Christmas Morning, Yosemite Valley, Stoneman Bridge

[Mjollnir]

A bit high key, perhaps, and I'm thinking of taking down some of the highlights in the one really white tree and the snow along the bridge.

Utterly deserted on Christmas Morning from dawn until around 0900 hours.

Christmas Morning, Merced River #2a by tanngrisnir3, on Flickr

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Hardly a "high key," given the strong black presence. Also, a bit too busy for me.

I see, however, the possibility for a more abstract treatment for that bridge arch and its reflection, with just a hint of the trees in the background (seen through the opening, not above the bridge). That would require either significant cropping, or a different lens.

Alternative cropping, less severe: turning it into more of an 8x10 format by eliminating the white pile of snow on the left and the tree trunk on the right.

[luxborealis]

A lovely photograph. The trees receding into the background a beautiful as is the tactile nature of the stone bridge.

I have to ask about the white dots in the dark river (bubbles?). Keep 'em or clone 'em?

I'm asking b/c I have a photograph of early morning in one of the pristine parks up here in Ontario and I find the surface distractions (in the case of my photo, pine pollen, but it looks like dust on the lens/print or floating pollution on the still water). It's a gorgeous image, as is your photograph, but the white spots distract my OCD brain.

What to do?!?

[Paulo Bizarro]

Not high key to my eyes. I would have not included the tree on the right, or included it more; meaning as it is it is a bit cut on the bottom.

Very good texture on the bridge stones, and the lovely receding trees, as already mentioned. I have no issues with the white spots on the water, they seem like leaves?

[mseawell]

Difficult image. I am not the greatest at analyzing another's image but here goes. I like the moment you captured and the mono rendering. The tree would go. The spots under the bridge would go and I would probably (if possible) have shifted left.

File in the FWIW department and hope this helps

Mark

[Mjollnir]

Hmmmmm.... when I get home tonight, I'll lose the tree and see how it looks.

Emphasize the 'eye of Mordor' bit between the bridge and the water.

[EricV]

Very nice image.  To my eyes, it is not so much high key as high contrast.  Did you boost local contrast with something like the LR clarity slider?  If so, you might try dialing that back a notch or two to get a smoother looking image.

[Mjollnir]

Very nice image.  To my eyes, it is not so much high key as high contrast.  Did you boost local contrast with something like the LR clarity slider?  If so, you might try dialing that back a notch or two to get a smoother looking image.

Newp.  The only thing in that regard was NIK's Pre-Raw Sharpener.

[Mjollnir]

Allrighty, then.

Cropped and the white things, for the most part, removed from the water.

Christmas Morning, Merced River #2b by tanngrisnir3, on Flickr

[thierrylegros396]

Really very well like this!

Thierry

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Much as I liked the original, I do think this crop improves it.  Gorgeous!

[HSakols]

Oh I like that much better. 

[nma]

The crop does it for me. Sensational!

[luxborealis]

I disagree - the tree gave the scene a "presence" that allowed me to feel part of the scene. Without the tree, the photo, although still very three dimensional, doesn't give me the same feeling. I feel like everything is "over there" rather than "right here". Also, the bridge now seems like more of a barrier than a leading line that took me from the tree on the right, across the photo, then down through the "vortex" of snow-covered trees.

That being said, it is still an exceptional photo. If I had never seen the first, the tree wouldn't be missed quite so much.

Thanks, though, for cleaning up the white spots in the black water.