Babcock Pond

I like it very much.
Like: Mood, colors, water color and reflection
dislike: the far lilies have soft edges

This is very nice Matthew. I really enjoy the mood and wonderful soft colors. I think your comp worked great!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Beautiful. I love the muted color palette and the comp works really well.

Wonderful colours and mood here! The sharp foreground reeds and lily pads hold my attention, and the slightly OOF rear pads don't detract at al.
Lovely!
Sandy

Almost like a fantasy photo. I like the color gradation in the water, plus the reeds & lily pads. Well balanced.

I have one very similar to this! Great comp and the color is amazing!. The soft lilies are unfortunate, but no deal breaker for sure. The warm fade into cool from front to back is very nice. Well done!

Beautiful image design and composition, Matthew. The background focus does not bother me at all, as long as the foreground and reeds are sharp, which they are. Very nice color gradient from front to back.

Quite lovely. Enjoy this.

aF

Gorgeous!! This is what photography is all about - capturing a scene in an artistic fashion that tells a story. This really puts the viewer in the scene. Well done.

I really like the abstract qualities here Matthew. The comp and color are wonderful.

nice juxtaposition of shapes, and light. very well done!

Excellent mood and the color blend is so very tasty.

Stunning elements and love the colour gradient. No nits whatsoever.

Beautiful!!!

- Dan

Lovely color and light and I like the graphic lines from the reeds. Beautiful image.

Matthew,

Simply gorgeous! The color gradation in this is just wonderful. I don't mind the softer leaves up top either because that keeps the emphasis on color and the reeds at the bottom.

My observation and not meant as a critique, but was a little Orton or glow used? Of course it doesn't matter, it's the result that matters, but just checking to see about my own observations. No biggie, this is a beautiful image.

Lon

Thank you all for your comments.

Lon, I believe you are correct about a little bit of glow. I have not been in the habit of saving layered files, so I cannot check to be certain, but I do use it for some landscapes. My recollection is that I used it for the water. Okay with me if this pushes the image to Photo Art instead of landscape.

Matthew,

No problem, no biggie. I use the Orton technique all the time; not necessarily for any glow effect, but I think it's a great tool for color, contrast, etc. It's a fine line, or actually more like a very gray area between what might be considered Photo Art and traditional landscape. Just my opinion and not representing the other mods, but determining when something leaves "reality" is of course subjective. While I thought I noticed a glow, I personally don't think it took it to an altered state - if that makes sense.

If anything, I bring this stuff up sometimes just so others may read and think about these choices too.

Lon

I love the colors and the mood in this one. Well composed, too.

Matthew,

This has such an elegance beauty to it. I love the rich colors and the contrast of the reeds against the water. The same with the luminance in those leaves, really grabs the attention. I also love the subtle glow you have in it whether it was applied or not, it works wonderfully. Like the others, I do not mind the softness of the BG leaves, in this case total front to back sharpness is not essential for the photo to affect the viewer. Really well done and a photo that I am sure most would love in their portfolio, I know I would.

Obviously, this reminds me of Monet's water lilies. Very appealing work Matthew!

Outstanding!

Great composition, light, colors, and mood created. I would really like to see this more true to a photograph as this is bordering on photo art. Not a problem per se if thats what you were going for.

Love the zen feel of this. Nice work.