me, Morris.
The light (aside from on the peaks) just isn't at its best to complement the scenes

OTOH, that's one wicked lloking hornet's nest!

Yeah, I thought the brights would darken more when posting here than they did, and the compression is killin' 'em. But, thanks for your honesty, John!

I knew from the title that this was your post, Morris. Extraordinary stuff! Maybe my favorite submission of yours in months.

I like the first one. I think it could use further cropping from the bottom to below the main willow. The additional crop keeps my eye from getting lost in the space at the bottom. That hornets nest shot is pretty cool. Yeah you don't want to be too close and jostling the nest around in the summer, I speak from experience.

I like the second one. It's like a complete scene. Blue sky, nice light on the peaks, evergreens, and right down to the colorful willows and snow at your feet. Somehow it just looks "whole" to me. Call it "willows in context"

Although not your strongest work, I really like the first two except for the punchy colors of the shrubs. Your processing is excellent as usual, Morris.

Good to see some creativity.

I agree with John on 1 & 3, but i think 2 is outstanding! 'typical' works well in this case.

Nice stuff Morris, at least somebody other than Todd and Stan is out shooting, I like #2 the best.

Really like the pano with the mtns in the background.

Preference goes to #2 as the willows do not obscure the midground trees.

I would have to agree with John, the comps and subject just aren't doing much for me.