Still winter

[Downrigger]

The northeastern US had a cold winter, and Lake Champlain, lying between Vermont and northern New York froze uncommonly solidly. Here are a couple recent images from near my hang-out on the lake shore. My pup contemplates the frozen shorelin. The other image attempts to speak to the wintery ambience of this lovely part of the country. C&C warmly encouraged.

[Mike Buckley]

The first one is nice (I love the detail in your dog's coat) but the second one is stunning and must be appreciated by clicking it to view it in a larger size. The two large spokes and the texture provide such magical foreground interest!

[Shadowman]

Nice captures, the long shadows really add to the imagery.

[IzzieK]

Yes Mark...agree with both remarks here. I was particularly taken by the shadow of your dog's tail here..you really caught that one nicely. Two questions:

1) At the LHS, is that a protusion of sharp ice? Another one that caught my attention in #1 is that from that frozen icycles (?) at the LHS, a pathway line of ice in the shot continued to the body of your dog and the shadow of his head form the end just like the icycles (?) at the left.

2) Am I looking at an abstract B/W here of a another icycle growing out of the snow? I love the shadows you brought here in your shot...

[Barbara Ponder]

I like them both! Especially #1 cause I am a sucker for a beautiful dog! I know you up north are ready for the snow to stop but I would love to have snow here, enough to play in just once.

[Downrigger]

Thank you Mike. The first one has a green cast which I only noticed after posting – I fixed it with a little magenta shift. And you’re right, the second works much better clicked larger – I think this is very often true of landscapes. Your complements are always appreciated.
John – thanks. Shadows are long here anytime of day until summer sets in.
Izzie, I appreciate your comments as always. The thrown up shards you see arose as the lake underwent freezing and winds tossed up sheets of thinner, drifting ice onto the false shore of the frozen surface as it did so. You see those in the second shot, too.
Yes Barbara – dogs rule. I thought this was interesting as a different perspective for a dog image. And a lot of the folks up here like snow – but only some – and not when it goes on and on and on and…

[TheBigE]

#1 is by far my favorite. The details in the dog's coat and capturing this from behind, tells a great story and captures a very good looking dog. It almost as if he is looking for the end of winter as well...

#2 is nice, it is a bit etherial to me. For me the B&W nature of it turns me off a bit, but still a great capture.

Well done.

[Rebel]

I love both of these shots, absolutely stunning

[Downrigger]

Thank you, Matt. Erik, I'm nowhere near objective in judging my dog, Poko, so confirmation is nice. As for ethereal, I appreciate the critique - I guess it's about having been there and maybe I failed to convey the point.

[Brownbear]

Beautifully photographed and composed. I adore the 1st for the beautiful heart warming scene snow/sky and yes, Poko. And the 2nd for the framing and amazing detail/texture and sense of barrenness.

[Marie Hass]

Love both images.

I noticed that #2 makes a second image interest when the lower 2 thirds is viewed alone without the horizon. Cool!

Marie

[Nicks Pics]

The black and white image is well done too, I suppose, but my personal preference is the first one. It is beautifully exposed and has beautiful detail. The point of view, the foreground, and the background are all great as well. This is a very attractive and quality image!

What camera are you using?

[ied]

I like them both, my favorite being that of Poko. The color nd composition are most stunning.

Irene

[bnnrcn]

I like them both, very nice images

[Downrigger]

Thank you Christina, from me and Poko. Cold and barren indeed was the message on the second.

Marie, thank you, good eye, so you bring up a problem I often encounter – How much to include? I wanted this horizon to “locate” the foreground and mid-distance, but you’re right, the subject is the snow and the ice forms and their impact is in some senses diminished by my choice to show the distant shore and mountains. One can’t have the cake and eat it too.

Thank you too, Nick and Binnur. It’s a D600, Nick, and I used a 16-35mm f/4 for this shot. I downloaded an EXIF viewer – you might want to also - and I use it a lot on this site to learn the tools and settings folks have used… it increases my enjoyment and learning considerably.

Irene: thank you. Composition on the first is odd, because a sideways “V” of lines leads the eye out of the picture to the left –normally not good, but Poko pulls the eye back and balances this. It’s a sort of ping-pong effect and, oddly, seems to work here.