Warm Light on Cold Brook

Gallery: LandscapePosted February 13, 2014315 views14 comments

When I shot "The Only Sound" -- the image I posted Tuesday, I was thinking black and white. Then, as the Sun neared the distant horizon, hidden by the forest, the clouds lit up, and I noticed "hot flashes" reflecting on the water. I switched to a vertical shot and zoomed back to include some sky in the shot. Red water doesn't make a lot of sense if you can't see the source of the red light.

On the camera LCD, the flashes of warm reflections looked pretty nice, but the brook just looked muddy in my long-exposure shot with a 3-stop ND filter. Luckilly, when I see a scene I like, I make lots of exposures, so I had some f/8 version with no filter. It looks a lot better when the reflections don't all run together. Water blur is not always a good thing!

Canon 5D3
Canon 24-105mm. (No filter)
0.3 sec. @ f/8; ISO 100
I brought down the brightness of the sky a little in ACR, and even more in Nik Viveza. (Nik's "control points" make complex selections easy (bright sky between the branches).

Comments

14 comments

Comment posted by Peter Cross on February 13, 2014 at 12:29 PM

Great image, Wayne. All the time experimenting with the reflections really paid off. You captured a really pretty scene. The snow on the spruce also add another dimension to this shot. Really nice composition and an on the money exposure.

Registered on April 3, 2010, 271 Posts, 1342 Comments

Comment posted by Chet Dowell on February 13, 2014 at 12:42 PM

Beautiful reflection to enhance an already beautiful scene. Nicely captured , Wayne. I like it cropped down from the top a little. Chet

Registered on December 3, 2012, 237 Posts, 1171 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on February 13, 2014 at 2:17 PM

A wonderful mix of warm and cold. The sun's warm colors just add to winter's beauty in this one. I do like the detail in the water here, too. Winter's beauty always seems to be enhanced when a little warmth is brought in. Maybe it's just it instills a little hope that things will get warmer and greener.

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on February 13, 2014 at 2:47 PM

Oh, this is a beauty Wayne! I like this even better than the B&W. What really gets me is the reflected color in the stream.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Zack Clothier on February 13, 2014 at 2:51 PM

Oh how I remember those chaotic deciduous forests of the northeast

..Really like this one, Wayne, nice job composing. One thing that caught my eye was the slightly more saturated magenta cast in the snowy branches in the extreme upper left. Nothing major, just thought I'd point it out.

Registered on January 28, 2010, 343 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by John Williams on February 13, 2014 at 3:16 PM

Good point, and the water color reflections really are adding beauty here. The snow adds a wonderful dressing to the stream.

Registered on September 6, 2007, 221 Posts, 5985 Comments

Comment posted by Kathy Barnhart on February 13, 2014 at 6:10 PM

Lovely scene, love the warmth of the sun's glow and the contrasting cold looking snow and woods. Sweet, intimate winter scene.

Registered on November 11, 2011, 404 Posts, 1639 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on February 13, 2014 at 8:14 PM

Yeah, the bright sky does seem a bit strong, but the arc of the stream, the deep snow, and the reflections are glorious. Maybe tomorrow I can get out to look for a great scene like this with our foot+ of snow and more coming down. This sure has me wishing for a walk in the silent snow shrouded woods. After spending some more time with this, I'm with Chet in that I think cropping maybe half of the sky helps emphasize the stream and the reflections without sacrifice all of the warmth in the sky.

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

Comment posted by Ed Lowe on February 13, 2014 at 9:20 PM

Great combination of warm and cool colors in this beautifully composed winter scene, Wayne. I think I like this even more than the B&W's. I also like the diagonal placement of the stream along with the textures in the snow.

Ed

Registered on February 7, 2004, 414 Posts, 7115 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on February 13, 2014 at 11:23 PM

Wayne, another very beautiful winter scene from your part of the country. I like the color reflected in the stream.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by gary phillips on February 14, 2014 at 12:10 AM

Wayne, you gotta get out of the woods, man. I'm really afraid you'll get lost in there and only have wonderful images to show for it. Love the reflected color in the stream. I also like this a little better than the b/w. That's hard for me to admit.

Registered on October 24, 2013, 185 Posts, 4136 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on February 14, 2014 at 12:02 PM

Love the way the creek leads me into this image. Simple, lovely and effective. Nicely done, Wayne.

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Reid on February 15, 2014 at 11:22 AM

Beautiful light on the water and a wonderful winter scene so well composed Wayne. Texture in the snow and water look just great. I could see a slight crop at the top but wonderful as is. Great job.

Registered on January 27, 2013, 65 Posts, 2460 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on February 15, 2014 at 1:18 PM

Wayne, This is really nice! You captured such a wonderful feel with the beautiful light. Love the reflections and your comp.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments