Questionable image: a dawn in the Adkirondacks

[DanK]

I am in the process of totally overhauling my Smugmug site. I hide galleries that include personal stuff (e.g., photos of kids that parents wouldn't want on the web), ohotos that didn't make the cut, or images about which I was uncertain. (A lot of what I have posted here, looking for critiques, has been in the last category. Sometimes, I would re-edit it based on comments and move it to a public gallery.) As part of overhaudling my site, I have raised the bar between the public and hidden galleries a lot higher. I want to make the public galleries much more selective. I am still culling photos, but I have already moved a substantial portion.

In doing that, I have been sorting through a bunch of images taken in the same general location--some in the exact same location--in the Adirondacks during the years that I spent part of my summer there. I discovered this one that I took 4 years ago. I can't decide whether it is "meh" or worth polishing up and including. All comments welcome, as long as they are frank.

BTW, I have again been greatly impressed by Smugmug. Part of this entailed a complete overhaul of the appearance of the site, as well as some reorganization. I ran into a few substantial problems, one of which turned out to be a limitation of CSS rather than a limitation of the Smugmug templates. Their customer support was fabulous. They answered very quickly, and once one of their staff had started on it, she never gave up. She became my point of contact, even when she had to bring others into the discussion. And even though I ended up keeping the same template (they offer 21, or you can construct it from scratch), I was able to create a totally different appearance, which you will see if you click on the link in my signature.

[Donald]

I would endorse your comments about SmugMug, Dan. I have recently overhauled my own website and SmugMug do offer al that I want. I thought I would have to look at at bespoke option given what I wanted to do, but a little investigation (their online help is also fantastic) led me realise that I could do it on the SmugMug site. And I agree with your comments regarding private and public galleries. All the images I now post on here link from a private gallery in my SmugMug site.

I should add I have no shares in SmugMug or no commitment to them other than that I use them.

[Round Tuit]

Compared to the other photos that you have on your site, this one looks rather flat to me. However if you were to make it snapier, it would detract from the serenity of the scene. I think that this is one of those occasion where the camera would need to capture smells, fresh air and wind to make justice to the scene. I'd leave it out.

[DanK]

Andre,

Thanks for the frank feedback. That's the way I am leaning, but I will wait for a few other voices.

This is a painful exercise. I am moving off the top pages images that I enjoy and that I think are pretty good--just not good enough. The last 25% is hard to do.

Dan

[selig1656]

Yes, peaceful capture that seems to be lacking some pop. Maybe blk/wht and play with the tones.

[Geoff F]

For me, that scene is being dominated by the right side tree; which isn't sufficient to make a good main subject, so it just spoils the rest of the image.

I would try removing that tree and adding just a fraction more 'pop' to the remaining misty scene.

[Wavelength]

Nice image; i think the tree on the right foreground is a bit dominating the scene; i tried trimming out the tree completely; then the image had a different appeal since i could focus more upon the hill and its reflection; but then the image became less "landscapish" in ratio....

[DanK]

Thanks all. I think the decision is clear: it doesn't make the cut for my public-facing pages.