Not Abraham Lake....

Great find, Lon.  I don't know how it is in Yosemite, but conditions like this are hard to find where I live, thanks to surface melting and re-freezing, and more often, snow.

I like the composition, and I admire your ability to relegate El Cap to a supporting role.

I think I see your point about sharpness, but I wonder if part of the problem you see might be contrast, which has a lot to do with our perception of sharpness.  I say this because it looks to me as if it's a bit "foggy."  Boosting mid-tone contrast or Clarity (in ACR) might give you some of what you are looking for.  Using Topaz Clarity, starting with micro-contrast would give you even more control and possibly better results.  As you already mentioned, there are lots of handy processing tools to fine-tune an image to match your memory and feeling about the scene.  Sharpening tools might help, but those contrast tweaks may help reduce the need for sharpening, which can have some nasty side-effects, as you know.  I think this one is worth the effort.

You've got a fine collection of bubbles here, Lon.  The warm reflection from El Capitan is a great addition as are the scattered cracks in the ice.  The dynamic range in the bubbles and the scattering of very white bubbles keep my eyes moving nicely through out the image.  At NPN sizes this looks good to me.

This has a lot of depth, Lon.  At this level it does look fine to me.  I'm really a technophobe at heart and saving images with technologies is still beyond me.  Either they are worth the effort, or they are not.  I like this and more importantly you have spent some time with it, so I'm guessing you like it too.  Therefore it is worth the effort.  It is very interesting as an ice abstract and knowing that the reflected color is from El Capitan is nice to know.  At some level it has to stand on it's own regardless of it's location.  Anyway, my 2 cents.

I really like this, Lon. Nice abstract with fine shapes and color. Very well done.

Ha, there I was, thinking that it was a collection of sunlit sand under the ice that I was looking at. You certainly are an El Capitan-wizard, using that famous wall in every possible way! I really like this although I would probably have preferred the reflection to have a bit more space at the bottom, but that is a minor nit only. I certainly realize you were very restricted in your comps here. I notice the sharpness issue in the large version, so I guess a large print might need some sort of rework, but for this size it still looks ok!

This something I have never seen in Yosemite--very cool. I love the details and the reflection of El Cap is a great touch. Nice abstract, sir!

Well done, Lon, although I wouldn't have recognized the El Cap reflection without your comments, makes a nice abstract.

Lon, I think this worked out great. The reflection off El Capitan really added some nice interest to an already interesting abstract scene. I like what the cracks in the ice added as well. I could see a bit more sharpness overall if you can work it out but still this web view is very nice. Cool work!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Love the ordered chaos of your image, Lon, with the subtle diagonals leading the eye through the image.  The glow of El Capitan provides an entirely other dimension to the image.  Looks pretty sharp to my eye.  Outstanding.

Very interesting scene with effective textures and patterns. I would probably try it with cooler balance in the ice rather than the current magenta/brown look.

Thanks folks for the comments and valuable suggestions, all of them good ones, I appreciate very much.

Lon

Great find, I love it! Have never seen anything like it in Yosemite Valley, or anywhere else. In person I mean.