Snowy Road - Looking for C&C

redleash

Please give me some thoughts on this one. I shot it on an outing during my trip to Maine. At first I thought the power line was distracting, but the more I look at it the less I am bothered: the pole follows the line of the trees and the wire follows the line of the road. It's not as crisp as I'd like, but then my shots never are. (I really need to get some training! :wink )

My brother and I went riding around in the woods and also took a long walk along a groomed snowmobile trail. Only saw two riders and they didn't provide much excitement to shoot. We saw lots of turkeys--I will try to post some shots later. Also saw a bobcat run across the road but it was gone before either of us could grab a camera. My brother found the tracks but they didn't make much of a shot either. So, it was a great day, great family time, resulting in some so-so photos but some wonderful memories!

Thanks, Lauren

#1


As an afterthought, here's another from the same road:

#2

hawkeye978

The power pole doesn't bother me that much. What I would like to see is some contrast in the snow. I think the detail is there but it's just washed out right now.

I like the second the best. There is some texture in the snow but increasing the contrast may help.

redleash

Thanks, Tom. I'm never sure how much to boost contrast, and whether I should do it in Aperture, ACR, Photoshop or some combination thereof. (I'm still having trouble getting a solid workflow in place.) My thought when I looked at both shots was also, "they need contrast." I guess the beauty of shooting RAW is that there are "do-overs!" I'll work some more PP and post any improvements.

Thanks,
Lauren

Roaddog 52

I like the first one, and agree with Tom, a little more contrast. there is also some good color there with the evergreen on the left, and the left over leaves on the right.

Grampa Doug

I think the power lines add a lot to the story. They tell me someone lives nearby and they have to travel through some pretty country to get there. Reminds me of when I lived in the sticks.

redleash

Thanks, Grampa!

Still working on a different version of these road shots--if anyone has specific suggestions of how to bring out the details, please tell me. I'm not happy with anything I have tried so far.

Photoshop CS4, Aperture, Photomatix, are all at my disposal.

Lauren

Miguel Delinquento

Lauren,
I like the first shot better. There is more depth and points of visual interest. That said, it is not all that compelling, very little drama or strong visual markers. The powerpole does diminish the naturalistic qualities of the shot.
Actually the most significant negative is the brown color of the road from the mud and debris. If you could change it to black or gray it would be more attractive. Brown and white just don't go well together.
Just for kicks, consider converting the shot to black and white.

M

Photopaddler

I like these shots they realy tell the story of the Maine Woods in winter quite well. The powerline thing is not very distracting to me and trying to find a road without lines on it is almost impossible up here so it is best to try and make them work in your shots.

redleash

Thanks for your continuing comments. Here are two new versions. This version of #1 seems softer than the first version but a bit more colorful. I actually got the book out and did my Aperture adjustments based on that. What do you think?

1. Increased contrast and local color enhancement to green on left and to road and brown leaves.


2. B&W version, based on the new (above) color version.


Thanks,
Lauren

NeilL

I like #2 a lot, Lauren (I mean the #2 of the original pair in your original post). It's quite unpretentious yet gently keeps your eye held.

chrismoore

I like the composition and the story, with or without the pole, but I can't get past the brown snow. The other thing you could try is selecting the brown part and desaturating it. I don't know if it will work here or now but I used it once to get the brown out of a waterfall and it worked very well.

redleash

Neill - What a lovely description of #2 (original). May I use it when I post/print that shot?

Chris - I will try to clone out the brown and let you take a look. I am always hesitant to change colors in my images, but I will give it a shot. Thanks for the ideas.