Sweetwater Lake Sunrise

Gallery: LandscapePosted April 10, 20163,361 views14 comments

BEST VIEWED LARGE. Thanks all for your comments and opinions on my last post. This shot was taken a few years ago in Talladega National Forest in NE Alabama on a cool November morning.

Like Preston, i recently downloaded the Nik collection and am just learning to use it. I feel comfortable with Dfine2 and am getting comfortable with the Sharpener combo, but this is the first instance where I used Color Efex Pro 4. I'm not completely satisfied with the results of it but I hope to greatly improve in proficiency given a little time and effort.

Your comments and critiques are welcomed and appreciated.

Comments

14 comments

Comment posted by Igor Doncov on April 11, 2016 at 1:26 AM

Wow. You're right, the large version is lovely. That mist is filmed about as nice as anything. It permeates the entire scene. To me this has a feeling of the South very much to it. I can see Stonewall Jackson's army camped on the other side along those banks.
The only suggestion I have would be to darken the lightest area just a tad, to the level of the light area to the right of it. Nice work. I don't want to use 'moody' because it's used too much.

Registered on November 22, 2014, 189 Posts, 2733 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on April 11, 2016 at 11:39 AM

Bill, This is wonderful. Nice composition with beautiful light and color. The fog / mist help make for such a quiet and peaceful feel. I like this a lot!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

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

Comment posted by Roel Wijtmans on April 11, 2016 at 11:48 AM

Hmm, I might have to take a look into the Nik stuff, since many are pretty happy with it. This is so nice! The ethereal mood and the soft colors are great. Looks like a good choice to go for this crop.

Registered on September 30, 2012, 116 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on April 11, 2016 at 5:46 PM

Great mood, very tranquil and serene. Beautifully done.

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Daniel Rappaport on April 11, 2016 at 8:11 PM

Beautiful scene, well composed and presented. May I ask what specific adjustments you made with Nik Color Efex? Thanks

Registered on September 9, 2009, 294 Posts, 2006 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on April 11, 2016 at 9:37 PM

Beautiful scene, well composed and presented. May I ask what specific adjustments you made with Nik Color Efex? Thanks

Thanks Daniel. To be honest I don't know that I remember them as i was just kinda playing and kinda learning at the same time. I think I used Brilliance/Warmth, Color Contrast, and one other that I can't recall. Color Efex is pretty powerful and can be easily overdone, and I'm strictly in the learning phase. Viveza is another program that is very powerful - I'm just using it for the first time tonight and am pretty impressed so far. I feel comfortable with Dfine2 and really like it for noise reduction (much better than Noise Ninja, my previous program). I feel comfortable with the Capture Sharpening program as well, but not as comfortable yet with the Output Sharpening. I would definitely recommend downloading the collection as it's free and you really can't go wrong. There's lots of YouTube tutorials available to help out too.

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

Comment posted by Dave Dillemuth on April 11, 2016 at 9:58 PM

This image has great atmosphere and a wonderful feel. I really like the beautiful warm pastel color palette. Only suggestion would be to try and burn down that bright area right above the trees.

Registered on December 10, 2015, 104 Posts, 1112 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Lowe on April 11, 2016 at 10:02 PM

What a great way to start the day; watching the sun rise and being surrounded with all that fleeting fog. I love the peaceful calm mood here, Bill.

Ed

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

Comment posted by Pete Bengeyfield on April 12, 2016 at 10:01 AM

Very ethereal.Nicely done,

Registered on December 2, 2003, 1247 Posts, 3439 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Lowe on April 12, 2016 at 5:10 PM

Love the soft pastel colors. Beautiful, Bill. enlightened

Registered on February 11, 2004, 777 Posts, 5252 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on April 12, 2016 at 7:41 PM

Bill,

Beautiful! A very tranquil and quiet mood here, yet one of my first impressions was that I felt like I could just hear fog and mist swirling around. that may not make sense, but the image takes me there and I wish I could feel all the other senses that were experienced at the moment.

Simple, but with great character and mood.

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Jean C Cajolet on April 12, 2016 at 10:05 PM

Very well done, nice mood, a tranquility scene where it was probably very nice to be there.

Registered on April 28, 2014, 53 Posts, 532 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Richter on April 13, 2016 at 3:31 PM

Bill, I really appreciate the plainness of your composition and the delightful reflection just makes the difference for me.

Viewing this image, I forget thinking about technique and only feel like standing in the middle of the scene.

Peter

Registered on November 10, 2010, 218 Posts, 2723 Comments

Comment posted by Basil Greber on April 16, 2016 at 2:41 PM

Very nice Bill, love the soft mood and pastel tones. The panoramic composition works very well with this one.

Registered on November 8, 2005, 219 Posts, 1340 Comments