Dawning

I like the color, the sky, the trees, but the snow bank doesn't do it for me. I'd rather more trees or sky.

- Dan.

A very different mood than your last image Nancy. I am curious as to what creates those mounds. The wind I guess?. BTW - on a RAW file, there is no other choice than to touch the sliders in LR. I do but I try to keep it real or at least film real.

Pretty winterscape. I like your processing - somewhat painterly looking. And, I like the snowbank. It adds interest to the scene.

Sky seems somewhat noisy here. What was the ISO? I definitely wouldn't take it above 200 with the T1i without a good noise reduction method applied selectively to the areas that need it. Compositionally it lacks some depth for me since there isn't much past the immediate foreground to work with. The sunset colors/textures are barely visible but with the right processing they would really sing IMO. Still, that wouldn't be enough to make this really work for me. The issue is there's no two or more elements here that work in tandem to create depth and lead me through. It's basically snow and a snowbank - everything on the same plane. I don't have strong lines, transitions or a story that's visually obvious here.

I like the snow bank. l also like the sky, but agree with marc about the noise, and his over all impression on the comp mas a whole. Some nice elements there, but not really tied together as a whole.

Chris

I like the cold feeling of the image and the nice pastels in the sky. I think some good comments have already been made.

I defintely prefer this image over your last, whether because of touching the sliders or just because it was taken at a slightly different time. The sky colors are very pretty but the noise in the sky is a definite detraction. You did a very nice job of desaturating the blues in the snow.

I can see Marc's points, but overall i think this is a terrific comp, the lines in the snow lead nicely to the tree, the sky has some nice patterns, and thirds work well here. Beautiful, IMHO. My only complaint is the serious sky noise, its either high ISO or its underexposed, and since you're being cautious with the sliders ive gotta go with ISO

Nancy Lea,

I can see we're all over the place in terms of critiques. Some like the snow drift, others not. Let me just add to the confusion!

Unlike Bill, I prefer the previous moon-rise image over this one; much more dramatic and moody. Compositionally, I'm with Marc here. But to add to his comments I find the snow drift a visual blockade to the soft texture and lovely color of the sky. What I'm getting at is that I wish I could see what was behind the drift and tree.

I do like the patterns in the snow up front and assuming this is your playground, you might want to revisit and try a wide angle comp that emphasizes and showcases some interesting patterns/drifts in the snow.

Not your best me thinks, but still it's not bad either.

Lon

Interesting shapes forms and light. I think you got the colors right. Bit of a halo around the tree and sort of with the tree had more detail in its branches/needles.