Autumn in Scotland

[KMRennie]

I like the shot but am unsure about the silky water look. I have shot this with exposure times ranging from 1/100s to 30s. This is 3.6s which softens the water but leaves texture in the water, this was the only shot with a blink of sunshine on the trees but merging the trees into any other shot would be easy. I have only recently started using long exposures and still find it exciting but realise that it may be passe in some circles. So all comments welcome.
Ken

[Christoph C. Feldhaim]

To me the water looks good.
But the image is too dark and oversharpened in my eyes.

Cheers
~Chris

[RSL]

+1

[KMRennie]

Thanks for the replies. I used to oversharpen a lot and become addicted to adding structure but seem to have slipped back into my previous habits. Hope that this looks better. Also lightened it. Ken

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

I would suggest that such a gloomy interpretation would be much more suitable in b&w. In color, it looks simply muddy.

[Alexis Alvarez]

I agree, I think it would work better in B&W.

[Christoph C. Feldhaim]

I would suggest that such a gloomy interpretation would be much more suitable in b&w. In color, it looks simply muddy.

Actually the lower 2/3 of the image are already so low saturated its almost a black and white.
But I'd crop away 1/3 to 1/2 of the colored foliage in the top, just above the yellow bush to give it a more landscapish look and to reduce the colored background competing with  the foreground. Would end up in a sorta 4x5"ish aspect ratio.

I believe there are numerous possibilities to work with this beautiful shot.
E.G. I'd try to use some negative clarity on the top part to give it a more dreamish, soft look and so on ... should be fun to try various interpretations.

And yes, I like the second version better.

Cheers
~Chris

[KMRennie]

I have merged 2 different files, the original with the water and a much brighter with more sun on the far trees. This gives a much brighter image, although still low key, but not quite so gloomy. I may make a mono of an image from here but I still like the splash of colour leading me through. Ken

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

¾ of the image appear to be black and white, and that creates an uneasy contrast with the colorful background. Have you tried to experiment with a different white balance for the foreground (ie, warmer)? That might create a certain visual unity with the background.

[KMRennie]

The cool temperature of the water was caused by using stacked Lee filters to slow the shutter speed. Raised the colour temp a bit. Thanks for the comments and for making me think. Ken

[David Eckels]

I think that's headed in the right direction.