Cold Compress

Gallery: LandscapePosted February 3, 201056 views7 comments

AFter heavy rains and snow melt, followed by below-freezing temps for a number of days, I've had my eye on the lake behind a local dam. The daily dusting of snow creates patterns on the lake, and the ice freezes and pushes together as they release water (hopefully photos of that to come, fingers crossed).

Shot this the other day in mid afternoon so there were some nice shadows and contrast in the crags. Cropped about 40% to try and make a more interesting comp, and processed to B&W. Shot at ISO-80 at 1/1000th at f-5.6. Larger version posted too, hope the detail doesn't get lost here. Thanks for any C&C, going to try and get some different comps too.

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Dorin Bofan on February 3, 2010 at 2:03 PM

Looks very much like the conditions I encountered in my last outing. I like the bw treatment, but I feel the trees complicate things a bit, as my eyes want to see more of the abstract patterns on the lake.

Registered on April 30, 2007, 122 Posts, 3086 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Ryan on February 3, 2010 at 2:59 PM

I agree with Dorin. For me the patterns and shapes in the background are the strongest. I don't mind the trees so much. A combination with the trees and crunched up ice could be a nice juxtaposition.

Registered on June 29, 2008, 85 Posts, 636 Comments

Comment posted by Aaron Ellingsen on February 3, 2010 at 3:49 PM

I like the mix of lines and texture. Very interesting. I never would have know what I was looking at if it weren't for your description.

I do think that a longer lens would have been helpful here, if you have one, of course. That way you could have saved a lot of pixels, and also focused more strongly on tighter compositions. The bottom right quarter is my favorite part of this image.

Registered on January 16, 2008, 56 Posts, 953 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Maile on February 3, 2010 at 7:00 PM

thanks for the C&C folks, hopefully more to come.

Registered on March 2, 2009, 984 Posts, 2518 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Maile on February 4, 2010 at 6:32 AM

Should have gone to another shoot location just up a bit along the lake for a cleaner shot of the ice.

Just noticed how drab and dreary the thumbnail looks, w/ 36 views--but I really like this image--parts of it anyway!

Registered on March 2, 2009, 984 Posts, 2518 Comments

Comment posted by Bruno Silva on February 4, 2010 at 6:46 AM

nice conversion, bill. I don´t mind the trees here, they add lot to the comp, imo. that diagonal in the snow works nicely too. I do a lot of conversions and as a b&w addict I feel you could go further here. for me, I would like to see a pump in the whites, for more contrasts. the midtones and dark tones look nice, but I feel there needs some more whites, just a thought, if it makes any sense. very nice piece of work.

Registered on May 6, 2009, 132 Posts, 1406 Comments

Comment posted by Youssef Ismail on February 6, 2010 at 9:53 AM

Bill,

An odd composition but strangely I like how it makes me feel and guess what is going on. Looking forward to more of the crags.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 474 Posts, 5555 Comments