Snowy Field

[CatherineA]

Is there anything I could have done that would have made this a more interesting shot? Or perhaps there just isn't enough going on? Thank you for any comments.

[Shadowman]

The only thing I would suggest is cropping out some of the sky, mostly to rid the image of the overhead branch and to lessen the expanse of nothingness. Nicely composed and processed. Looks like there is visible shadow beneath the fence that you've either toned down or shot purposely to lessen, the image could work either way, I like it as it is as the fence looks shrouded in snow.

[FootLoose]

I quite like this image, Catherine. The foreground structure lead the viewer to the trees in the middle ground, and then on to the dimly lit background. There is a good tonal variation between foreground, midground and background. While there might not be a lot to see in the distance, the tonal gradation in the midground trees keeps leading my eye that way and makes me search for detail back there. I think that is good; it holds my attention and invites me to use my imagination. Bear in mind I do not live in an area where it snows and I have never visited such an area so I might find this more interesting than others who do not find snowy scenes so novel. For me the "nothingness", the bleakness is the subject of the scene. It is nice winter vista.

Rather than crop the horizon to remove the tree, I would try to clone it out to preserve the perspective ratio you have used. If you remove a top section you will raise the horizon to the middle area of the image.

[Wavelength]

Yes, you need clone out the tree branch seen in the top right corner; nice image

[Urbanflyer]

Each photographer has her/his own artistic sense. What was your focus here? If it was the open gate, then that needs additional emphasis--consider cropping the sky nearly in half so you have a horizontal image that parallels the horizontal of the gate/fence. I am willing to play fast and loose with aspect ratio so if you are not, then that will affect how cropping the sky may affect cropping on either side. They sky is pretty bland so you can afford to lose some of it if it detracts from the image's focus.

You also might consider adding a little clarity in post processing which might bring out the tress in the far right, distinguishing them a little more from those in the distance. This might add a little more depth to the image. I think you have good bones to work with.

[Manfred M]

Nice image Catherine.

Shooting a snowscape on an overcast day is generally not an easy task to pull off, but you were quite successful here. The issue is that both the sky and the snow (which depends on shadows to give it depth and texture) are simply not there. Snow can be a reflector and will diffusely mirror what is happening in the sky.

One approach that you might want to explore is cropping your images to eliminate parts of it that do not contribute to the overall look. The amount of sky in this shot is not doing much for the image, so removing some of it is definitely worth considering. The offending tree at the right hand corner also disappears with that approach.

[Geoff F]

As an alternative approach, Catherine. Leave the sky uncropped but clone out those branches plus the two faint 'spots' which appear in the sky.

Gradually darken the sky from the top with a curves layer and a graduated mask or some careful brushing over the mask to add a bit more interest to the sky. But don't get too carried away with this; just a little darkening will add a lot to the scene.

Those gates lead the viewer into the scene and beyond them there are several options which can be tried in the way of sky editing .

[CatherineA]

Thank you John, Greg, Nandakumar, Judith, Manfred and Geoff! I appreciate hearing your comments and suggestions. Cropping and preset filters are pretty much all I've ever done in terms of pp. I think I will enjoy learning curves etc. and experimenting more with cropping on this photo. I am a sucker for wildlife and usually can't get enough of it but this one time I was glad that the coyotes weren't there. It must be a photo about the nothingness for me too.