Misty Marsh: Something a bit new for me. I just happened to be passing this marsh during a misty spell and decided to have a go at capturing it. It's not the type of landscape shot I'm...

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Something a bit new for me. I just happened to be passing this marsh during a misty spell and decided to have a go at capturing it. It's not the type of landscape shot I'm used to shooting and I'm not even sure if it was a worthy subject, but it certainly caught my eye and it had an interesting atmosphere, especially since I was surrounded by frost-covered grass and reeds.
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(Download)

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

R.G. wrote:

Something a bit new for me. I just happened to be passing this marsh during a misty spell and decided to have a go at capturing it. It's not the type of landscape shot I'm used to shooting and I'm not even sure if it was a worthy subject, but it certainly caught my eye and it had an interesting atmosphere, especially since I was surrounded by frost-covered grass and reeds.
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R.G. Loc: Scotland

Architect1776 wrote:

Thanks.

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

Thanks for the shot, very nicely done. As a youngster I spend many a cold morning sitting in a duck blind in an area that looked somewhat like that marsh.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Curmudgeon wrote:

Thanks for the shot, very nicely done. As a youngster I spend many a cold morning sitting in a duck blind in an area that looked somewhat like that marsh.

Thank you Curmudgeon. Even with the frost it was quite damp and the cold was very penetrating. Kudos to you if you could sit patiently in a place like that.

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

Hi, Coz,
This is just packed all-to-Heck with mooood !

The sun’s misty reflection is the crowning touch.

Great eye! Why am I not surprised?

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Uuglypher wrote:

Hi, Coz,
This is just packed all-to-Heck with mooood !

The sun’s misty reflection is the crowning touch.

Great eye! Why am I not surprised?

Thank you Coz in the Territories. I'm glad something of the atmosphere has come through. Not too difficult considering how atmospheric places like that can be.

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

R.G. wrote:

Something a bit new for me. I just happened to be passing this marsh during a misty spell and decided to have a go at capturing it. It's not the type of landscape shot I'm used to shooting and I'm not even sure if it was a worthy subject, but it certainly caught my eye and it had an interesting atmosphere, especially since I was surrounded by frost-covered grass and reeds.
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When I first viewed the thumbnail, I really liked the shot immediately. In download I noticed that the sun, because it is so bright compared to the rest of the scene, really dominated my attention. I think that it might be hard to tone down the sun without messing up the shot; but I think that this nice shot would be nicer if the sun were not so bright on the water.

Still, I would definitely have taken this shot. The composition is really nice and the mood is quite special.
Erich

JD750 Loc: SoCal

R.G. wrote:

Something a bit new for me. I just happened to be passing this marsh during a misty spell and decided to have a go at capturing it. It's not the type of landscape shot I'm used to shooting and I'm not even sure if it was a worthy subject, but it certainly caught my eye and it had an interesting atmosphere, especially since I was surrounded by frost-covered grass and reeds.
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Hi R.G. Fog is hard. Because our eyes have a larger dynamic range than the camera. But I do think you captured the mood of "fog" here. Nice job!!

Re the composition, A distraction for me was the sun reflecting off the water. Sun is definitely a part of fog. However old Sol is very bright and tends to blow out pixels and the result doesn't usually look like what we see with our eyes (that dynamic range problem again). I wonder if the point of view was such that the sun was over the reeds rather than the water, would that have toned it down a bit ? Food for thought.

But regardless, I think this is a good shot of fog. It's moody. I like it. You say you don't usually shoot this type of scene but .. you clearly have the skills for it. Maybe you should?

R.G. Loc: Scotland

ebrunner wrote:

When I first viewed the thumbnail, I really liked ... (show quote)

Thanks for commenting, Erich. I think part of the problem is the banding round the reflection that shows up more in the download. Some shots are like that. As soon as you move away from what the SOOC file gives you (including the raw files), banding appears and is difficult or impossible to get rid of. Smooth areas are especially prone to that. Any alteration to the light levels - and that includes a change to Contrast or Clarity - can cause banding in both light levels and colour intensity. Normally the most effective way to smooth things is to use negative Clarity and/or negative Contrast, but even that doesn't eliminate banding sometimes.

Another problem is that anybody who does photo editing teaches themselves to look out for things like banding and it becomes one of the things that we notice quite quickly, probably far more quickly than a non-editing person might.

However, since you and JD750 both mention the brightness I'll look into that aspect of it since it is probably part of the problem. Cloning over it with a lot of transparency may help.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

JD750 wrote:

Hi R.G. Fog is hard. Because our eyes have a larg... (show quote)

Thanks for the vote of confidence, JD. I can tell you that in reality the sun was quite bright and I've not exaggerated anything, in fact I've probably made it less extreme. I think it's just one of the limitations of the medium that we use to view images. Some things look fake even SOOC. But since you and Erich both blame the brightness I'll look into it.

Here's another shot where the sun is more surrounded by reeds. It's also unedited so there shouldn't be any banding round the reflection of the sun. IMO this composition doesn't give the same sense of place as the OP image, but it is more focused.
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(Download)

neilds37 Loc: Port Angeles, WA

Yet another fine example of why I maintain that fog is the photographer's friend. Good on ya, R.G.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

neilds37 wrote:

Yet another fine example of why I maintain that fog is the photographer's friend. Good on ya, R.G.

Thank you Neil. It's always worth a try to work with the fog rather than write off the situation.

fergmark Loc: norwalk connecticut

I guess I disagree with the effort to dampen the brightness of the sun. the thing about looking at a scene like this, in person, is that we tend to not look at the sun, but at everything around it. I think you loose that focus when you modify the sun. The histogram shows the brightness of the sun well short of the right end. This sun placement, practically centered, and almost on the lower chord of the golden segment, makes it an essential element of the composition. I think its better to let the sun be itself, and our reaction to it be as it should be.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

fergmark wrote:

I guess I disagree with the effort to dampen the b... (show quote)

As I said to Erich and JD750, I think the problem is the banding more than the brightness. I reduced the brightness quite a bit from the original file and would have gone further except that the banding gets worse the darker it gets. I haven't tried cloning yet and maybe that'll help with both the brightness and the banding. But like you I didn't have a problem with the brightness in the original post version. I agree with you that the eye doesn't linger on it but uses it as a starting point for further exploration.