Lucid Dream

WOW! I love the way the light makes the frozen ripples really 3 dimensional! It almost makes the ice look like it is on fire!

Like the overall warmth of this image but the texture and colours in the ice puts this over the top. Beautiful image Morris.

Wow, what wonderful light Morris. The glow on that wonderfully textured ice is just awesome!

Hi Morris What a perfectly composed and sublime scene this is I'm mesmerized by the beautiful light and color
Albert Darmo

Dream Lake for sure Morris. Stunning

Wow indeed, really like curves , texture in the front and the light. Just wonderful. Composition with the leading curve works super well with icy surface. One tiny nit , only recognizable at large version is darker thin line on the mountain side, crossing line of the tree in upper right corner. it attracts attention for split moment, distracting from the rest. May be lighten up just a bit the crack.

Fantastic light Morris! I especially love the orange reflections off the ice. Beautiful mountain light too.

Well, I guess if I hadn't seen 30,000 pics of dream I might be saying wow too, Morris, but im gonna be a little tougher on you (surprise). Obviously even in Winter the challenge is to try to find something a little unique. The sky and light really isn't unique here--it's typical morning winter in NW winds. The ice patterns here are a lot closer to something interesting--you usually see the blues so its a little different to see the warm colors and the pattern here was pretty cool. For that reason I would argue the ice should occupy the bulk of the comp--at least 2/3 if not more--and maybe more of the clean ice on the rhs. The slightly more than 1/2 just doesn't work here IMO. A solid shot for sure, I just get the impression you were fighting the wind more than thinking about composition (been there--done that!)

WOW!!

Absolutely stunning Morris! Beautiful capture.

Stunning dynamic balance in your image for me, Morris. The warm tones in the distance and their reflection counteract the cooler ones of the ice intriguingly to my eye. A convincing presentation of this scene in my opinion.

Peter

I've seen a lot of Dream Lake shots, taken more than a few myself. This is certainly one of the most unusual and stunning shots of this very popular lake. Well done indeed.

Spectacular, Morris.

Thanks to everyone who has commented so far.

Thanks for the suggestion, Vlad, and I will lighten that tree area a little.

Stan, I was pretty frozen from being out in the strong wind by then. I had shot so many images at 17mm that I wanted to get something showing the scale of the mountains closer to what they really look like. This was still at only 28mm, but since they are so close to the lake, as you know, it made them look like they were looming giving a better sense of their majesty. I was already set up really low due to the wind, but I suppose I could have tilted down more. My focus was just more on the peaks than the ice at this point as I had been using so much ice in the comps prior to this. So there.

Morris, I love this image. For me this comp works very nice and I'm enjoying the view very much. I really like the conditions you captured this shot in and that foreground ice looks amazing. Beautiful!
Pretty nice work from a frozen guy...

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

My thoughts echo what Stan notes about this, as I've also seen a zillion shots from here and in most of them my eye stalls out in that big, blocky middle ground. The peaks are nice but the middle impedes the visual flow here, so I think making the ice the dominating focus would be the best approach. Personally, I know if I had been there I would not have shot the peaks at all and instead focused on abstract patterns as I know you guys did too. A long lens, DOF blended shot of those ice/snow/light formations looks like it could have been seriously interesting, as the details down low are just incredible!

Beautiful golden light in the f/g. Very nice composition for me

The foreground is just awesome. I love the patterns, the mix of warm(reflected light/color) and cold. Great dramatic scene. Well done

Thanks, Nick, Jose, and Bill.

Marc, thanks for the comments. Although I have been in Colorado for 43 years, I have only been to Dream 3 times counting this trip, and I had never made it in winter. So, even though this is an iconic location, I don't have anything in my portfolio from there. I was initially more interested in getting ice abstracts (and, I have several of those now), but the sunrise was so wonderful I was ecstatic that I had that great an opportunity to capture this place in great light and atmospherics. These kinds of sunrises are rare when your opportnities are limited and I have been frustrated for as long as I can remember in trying to catch one. Kane Englebert was there and actually said it was the best sunrise he had seen in about 50 trips to Dream, so I felt blessed to be there. I hope to get back there soon for more abstracts, and your suggestion to utilize the long lens and blend for dof will most definitely be employed!

Beautiful golden light. Like the 3-D feel of the ice. I have to say that the left-side of the ice does not work well for me, though.

Neat and unusual view of Dream Lake and Hallett's Peak. I'm especially attracted to the frozen ripples and the color/lighting difference between the rhs and lhs of the lake.

You guys really killed it up there with these Dream Lake shots. What an awesome place for winter photography. Those small pockets really add so much to the photo. They give it texture and colored reflections. The background light on the mountains is spectacular. Great series Morris!

Very nice, Morris. I really like how the peaks still loom large in this image - sometimes wide angle shots tend to make the peaks look too small. NIce light and color here as well. I especially like the warm reflected light on the ice.

Wow gorgeous light. I love the composition. The light is just ridiculous....the ice in the water with the reflections work as a perfect leading line to peaks. Beautiful!!

Hi Morris, Overall your comp is very, very good and all of us know that's key. Ive always thought 28-30mm is the real deal for Dream. The processing to me seems way off from the scene that morning. The cooler foregrounds seems too cool and the warmer distant tones on Hallett Peak looks washed out. I remember more clarity and luminance mixed with warmer deep orange tones, similar to the nice warmer tones of the ice only on the right. I'm also trying to understand your foreground ice. The transition from white ice to clean ice is freaking me out. Focus only on the snow pockets. Just look at how defined and clean the snow pockets are on the right, and how muted and almost blurry these exact pockets are on the left. I'm actually surprised nobody has mentioned this weird phenomenon. It's like everyone is so crazy about the clean ice on the right they completely ignore the details of the lesser shadowed area on the left.

I'm being harsh, but I know how bad you want to be great, so I'm just throwing out there my opinion. I have no doubt you already are great so I'm certain you understand my critique!

I think Marcs idea of shooting long through the ripples is a good one. Esoecially with a thorough focus stack. Here's the good news, that's not a hard shot to get at Dream considering all you need for that shot is clear skies!

there was an error yesterday while i was trying to add my comment on this image

but now the error fixed this morning and i can now leave a comment

this is absloutely wonderful, i like everything in this image

great worok Morris

Thanks, everyone.

Kane, you know I apprecitate your thoughtful critiques. All comments help to make us better. That is the best thing about this forum, that we can all learn from each other. I know your approach is different than mine. I know you and Stan are driven to keep your images as true to the white balances and tones as you witnessed. I'm obviously not as driven, nor can my pathetic memory help me in a quest of such a nature. I may revisit the peaks and see if I can bring them closer to your memory of their color. I do, however, like the cool ice as a contrast. And, for the ice, did you not notice this section of cloudy ice next to the clearer ice? It's what made me stop to take this as the curve created where the two met caught my attention for using in my comp. I can only ascribe that to difference in wind effect from the shorline blocking it perhaps? Not sure
.
And, yes, one could probably play with the ripples reflecting warm light until 9 or 10 a.m. any day, as long as the sky was relatively clear.

I also appreciate the compliment, and I know I'm a good photographer, but I am under no illusion that I will ever be great. Not enough talent, resources, or time. Thanks for helping me be a better photographer with your critiques. We need to meet up there again sometime.

Morris, what attracts me most are the peaks in the sunlit clouds. One might crop the top to the bottom of the bluer patch of sky on the top center. This would raise the ice-horizon line some too and give the ice more dominance.

A very dramatic scene made all the more special because of that unique ice. Really well done, Morris.

A nice take on Dream Lake in wonderful lighting conditions!

I think that some of your peers are judging this image too harshly, and are quite frankly, patently unfair. Unlike them, I was not there and have not seen "30,000" or even a "zillion" images of this place. I have seen a couple of dozen, and this ranks among the top three as far as I'm concerned. My one nit may be wanting to see more of the clear ice patterns, but the 'boundary' curve is so appealing to the eye that it is of little concern to me.
I will not give 'Great shot!' or fluff comments in this gallery, but I think that this image is excellent, especially considering the conditions in which it was captured. The lit and cloud shrouded peaks are lovely, and the iced over lake with the reflected dawn colors complements them well.

Whoa, talk about glorious light. Incredible, Morris. The scalloped ice in the foreground catching the color works so very well with that amazing light on the mountains. Stunning.
So very glad to see you have a website now.

Terrific light. I like the warm glow on the peaks but it still makes me cold, looking at it. Love the fg ice. You did yourself proud with this one!

Very nice take of that awesome morning. I think the white snow on the peaks may need a little toning down. The bottom half is really cool. I wonder if you can crop the top and make it an abstract, bring out some more colors and contrast in the left part of the ice patterns. Just a thought. Regardless of the crop idea, I like the image as is, too.

Congrats Morris, this is very special. You used the term 'happy light' in your recent comment to me..
I think it applies here, since the light seems to 'dance' across the ice.
Lovely combo the blue & gold, great comp and sense of depth

What a great place, almost surreal with that pattern and light. Amazing!