Evening at the lake

John,

This looks like an awesome location. I love the clean reflection and the interesting variety of trees along the shores. The puffy clouds are a great addition.

As far as this particular photo: The light isn't ideal. The shadows are blocked out, and I think the foreground needs to be properly exposed in order for this image to work. A shot during the morning or evening golden hour would solve this problem. Compositionally, the tree poking in on the left seems out of place. Taking a couple steps forward to eliminate the tree/shrub distractions and put more emphasis on the curve of the shoreline and vegetation floating in the foreground water, would make it seem like less of a "snapshot" and more of a classic composition with nice depth and interesting elements from foreground to background.

Overall, I'd say it definitely warrants a return trip. With some good light and careful composing, this location has the potential to produce a real winner.

I agree with Joel. With a beautiful scene like this there is a tendency to want to fit it all into the frame, but cutting elements out frequently produces a more powerful photo.

I would make this a pano, crop the bottom off to the lake.
The clouds and reflections are nice....

I agree with the shadows being blocked out. And I agree with Dan on the pano crop. The clouds make this for me. The curved tails and reflections are really good.

Looks very peaceful and inviting, John. I'm ready to jump in my kayak and go exploring. Being able to see into the foreground shadows would be a nice improvement.

Agree with the criticisms about exposure and shadows. I like how the clouds are use here. The left should be cropped to remove the tree intruding from the side IMO.

John, I find myself in agreement with the other comments. For this particular image, I like the idea of a pano crop and also cropping the tree on the left.

--P