Jack Frost's Home Time
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Mitchell Krog
Registered: Jul 20, 2008
Total Posts: 261
Country: South Africa

A photo I took yesterday morning in a -2 Deg C blanket of frost. I arrived an hour before sunrise set up at this spot and waited for magic time to arrive. In post processing I brought a Velvia feel into the image to enhance the tones and colours. Comments welcome.

13s @ F/16, ISO 100, Nikon D3x, ND 3stop



alichty
Registered: Jan 19, 2009
Total Posts: 8628
Country: United States

Very nice comp and colors Mitchell. I have to presume you had scouted this spot out in advance given your vigil waiting for the color show - nice call. My usual luck with something like this is that there will be no cloud cooperation on the day I am ready to shoot but it looks like the skies were just right for this one.

Nice work.

Alan



Mitchell Krog
Registered: Jul 20, 2008
Total Posts: 261
Country: South Africa

Thanks very much Alan, indeed I've been keeping my eye on this location for some time and just waiting for the perfect frosty morning and luckily the clouds played along this time. Thanks for your comment.



mike717
Registered: May 02, 2004
Total Posts: 5892
Country: United States

It's great when a plan comes together Mitchell isn't it? Nice comp and great colors.

Mike



Ray Still
Registered: Oct 10, 2008
Total Posts: 7874
Country: United States

Very cool capture digging the pastel color hues you have captured here. The frost really adds a sense of cold to the image very nice

Ray Still



parsons
Registered: Mar 29, 2004
Total Posts: 4945
Country: United Kingdom

whilst the tones are pleasant enough, two things bother me.

the bank of grass on the left is very bright against the darkness of the rest of the image, this IMO needs turning down a notch or half,
secondly the blend is very obvious with the white mask on the left hand hill edge in the sky, perhaps returning to that mask and painting it in correctly.

then you have made a good shot even better

simon



Mitchell Krog
Registered: Jul 20, 2008
Total Posts: 261
Country: South Africa

Thanks Mike, Ray and Simon.

Simon, thanks I have toned down that grass bank with a selective mask and updated the image, I am not a big fan of image blending myself and prefer to enhance and reveal details in single exposure images shot with grads. I do agree that piece of sky above the hill is brighter but it's due to the way the grad was positioned and not from a layer mask. That said I did tone it down a little in my updated version of the image above. Thanks for the feedback.



bshamilton
Registered: Aug 28, 2005
Total Posts: 33844
Country: United States

I like the shot a lot. I can see why the near left grass is brighter....it faces the remaining light. My only suggestion would be the slightest 's' in curves, to add a touch of contrast. The light feels a little flat to my eyes.
If you're using Fred's Velvia action, as I often do, it will leave the light a little bright and flat. I always bring back some contrast with curves after.

Barry



Mitchell Krog
Registered: Jul 20, 2008
Total Posts: 261
Country: South Africa

Thanks Barry and thanks for the tip, I think this one is worth a little more TLC. Will repost once I've had chance to have a look at it again



floris
Registered: May 11, 2006
Total Posts: 4674
Country: United States

Wonderful composition, conditions and lighting. The processing looks a little 'cooked', but otherwise a really beautiful capture!



jd02
Registered: Jan 31, 2006
Total Posts: 1964
Country: United States

This is beautiful. I like the cold crisp feel of the foreground and midground and the warm colors in the sky from the rising sun. Well done.
Daniel



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