Beaver pond in late autumn

[DanK]

This is in an Audubon sanctuary in the Berkshires (the ones in the US, that is). I'm not at my main computer, so t his is a quick and dirty edit, but comments welcome.

[purplehaze]

Perhaps I am too conventional, but I would be inclined to make the reflection symmetrical with the above-water portion.

Edit: I think I might also lower the mid-tones, or increase the saturation a touch.

[LenR]

A nice tranquil scene Dan. I might be inclined to crop 1/2 inch from the bottom and clone out the OOF grasses bottom left. Perhaps dodge the shadow area on the right side of the reeds?

[Round Tuit]

This scene captures the essence of autumn very well. If it were mine, I would consider cropping out even more water than Judith suggests and cut slightly below the reflection if the grasses.

[DanK]

Thanks, all. I'll play with a crop and will clone out the grass if it survives that. I like the shadow area; it creates an off-center focus. Re saturation: this is tough and will have to wait until I'm at my main computer. I wouldn't add more saturation globally, but I may add it either locally or by color.

[Geoff F]

Did you take any other angles, Dan?

I tend to agree with cropping the bottom but also wonder what this scene would have looked like with more of the trees visible?

Exposure/focus etc all looks good to me.

[FootLoose]

The trees in the background have little interest for me. I would crop about half way between the top of the reeds and the top of the frame. That would place more attention on the reflection, which is probably what attracted the photographer to the scene.

Overall, the image needs a contrast boost and a slight glow could be added to the reflection of the reeds as well as a subtle vignette to the outer areas of the frame

[DanK]

Well, I can't oblige everyone: one person wants more of the trees, another less. No arguing over taste.... That's one thing that makes this fun: people see different things in an image.

Geoff, the trees above this frame weren't interesting. In late fall, many are bare. I do have some shots of the other end of the pond, where the trees still had more leaves. I haven't had a chance to process any.

Greg, re a contrast boost: I agree. However, I didn't boost it with a curve in RGB mode more than I had because it boosts saturation as well, and it would quickly look unnatural. I'm going to play with boosting contrast with a luminosity blend, and least for part of the boost. Then I have to figure out how to boost color contrasts selectively.

You've all given me a lot to think about before I put fingers to keyboard again with this image. I appreciate it.

[Cantab]

I enjoyed your "quick and dirty edit" but will look forward to the next rendition.

[xpatUSA]

A bit late to the thread but may I ask what, in spite of the title, the main subject of the image is?

That is to say that if the title had just been "Late Autumn", I would have had difficulty in discerning a main subject and maybe that's where the varying comments are coming from?

Based on local contrast via selection histograms, the GIMP is implying that the reeds and their reflections are somewhat dominant in the scene, with perhaps the trees second and the plain water less so ...

[DanK]

Ted,

Like many landscapes, it doesn't have a single focus. (search <alfred sisely landscape> for many examples.) But if the question is "where do I want the eye to go", it's the grasses and their reflections.

Dan

[xpatUSA]

Ted,

Like many landscapes, it doesn't have a single focus. (search <alfred sisely landscape> for many examples.) But if the question is "where do I want the eye to go", it's the grasses and their reflections.

Dan

Thanks, Dan.

So I thought ...

[DanK]

Here's the next iteration, helped by many of the comments here. I cropped more from the bottom, cloned out the leaves, added midtone contrast using a luminosity blend (including pulling down midtones), added midtone contrast using a normal blend mode locally (trees and grass), did some burning, sharpened a bit, and a few other things.

Thanks again for the comments.

[Round Tuit]

This is much better than the original. I would still crop more off the bottom but as you said: there is no accounting for taste. And... the photographer always has the last word.

[LenR]

Looks fine Dan...........