New England Winter - C&C welcomed

[KimC]

I wasn't able to shoot this weekend, sooooo, had to hop in the car yesterday, in the rain, to grab this shot of one of my favorite scenes on a street close to us. Since it was raining, this was shot from the car :-)

Winter is pretty, but it's not my favorite season.

Thanks for looking!

ISO 800; 1/125; F4; 66mm

[flashback]

Kim, I think it has great potential. Trying to figure out what the..bottom third is, doesn't look like snow. In any case I think were you to crop the image just at the top of that vanilla looking bottom band, (just slightly below the bare leaves, I think you'd have a very good image. Reminds me of a place out in New Hartford.

[KimC]

Kim, I think it has great potential. Trying to figure out what the..bottom third is, doesn't look like snow. In any case I think were you to crop the image just at the top of that vanilla looking bottom band, (just slightly below the bare leaves, I think you'd have a very good image. Reminds me of a place out in New Hartford.

Thanks for commenting Jack. The bottom third was a week old snow/ice/rain mixture. Here is your suggested crop and I like it.

[flashback]

Bingo! Now it's a great image, certainly a wall hanger for sure. I really like the muted colors throughout.

[Mike Buckley]

The second version is not only much better but also makes a very nice image!

My only objection to it, though it's a strong objection, is the vignette. Vignettes, at least vignettes that are this strong, work fine for me in almost every part of a scene except for a plain sky. That's because plain skies do not exhibit vignette-like lighting. When I see a vignette in a plain sky, I assume that it was either applied during post-processing in poor judgement or that a lens or lens filter was used that unfortunately darkens the image at the corners. Even if it's the latter, I then assume the photographer didn't have the good judgement to correct the vignette.

It's generally best to apply a vignette after the crop is determined. If you apply the vignette first and then apply the crop, you can get results that appear both unnatural and unsatisfying. It seems that you cropped the original version, which resulted in a far darker vignette at the top corners than at the bottom corners. Ironically, I might use a vignette in the bottom corners but not in the top corners for the reasons explained above.

[KimC]

Bingo! Now it's a great image, certainly a wall hanger for sure. I really like the muted colors throughout.

The second version is not only much better but also makes a very nice image!

My only objection to it, though it's a strong objection, is the vignette. Vignettes, at least vignettes that are this strong, work fine for me in almost every part of a scene except for a plain sky. That's because plain skies do not exhibit vignette-like lighting. When I see a vignette in a plain sky, I assume that it was either applied during post-processing in poor judgement or that a lens or lens filter was used that unfortunately darkens the image at the corners. Even if it's the latter, I then assume the photographer didn't have the good judgement to correct the vignette.

It's generally best to apply a vignette after the crop is determined. If you apply the vignette first and then apply the crop, you can get results that appear both unnatural and unsatisfying. It seems that you cropped the original version, which resulted in a far darker vignette at the top corners than at the bottom corners. Ironically, I might use a vignette in the bottom corners but not in the top corners for the reasons explained above.

Jack and Mike - thanks for your comments. Mike, appreciate your insight on the vignette and specifically sharing what you didn't like about it and what to consider. Here's another version:

[NorthernFocus]

Each change was better than the one before so I won't suggest any additional tweaks, Kim. You recognized the possibilities of the scene which is the single most important aspect of photography. The rest is technical knowledge that will continue to accumulate with experiences like this thread. Nicely done.

[IzzieK]

The first crop was already pointed out by Jack and came out really good. If you click on the image and click on the arrows between the edits, the change is very evident that the first edit brings a lot more mood to the photograph. The last edit just lightens it up and became very plain looking (to my eyes that is...)

[mugge]

I agree with Izzie the last image is nice but the second one has more----
cheers Mugge

[FootLoose]

I agree the crop is much better, Kim. You have captured some beautiful tones in the 2nd version but they have been washed out a bit when you removed the vignette. If this were my image, I would replace the vignette with some texture.

[Shadowman]

Winter definitely cuts down on your shooting time. Nice capture.

[Mike Buckley]

I like in the latest version that the sky looks more natural. However, I think a vignette in the bottom will add more of a three-dimensional feel that directs our eyes toward the subject. Consider the example below. Use the Lytebox to click back and forth between the two images to appreciate the difference and to determine which one you prefer.

[DanK]

I agree with most of what has been posted, with one exception. While I take Mike's point about unnatural vignetting in the sky--and would add that your initial vignette was quite strong--there is a tension in this for me. Bright areas on edges, and particularly in corners, tend to draw the eye, which is not what you want here. My eye is drawn to the top, where there is first featureless sky and below that a tree that, while interesting, is not the main focus of the image.

I'd suggest that you could shave some off the top by cropping right at the top of the tree. This would lessen the problem a bit.

It's hard to see at this level of magnification, but it looks to me like you have some chromatic aberration around the tree limbs, which is not uncommon along lines of high contrast like that. What I am noticing is a vaguely purplish tinge. If you blow up the original image on your monitor, it should be apparent whether you have this; it will show up as a purple fringing of the edges of the tree limbs. If you have it, it is relatively easy to get rid of it with many software packages, including Lightroom.

[Mike Buckley]

a tree that, while interesting, is not the main focus of the image.

There is no question that our interpretation of an image should affect how we post-process it. For me, the tree is definitely the main focus of the image. Whether or not you feel that way should affect your post-processing. Ideally, it would also have affected how you captured it.

[Wavelength]

I like the composition very much; this will definitely work in black and white....equally or more

Regards

[Downrigger]

Lovely image and helped by the revised crop and improved by the loss of the vignette. I especially like the hues in the trees and vegetation showing that winter can present very engaging color.
I agree with Mike about vignette of sky. I wonder if this could use a little though. Post crop vignette intensity and feather are on sliders in LR and I tend use some often, taking it just to the point before it becomes obvious that it is there - it is interesting and useful to me that vignette can achieve its effect without being very apparent that it is there at all. So maybe, Kim, your good idea about having a vignette could be reinstated but more subtly. I might not abandon it all together until I fooled with it a little more.

[Mike Buckley]

taking it just to the point before it becomes obvious that it is there

I completely agree that that might work very well.

I wouldn't want anyone to think that a vignette applied to a plain sky is always problematic for me. It's only problematic when I see it as a vignette. One way to avoid that is to apply the vignette manually and very, very lightly so it doesn't take on the look of an automated, perfectly formed vignette.

I'm not particularly knowledgeable of painted art so I wonder if anyone can show me an example of a master painter who painted a plain blue sky much the same way as applying a noticeable vignette to a photo. We can often take our clues from the masters who created images sometimes centuries before photography was invented.

[KimC]

Thank you all for your comments and for the discussion that has occurred. I have played with this in b&w but at this point, I prefer the color. I do have a session with my mentor tonight and planned on chatting about is image. I will post a version later this evening. For me, the image was about the tree...as I love the shape and the atmosphere on this day :-)