snowy stream

fuzzywuzzy · Expire: 2013-11-30

Alternative title - "be very careful where you put your feet"

Nex, Flek 25/4 at f/8 or so.

I'm seeking C&C specifically on the question of "are the far trees sharp enough", or do they detract from the shot. Other comments welcome!

technical info - used HDR to bring out detail in snow without blacking out the trees, converted to B+W to get rid of colour artifacts.

Luminance HDR 2.3.0 tonemapping parameters:
Operator: Mantiuk06
Parameters:
Contrast Mapping factor: 0.15
Saturation Factor: 0
Detail Factor: 6.9
PreGamma: 1

ylyad · Expire: 2013-12-05

I like it with all sharp and I do really like the composition. My main comment would be on the post-process, I do think it's grey-ish: snow should be white, not grey, even if it means overexposing the sky in that case.

rbelyell · Expire: 2014-01-31

100% agree with above. i like realistic depiction of what you saw in a scene like this, so since your eye sees clarity throughout the frame, i like the deep DOF. by the same token, what you saw was 'white' snow, and i think the contrast between that and the grey water would enhance, as well as 'liven up' the photo.
tony

fuzzywuzzy · Expire: 2013-11-30

Comments noted, thanks.

I'll post-process again for whiter snow but might not get the chance for a few days.

Katastrofo · Expire: 2013-11-19

Reminds me of my home area in northern Idaho, thanks for posting!

Yes, whiter snow would be nice, but a nice comp nonetheless.

fuzzywuzzy · Expire: 2013-11-30

Here's another version.

I laid just a hint of blue into the snow by the water. I wanted to preserve the detail but hopefully the blue will make it look like cold clean snow instead of grey dirty snow.

Any thoughts?

ylyad · Expire: 2013-12-05

I like it more, I think the purpose is met, the snow looks better. But did you try to increase a bit exposure?

fuzzywuzzy · Expire: 2013-11-30

Version 3.

I left the whites whiter, and didn't completely desaturate the colours. There's still a little green in the trees, and hints of tea colour in the water, I think the extra contrast to the snow makes it look whiter.

Thanks for all comments so far.

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

#1 simple lightened
#2 HDR
#3 silverfx darken contrast vignette

smaller images give better impression , don't need to scroll up and down.

#1

#2

#3

visualopsins · Expire: 2025-04-11

I say snow is light blue. Wink

On grey overcast day, snow is grey. Forest snow such as here, is green-tinted. Sometimes snow is red-tinted, as during sunrise/sunset, or even multi-colored, as during aurorae. Yellow "happens" sometimes too! Laughing

I thin best white balance is somewhere in-between versions #2 & #3 -- not as quite as blue as in version #2, not as red-shifted as in version #3 (note red cast on water).

ylyad · Expire: 2013-12-05

@fuzzywuzzy: I really like your version #3 Wink

@Attila: I like version #1

fuzzywuzzy · Expire: 2013-11-30

I fear the red shift in #3 was provided by mother nature, here's a crop of the water with no colour adjustment Laughing

So here's yet another version.

More appropriate size.
Care taken to leave the snow more white then grey.
Entire pic desaturated a bit, then the bottom half completely desaturated, and a hint of light blue added to the snow.

Once again thanks for the comments everyone.