Dawn on Lake Maurepas, LA.

[dumainew]

Taken at dawn with the sun barely over the swamp and a light fog hanging over the lake.
Subsidence of the land due to channelling of the Mississippi River, clear cut logging, and four hurricanes in seven years have slowly but thoroughly diminished a once majestic forest surrounding one of Louisiana's great and fecund lakes.

--Nikon D300/18 to 70 lens--

[Paulo Bizarro]

Wonderful light and reflections.

[francois]

I like the quiet mood and the subdued colors…

[Tony Jay]

A very curious image: the first emotion I felt was one of peace but on closer examination those massive tree trunks snapped in half like matchsticks introduces a real sense of foreboding.
A bit like a good thriller or horror movie where everythings starts normal and peaceful but you know real bad things are about to start happening.
There is a very real tension in this image.

Regards

Tony Jay

[francois]

A very curious image: the first emotion I felt was one of peace but on closer examination those massive tree trunks snapped in half like matchsticks introduces a real sense of foreboding.
A bit like a good thriller or horror movie where everythings starts normal and peaceful but you know real bad things are about to start happening.
There is a very real tension in this image.

Regards

Tony Jay

I agree with your wise comment. It's often the case in such areas or regions, everything appears nice and quiet but upon closer inspection one can notice that dramatic or violent events shaped the place. Those events can be natural or man-made (ex: battlefields)

I find this image even more interesting!

[IanBrowne]

i really feel there is a far better image waiting to be released here. Tony made some great observations

Although the   remaining trees gives scale to the stumps, I feel that 1/2 the sky area could be cropped out for a better composition

With careful editing more detail could/can be brought out to make this a really good photo.

IMO good photography starts with the composition and it finishes with editing that is not obvious to the viewer

[Isaac]

Warning! Pixel-peeping!

Is there more noise than need-be in the sky and the lake reflections?

Were you afloat, or without a way to make the camera stable - so you chose 1/100s ISO250 instead of a longer exposure?

Is it that you work with JPG rather than RAW - so you don't try to ETTR and then correct the exposure with post-processing?

I'm just trying to understand what you chose to do. Over the past few months I've seen that RAW and ETTR are better in low-light, even with my entry-level camera, so I guess there are reasons you didn't try that approach.

[IanBrowne]

Warning! Pixel-peeping!


I'm just trying to understand what you chose to do. Over the past few months I've seen that RAW and ETTR are better in low-light, even with my entry-level camera, so I guess there are reasons you didn't try that approach.

LOL Now go back to your first line. Maybe some of us are over the need to be pixel-peeping which is only unnecessary IMO when large photos are going to be printed. To come up with my thoughts about the image I actually edited the image and noise was never considered; but then my weapon of choice these days is a Canon G12.

Could you please explain ETTR?? That's a new to me although that is not saying much LOL

[Walt Roycraft]

LOL Now go back to your first line. Maybe some of us are over the need to be pixel-peeping which is only unnecessary IMO when large photos are going to be printed. To come up with my thoughts about the image I actually edited the image and noise was never considered; but then my weapon of choice these days is a Canon G12.

Could you please explain ETTR?? That's a new to me although that is not saying much LOL

ETTR=Expose to the right of the histogram. Type in ettr in the search box. That will keep you busy for a while

[IanBrowne]

ETTR=Expose to the right of the histogram. Type in ettr in the search box. That will keep you busy for a while

LOL I did try google!!

Umm; i very seldom (if ever) look at camera historgrams; or even closely at camera back images.  Us old film burners didn't grow up with that stuff

[luxborealis]

This is a lovely image with great shapes and spaces.

I recognise that the subdued colours of dawn are part of the image, but I feel that the image (or at least the colours) lack a bit of sparkle. The appear more dull that one would expect under the circumstances -almost as if it is exposed as the meter saw the image, rather than as the morning really was, perhaps one stop brighter as morning skies often are - even hazy skies.

[Isaac]

when large photos are going to be printed

LOL No one would ever do that!

[dumainew]

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions. They are much appreciated. Attached is a revised version taking them into account.

1. increased exposure app 1/2 f-stop.
2. teased a bit more detail from middle ground dark areas.
3. softened top of sky by de-saturating blue.
4. did not ETTR. A mistake ! (Must install coffee maker in kayak for early morning outings.)

Altho the new foto looks good, still I prefer the darker version with it's more serene mood and abstract look. What I'm trying to emphasize is the tension between the quiet morning scene and the destruction of a once flourishing forest. If you think I'm mistaken, your further comments will be greatly appreciated.