First Snow

[Rebel]

I went for a walk high up in the Brecon Beacons this morning and it started to snow about 7.30am and then an hour later when it stopped and the sun came up, I was left to look at this:

Re-processed:

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured scene.

[Geoff F]

Looks fine to me. The sky is bright but not over exposed.

[bnnrcn]

I must have skipped this The scene looks very nice . If the image was mine I would try a milder look especially on snowy areas. Those strong blacks bother me a bit.I like the sky

[Rebel]

Thanks all, I've now had a chance to reprocess this one.

[Manfred M]

Matt - As a snowscape, it looks a bit strange to me. The foreground makes sense and the dusting of snow looks pristine, but the middle ground has an overall brown look to it. To me this suggests "old" snow that has gotten dirty after lying on the ground for some time, but I would expect to see this in the foreground as well. As someone who sees far too much snow for my liking at this time of year, this looks wrong.

Overprocssing?

[Rebel]

Matt - As a snowscape, it looks a bit strange to me. The foreground makes sense and the dusting of snow looks pristine, but the middle ground has an overall brown look to it. To me this suggests "old" snow that has gotten dirty after lying on the ground for some time, but I would expect to see this in the foreground as well. As someone who sees far too much snow for my liking at this time of year, this looks wrong.

Overprocssing?

Cheers Manfred, I didn't even notice that! It must be something I did in PP.

I'll try again, I always struggle with snow scenes.

[Manfred M]

I'll try again, I always struggle with snow scenes.

Hint - snow is white...

[Urbanflyer]

Suggest dodging out the middle ground at a low percentage--15-20% on highlights only. That will get the middle ground nicely snowy.

[Rebel]

I think I tried to "heat" the first one up a bit for some reason.

How's this...

[Urbanflyer]

gorgeous!

[Manfred M]

I think I tried to "heat" the first one up a bit for some reason.

How's this...

That nailed it!

[IzzieK]

The edit is more nicer, Matt. And I like the clouds part.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Matt I didn't notice that you edited your first post and uploaded the re-edit there. So, I kept looking for a difference between the two images The re-edit looks very nice.

[Wavelength]

Magical....yet i am doubtful; can the snow be so white when the sky is that reddish?

[Rebel]

Magical....yet i am doubtful; can the snow be so white when the sky is that reddish?

Although I fully admit to enhancing the sky with the vibrance/saturation sliders, the sun hasn't actually risen above the clouds yet so there is no direct sunlight on the snow.

[Ndukes]

Hint - snow is white...

Snow reflects the colour of the sky.

[Manfred M]

Snow reflects the colour of the sky.

Matt has replaced the image in question; the shot being discussed had a combination of white snow in the foreground and brown snow in the middle ground. That was not a likely combination.

As for the snow picking up the colour of the sky; the answer is much less clear. If I look out of my window right now, the freshly fallen snow all around looks white, even though we have a gray and overcast day. It will start looking dirty in a few days, from the cars and trucks running down the roads. Snow in shadow areas often looks blue and during golden hour, this effect is accentuated and the snow can take on a bit of a warm colour cast. One doesn't really notice this unless one takes a picture with these effects.

This shot, taken just at sunset shows the warm / cool tones in the snow.

[Ndukes]

Matt has replaced the image in question; the shot being discussed had a combination of white snow in the foreground and brown snow in the middle ground. That was not a likely combination.

As for the snow picking up the colour of the sky; the answer is much less clear. If I look out of my window right now, the freshly fallen snow all around looks white, even though we have a gray and overcast day. It will start looking dirty in a few days, from the cars and trucks running down the roads. Snow in shadow areas often looks blue and during golden hour, this effect is accentuated and the snow can take on a bit of a warm colour cast. One doesn't really notice this unless one takes a picture with these effects.

This shot, taken just at sunset shows the warm / cool tones in the snow.

Your shot has the main light source, the sun, behind the camera and it's warm tones show on the highlights. Along with the warm tones of the sunlight, the blue sky is reflected in the snow.

As I see it, Matt's situation is quite different. He is shooting towards the sun and he must compensate for the significant dynamic range. That leads to complications and it is quite difficult to restore the image to a natural look. I missed his original version but he seems to have corrected it very effectively. Behind and all around him is a sky with a much lower intensity than the sunlight straight ahead. But the coolness of the sky should and does influence the highlights in the snow in his composition. Under difficult conditions he has done well with the revised version. Well done Matt. It is well up to his high standard.

Manfred, I love that waterfall. Leaping Salmon at times I presume.

[Rebel]

Your shot has the main light source, the sun, behind the camera and it's warm tones show on the highlights. Along with the warm tones of the sunlight, the blue sky is reflected in the snow.

As I see it, Matt's situation is quite different. He is shooting towards the sun and he must compensate for the significant dynamic range. That leads to complications and it is quite difficult to restore the image to a natural look. I missed his original version but he seems to have corrected it very effectively. Behind and all around him is a sky with a much lower intensity than the sunlight straight ahead. But the coolness of the sky should and does influence the highlights in the snow in his composition. Under difficult conditions he has done well with the revised version. Well done Matt. It is well up to his high standard.

Manfred, I love that waterfall. Leaping Salmon at times I presume.

Thanks Neville