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Tranquil Merced Autumn
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Tranquil Merced Autumn

by Lon Overacker

Gallery: LandscapePosted December 23, 2010405 views31 comments
Thanks very much for the comments on the last image. I'm glad it got a better response than I thought it might. I suppose we're all like that, we have favorites from an outing and then others that we don't like as much. That's one of the great reasons for sharing work here on NPN is simply to see how others see things that we can't always see in our own work.

Here's another autumn scene from Yosemite captured downstream a bit from the Pahono bridge. I love this stretch of river and have come to name it "Cramer Alley" in honor of one of my favorites, Charles Cramer.

It's always tranquil along the Merced, especially in the fall and winter.

All comments and critiques welcome.

4x5, Nikkor 210mm, V100, f/32 @2s.

Thanks!

Lon

Comments

31 comments
Comment posted by Danny Laureys on December 23, 2010 at 3:31 AM
Lon, all I can say is that I just love your Yosemite and tree images. :toast: :toast: :toast:
Registered on January 5, 2008, 590 Posts, 1261 Comments
Comment posted by Andreas Resch on December 23, 2010 at 3:48 AM
Lovely shot, Lon. I love the motion in the water. Have a great Christmas and enjoy the holidays.
Registered on November 14, 2007, 322 Posts, 6101 Comments
Comment posted by Jorne de Bruin on December 23, 2010 at 4:08 AM
Superbly intimate autumn scene Lon, I love the tranquility here and the great colours! Really gives me that autumn feeling again!
Registered on June 26, 2008, 178 Posts, 2136 Comments
Comment posted by Winnie Ho on December 23, 2010 at 6:53 AM
nice choice of shutter speed to show the golden reflections and movement of the stream. The trees are glorious in Autumn colours....this is wonderful spot to rest my eyes.
Registered on January 6, 2008, 93 Posts, 1788 Comments
Comment posted by Guy Tal on December 23, 2010 at 7:40 AM
Lon, for a while now I've known you had one of the most impressive collections of intimate Yosemite images of anyone I know. Still, I feel like this past autumn had been even more productive and meaningful, if only in the sheer number of excellent work you added. Absolutely nothing I could critique here. Just wanted to pay tribute and thank you for sharing such delicate and sensitive beauty.

Guy
Registered on November 1, 2003, 566 Posts, 15507 Comments
Comment posted by Nick Bristol on December 23, 2010 at 8:01 AM
This is beautiful, and then some! I just love looking at this, Lon. You seem to be able to capture such a wonderful feel in your images. It has to be because you have so much feeling for these places you photograph I guess. Having great technique probably doesn't hurt either. Maybe you just have a good camera :biggrin: The water and reflection look fantastic.
Happy Holidays to you, Lon.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI
Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments
Comment posted by Bill Chambers on December 23, 2010 at 8:07 AM
Wonderful scene Lon - very soothing and peaceful with nice color. Excellent composition. Merry Christams.
Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments
Comment posted by Raymond D Smith on December 23, 2010 at 8:12 AM
Perfect in all way's Lon. Ditto what Guy said. This is an inspiration.Cheers
Registered on January 22, 2009, 12 Posts, 479 Comments
Comment posted by Kevin Trinkner on December 23, 2010 at 8:47 AM
Nice quiet river scene Lon, I really enjoy the soft light and colors. The reflected color on the water is a nice bonus. Part of me wishes it wasn't quite as "square" but I see no way to crop away from the 4x5 ratio.. Nice capture.
Registered on June 30, 2008, 203 Posts, 2641 Comments
Comment posted by Doug Roane on December 23, 2010 at 10:00 AM
the large version especially shows this off - great piece Lon!
Registered on December 12, 2008, 213 Posts, 2226 Comments
Comment posted by Gino Cortez on December 23, 2010 at 10:00 AM
Another beautiful addition to your Yosemite portfolio. :toast:
Registered on November 23, 2010, 57 Posts, 396 Comments
Comment posted by Harley Goldman on December 23, 2010 at 10:29 AM
This turned out quite well, Lon. It was a sweet little spot. Beautiful colors and a very peaceful feel to the image.

Didn't Maggie find this composition for you?? I knew she was helping you quite a bit with your photography on that trip. That might explain your high success rate. :biggrin: You are the Yosemite master!! Charlie Cramer ain't got nuthin' on ya.
Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments
Comment posted by Miles Morgan on December 23, 2010 at 10:43 AM
Just freaking GORGEOUS Lon. I particularly love the texture of the streaming water
Registered on November 23, 2009, 6 Posts, 185 Comments
Comment posted by Luis Argerich on December 23, 2010 at 11:13 AM
Hi Lon,
This is an image that may look "simple" but I think the composition is really terrific and I wonder just for curiosity how long it took you to find it.
I like how the colors in the background are in sync with the motion of the water, everything flows right to left. This must be a hit in Japan!


:toast:
Registered on December 22, 2009, 91 Posts, 1349 Comments
Comment posted by Youssef Ismail on December 23, 2010 at 1:35 PM
Lon,

There is not much to say, rarely is there anything that needs to be said about your work other than to just stare. I too love "Cramer Alley" as you call it. Its one of the best places in the park.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 474 Posts, 5555 Comments
Comment posted by Emmanuel Coupe on December 23, 2010 at 2:04 PM
You are right Lon is does help to get others eyes view our work and it also help to have a time distance to our latest images and see how they work for us down the road when we are less emotionally attached.<br>
This image has a classic feel, beautifully composed, well done.
Registered on March 17, 2007, 83 Posts, 341 Comments
Comment posted by Kyle L. Krause on December 23, 2010 at 2:12 PM
Wonderful shot Lon, very creative composition. You did a great job on your processing. We definitely had a few productive days in the valley. The merced river has always been a special place for me over the years watching you work your magic. Keep up the passion for your love of nature and photography. Hope we can be on the merced soon! :wink:
Registered on June 15, 2010, 29 Posts, 605 Comments
Comment posted by Ron Pullen on December 23, 2010 at 2:59 PM
Lon, another beautiful Yosemite image. I never tire of these. Ron :toast: :toast:
Registered on December 18, 2005, 74 Posts, 1413 Comments
Comment posted by Paul Breitkreuz on December 23, 2010 at 3:00 PM
WOW, this one is extremely nice, Lon. Not much I could say beyond I really like it a lot. Nothing on the technical to entertain IMO, so, I'm just really enjoying the scene overall. :cool: ...... :toast:
Registered on February 25, 2006, 525 Posts, 8448 Comments
Comment posted by Bruce Omori on December 23, 2010 at 3:13 PM
Hi Lon,

Excellent image! So tranquil... love the composition and fall colors. Makes me wanna be there!

Happy holidays!! Aloha - Bruce
Registered on December 6, 2010, 6 Posts, 175 Comments
Comment posted by Dan Baumbach on December 23, 2010 at 7:22 PM
The difference between the large version and the regular version is extraordinary. The large version is amazing.

- Dan.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 473 Posts, 7980 Comments
Comment posted by Robert Dayton on December 23, 2010 at 7:37 PM
Tranquil describes it very well, Lon. Great color and well composed.
Registered on November 11, 2008, 281 Posts, 3958 Comments
Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on December 23, 2010 at 7:54 PM
You have a knack of combining water and forests so well. I especially like the two parts to the water element : reflections and flow.
Registered on September 27, 2006, 636 Posts, 10682 Comments
Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on December 23, 2010 at 8:00 PM
I sort of miss the reds of your previous posts, but the more subdued tones work very nicely here. The lighter leaves do a great job of keeping my attention in the center of the frame. The more I look at this the more I see. The faint reflection in the water, the green bush on the right, and the black bear sort of hiding under that rock by the creek. Truly a lot to discover here. Seriously, I enjoy this image a lot.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments
Comment posted by Stan Rose on December 23, 2010 at 8:36 PM
Outstanding, Lon! great balance, great colors--just great! :toast:
Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments
Comment posted by Chris Chamberlain on December 23, 2010 at 10:35 PM
Man, that's gorgeous! This one has everything. The tonality throughout is really nice. Also the calm almost mirror reflection in the pool before the riffles is great. A favorite for me of your images from that weekend! I have a couple tiny nits, but I'd just look like an idiot mentioning it. We don't want to do that now do we!

Merry Christmas!
Chris
Registered on March 13, 2007, 500 Posts, 8365 Comments
Comment posted by Eva McDermott on December 24, 2010 at 9:50 AM
Gorgeous autumn scene Lon. Wonderful color but I really like how the silky water transports me into the scene. Beautiful work.
Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments
Comment posted by Vlad Sadovsky on December 24, 2010 at 1:27 PM
Great Yosemite image I like the tonality of all of the elements , especially the mirrors. Rocks arrangement also works very well.. Tiny nit for me is with the leaf, sticking in between the rocks -- i am sure it has it's place in the composition, but it's brightness distracts a bit. Overall, really enjoyed studying the work in a larger size.
Registered on November 12, 2010, 48 Posts, 358 Comments
Comment posted by Lon Overacker on December 24, 2010 at 2:02 PM
Thanks again folks! I really appreciate it.

Hey Chris - if you check back, please, please feel free to pass along any nits you find! That's what this forum is for. Vlad pointing out that thing sticking up out of the water next to one of the rocks is a great example. I never noticed it the entire time I was processing the image. Many times it's those little nits that really help us fine tune an image.

Lon
Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments
Comment posted by Chris Chamberlain on December 24, 2010 at 2:29 PM
Lon,

Okay, The upper right corner in the larger version is open to the background(pretty minor). The smaller framed version solves that issue with the inclusion of the frame/crop, whatever. I like the foliage completely covering the frame into the corner. I also thought while not at all necessary, you could bump the color just a bit more. If not global, maybe in the greens to make the grasses on the background shore pop a tiny bit more. And also the yellow orange reflections. It looks like the light was pretty subdued here, so maybe a departure from what it looke like to do those adjustments?

Chris
Registered on March 13, 2007, 500 Posts, 8365 Comments
Comment posted by Lon Overacker on December 24, 2010 at 9:42 PM
Thanks Chris!

Dang, I posted the wrong larger version and you're the only one to call me on it! So thank you, I'm really glad you spoke up. Not that I can do anything about it now... but the posted crop is the intended one. Actually, the original is a vertical, but it's too late to post that now.

Also, thanks for the other suggestions. I like your idea about punching up the grasses along the shore. I wasn't sure if it would be too much.

Thanks again everyone!

Lon
Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments