Winterscape

[Oblivion]

Here's a picture I took in Denver Colorado. What do you guys think?

Incidentally, I'm using a Rebel XS and noticed that its advised temperature was... well... not below freezing, haha. Is it bad to take pictures in weather like this? Or is that warning only for prolonged exposure cold? I only used it outside for like 20 minutes or so.

[BlueRob]

oK Mr. Elder Scrolls.....LOL.

That´s a nice pic...I like the "infinite" look and how trees slowly blend towards the end.
On the piky side you can adjust the levels with some PP to get more details out I guess.

Regarding the cold climate and cameras issue the only thing as far as I know is keep an eye on condensation inside the lenses.

[caleb]

Re: Gear in winter... Question answered at 3:50 http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/200...-followup.html

also, for long exposures you'll get less noise due to thermal heat in cold weather.

[Oblivion]

Thanks for the input guys!

And yes, I'll definitely be more adventurous in the cold next time I'm there!

[LeeIs]

Lovely exposure oblivion. It tells the story of a day too cold for people to venture out. Man, I hate the winters for that reason. haha. This shot is depressing and I guess it works then! ;)

[w.slayman]

Cooool shot, it makes me want to put on a sweater. Nice composition, and choice of B&W, color just would not work as well.

[gahspidy]

Welcome to the forum. I have to say, I really like this one. There is great perspective here and the lines leading out to infinity. A feeling of emptiness that i remember when I was young looking out my window at the first snowfall early in the morning. No one around, just some car tracks down the road. i like the evenly spaced trees planted along the front of each homes yard. The high contrast works geat here as well. Fine composition.
So simple, but has me looking around at every detail and brings a very wintery mood
great work

[Shebang]

Welcome to PR, Oblivion, and congratulations on your stickied photo! Your photo portrays that silence that is so awesome on days like the snowy day you captured. Looking forward to seeing more from you.

[starriderrick]

Deceptively simple.Wonderful perspective, tonal range.Congratulations on the feature! Well deserved.

Rick

[shootme]

Just a super B&W, love how you got down to take this one and the tracks. Very nice. S

[draymorton]

Excellent shot. Congrats!

[Frog]

It appears that I'm going to be an outsider here and have to say that this photo does nothing for me.
I do think your angle and the way the street seems to lead to infinity is good composition.
However, its a street with no point of interest and could be any street in winter usa.
A person walking the street or kids on sleds or something would add immensely to this photo. If you didn't have anyone, put your camera on a tripod and timer or remote and get into the shot..
You have some vignetting in the corners, probably due to the 18mm and wide aperture.
My Nikon 18-135 would do that at wide aperture and wide angle with a lens hood on so I suspect you also had a lens hood on. Just something to watch for.

[Shebang]

I never saw the vignetting until now -- good eye, Frog.

[Oblivion]

Thanks for the input Frog, that does help. Yeah I saw the vignetting (it was unintentional) and wasn't sure if it was good or bad, haha. I notice that some people (presumably) post-process vignetting into images. Is that a potentially beneficial practice or should it be avoided?

[Shebang]

With the right shape of vignette, and type of picture, of course -- personally, I like it. Don't know what the "rule" might be...

[w.slayman]

Congrats on the featured photo and the sticky, a very worthy photo.

[Frog]

I've seen vignetting that adds to a photo and vignetting that sucks.
Depends on the subject and composition, I guess.

[Canyon Hiker]

It appears that I'm going to be an outsider here and have to say that this photo does nothing for me.
I do think your angle and the way the street seems to lead to infinity is good composition.
However, its a street with no point of interest and could be any street in winter usa.
A person walking the street or kids on sleds or something would add immensely to this photo. If you didn't have anyone, put your camera on a tripod and timer or remote and get into the shot..
You have some vignetting in the corners, probably due to the 18mm and wide aperture.
My Nikon 18-135 would do that at wide aperture and wide angle with a lens hood on so I suspect you also had a lens hood on. Just something to watch for.

I was holding my breath on this waiting for someone to say something that I was thinking. Frog's first sentence is what I was thinking when I first looked at this shot. I'm not sure why though. I am racking my brain to try and figure out what I am not seeing. I do love the thought of this shot and I think you have a great eye, It's just lacking something for me. It looks over exposed to me. The road and the sky meet with no contrast. Looks like it was a shot with a very shallow depth of field..maybe a f/5 or so. I haven't looked too see if the EXIF is there but I'm curious as to whatyou shot this at. I do alot of snow scenes and they are extremely hard to properly expose. Would you mind posting the color shot? Don't take this the wrong way, I just want to learn from it. I am REALLY looking forward to your next posted shots..I can see you have a great eye.

Darin

[Oblivion]

Here's the original before any post-processing. You guys can touch it up at will!

[BlueRob]

I wont add anything that has been said, It´s a nice pic of a "desloatded" winter scape, and this simpleness is what makes the picture, but you know, every body has a different approach and taste.
I was looking on this last pic you uploaded (without PP) and after analyzing it I think you did good with your approach on the PP. On the other hand, on the left side there is a blue house with a nice color tone, my suggestion would be to make that house the main subject... that house with its nice color that contrast great with the snow plus the the "infinite" effect on the street will make a strong composition IMO. And on the PP think of color this time, and if you want to go further...think on an HDR.

[Photo-John]

I agree that this is a great winter neighborhood photo. I've seen this many times in many places and it always moves me. I think you did a great job of capturing that morning post-storm feeling.

I'm glad you posted the original exposure so we can better understand what went into the final image. Your exposure is definitely on the dark side. You should expose +2/3 or even +1 when exposing a white scene like this. Your camera's meter generally tries to make everything a middle gray. So if you want a white scene to be white, you have to overexpose a bit. You can use your camera's histogram to make sure you don't clip the highlights.

I shoot in the cold all the time and it won't hurt your camera. Battery life goes down as it gets colder and any dramatic temperature change could cause condensation on your camera. But other than that, I wouldn't worry about it. A couple of weeks ago I was shooting at something like -3 Fahrenheit

By the way, I just posted a link to your photo on the PhotographyREVIEW.com Facebook Fan page You can see that here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Photog...om/46269951384

If you're on Facebook and you're not a Fan - take care of that help spread the word about the site!

[gahspidy]

I really like the original. John is right about the exposure. Bring it up with Exposure compensation when shooting bright scenes with lots of white such as this or a bright beach.
i agree with rob in that the blue tones in that house on the left is surely worth keeping in as well as the soft bits of other color. they go really nice with the mostly white wintery scene here.
i have had a go with an edit of your original image, just bringing up the level of the whites to pure white in the levels adjustment.
Then I opened up the Shadow/Highlight filter in CS4 and brought out the shadows a bit and also reduced some of the brighter areas which has a similar effect as a mild HDR
I think it looks fine. If you like it and have any questions about the edits, feel free to ask.
Hope this has helped.

[Oblivion]

Yeah, that is actually quite good. It is a totally different look though. It looks inviting

[BlueRob]

And that is why I love Digital!. Great PP Gary! now it looks much better! This is a clear example of the different "moods" you can achieve with some soft PP work. From the original B&W to the color corrected, passing through the original file, all of them gives me a different feeling. Broad range of possibilities.

[gahspidy]

Yeah, that is actually quite good. It is a totally different look though. It looks inviting

Yes, it has a different mood and feel about it but none of them are "right" that is really your final call. If the day was dark and gray and your original image is a truer rendition of the actual moment in time, that is ok and you can go with it if it is what you want from the photograph. I personally like the dreary mood of your original and my edit has an entirely differnt mood.Both have their positives but it is your call in the end. A photo does not have to have pure whites and true blacks in the data. If the day had no wjites and blacks and was gray, then thats what the photo will be. These are just some possibilities.
Personally, somewhere in between my edit and your original might be best.