Winter landscapes - opinions requested

[MN Shutterbug]

With spring like weather today, I couldn't stay in the house. We hit 36 degrees and sunny.

Can't forget the birds.

[reinhard1]

great pictures. good luck.

[MN Shutterbug]

Although the blueish tint in the deer scene is what was actually there, due to the cool temperature of the light, I'm wondering if a color corrected version is better. I'm always torn in this type of situation. Here is the color corrected version. Opinions? I did shoot in RAW and adjusted the color balance and desaturated the blue and cyan channels some on the first one.

[Dbl]

I prefer the color corrected version myself.

[Steve Foss]

Totally a judgment call and up to the artist.

I typically prefer a warm color temp over a cool one.

However, one of the very neat things in nature is how the color reflected by snow so readily changes depending on the quality of light. When in shade, it develops that wonderful blue/purple glow. It can become a nice red on a clear day at sunset when out in the open, and so on. And these are colors visible to our own eyes, not tricks the light plays on our camera sensors. So in this case, and again it's just my judgment, removing that blue eliminates a key element of your photograph.

[MN Shutterbug]

Thanks Dan and Steve. I value your feedback. Anyone else?

[finnbay]

I too, like the color corrected version in this instance. Sometimes the cooler color will add mood to a winter shot, but here the whiter snow compliments the color of the deer better, IMHO.

[JayinMN]

I prefer the color corrected version too. I bet you were ready to jump in and save the deer if it fell through?

[mixxedbagg]

I'm going to disagree. I think the "blue" raw photo has more depth and really evokes the time of day appropriate to those longer shadows.

[MN Shutterbug]

Thanks for the feedback. I posted the same on another forum and all 3 preferred the "blue" version. It sure is a good thing everyone sees things differently. I kinda prefer the "blue" version also, mainly because that is the color that was actually present at the time, and because cold temps deserve cold colors.

Jay, if the deer would have gone thru, it would have been fine. It's a pretty shallow river.

[Yellowhead]

I like the blue one. The sunlight striking the snow provides enough warmth and you don't lose the blues in the water and the ice