Snowy fence; opinions solicited

[tbob]

This is one of those images I have mucked about with as I refuse to give up on it. Maybe because I had to fend off a very territorial farm dog while shooting it. (Was not even his property as far as I could tell).

The weird aspens in mid right are due to an very uneven frost coating; even if they do look strangely and improperly masked

I need some distance on it, so posted it here to get opinions I trust.

[Shadowman]

Hi Trevor,

The horizon and crop of trees has what appears to be a gray fringe which is a bit distracting and would probably be less noticeable if the composition were B & W. The grayness is visible in the tree line across the field also.

[Geoff F]

My first thought was to lose some of that rather bland grey sky; but in the Lightbox view a lot more detail appears in that sky. So I think I would crop out that post close the left side and probably just a little from the right side, then a balancing amount from the sky.

[FootLoose]

The fence obviously leads the eye to the features in the distance but I find the stand of trees on the right competes with the snow covered hills on the left for attention. The trees are the large dominating shape in the image, while the hills are much brighter than the trees. Do I look left or right?

Perhaps if that clump of trees wasn't so thick, or if you had been able to shoot from a lower perspective so the distant hills were less prominent, or if you had been closer to the fence so it offered more interest...

[JBW]

This is one of those images I have mucked about with as I refuse to give up on it. Maybe because I had to fend off a very territorial farm dog while shooting it. (Was not even his property as far as I could tell).

The weird aspens in mid right are due to an very uneven frost coating; even if they do look strangely and improperly masked

I need some distance on it, so posted it here to get opinions I trust.

How about something like this?

[pschlute]

I personally would lose the clump of trees, increase the the contrast and frame it as a panorama.

[ccphoto]

This is one of those, 'THERE ARE A MILLION VARIATIONS...PICK ONE,' shots but I like the edits that crop the sky down but I am more inclined to leave as much foreground as I can though limiting the side past the copse of Aspens and neutralizing the blue cast in the snow...whilst adding a little more dimension to the snow with a bight lights levels adjustment.

[Donald]

I'd suggest that the gate/timber structure is a distraction. It is the fact that it is so close to the edge (crosses the frame edge) that makes it a distraction.

I think you can see this quite well illustarted Brian's edit and Chris's edits. They have both taken out the part I'm referring to, but Brian has caused the second timber structure to become close to the edge, whereas Chris has more fence before we come to the structure which is, at least to me eye, a much more harmonious and therefore, better position for it.

Other than that, crop the top if you want to maintain aspect ratio.

[mugge]

I'd get rid of the clump of trees and reduce the sky by quite a margin.
Cheers Ole