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Late Winter Pasture

Gallery: Weekly ChallengePosted April 2, 2012109 views5 comments

Taken last month.
Spring arriving early in the Great Plains so I think this qualifies for Winter's End-type photo. The brown grass is to be replaced shortly with green and the barren trees will harbor leaves.
As I type I recall the plethora of leaves observed even yesterday--quite before their normal budding.
This is an HDR presentation. Tripod. 3-bracketed RAW exposures. Photomatix and Capture NX2 processing. Wind was blowing so I'm not too happy with the tree-limb crispness--a hazard with multiple exposures
I think the bleak sky and darker clouds lend to the ominous attempt at winter to remain in the area.
Nikon D700.
the fisch

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on April 2, 2012 at 11:29 AM

I find this image both interesting and challenging. I really like the sunset colors and the orange/rust colored prairie grass but the conflict between those warm colors and the ominous gray/green sky covering the top half leaves me uncertain. It sounds like that's exactly what you were trying to do. Your processing looks good, except the bright grasses near the llc seem too bright for the rest of the grass.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Carolyn Derstine on April 2, 2012 at 12:15 PM

Great shot of a wintry feeling sky; I like the angles of the black wispy clouds. The warmth in the sky also hints of warmer times to come. The grayish color in the vegetation and the bleak trees also lend to the wintry feel. Be great to see this in summer!

Registered on February 16, 2011, 610 Posts, 3684 Comments

Comment posted by Albert Darmo on April 4, 2012 at 9:48 PM

Hi larry

Beautiful color and light everywhere!!!! i wish my fields looked like this in march : hoped you had just a bit of snow somewhere in the scene

Albert darmo

Registered on November 25, 2008, 1386 Posts, 11978 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Minish on April 6, 2012 at 2:11 AM

It still looks kind of cold, Larry! Nice job on the exposure and the colors look very real. The larger version looks like it could use a little more sharpening. It just seems a bit soft.

Registered on February 4, 2006, 625 Posts, 3583 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Jones on April 6, 2012 at 10:30 PM

Interesting HDR treatment. While many HDR images look unnaturally uniform, this one seems to accentuate the differences in lighting, from the abrupt color change in the sky to that intense orange glow on part of the grass.

Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments