Heavy, wet Snow &...

[Catmendo]

Old man winter gave us a big reminder yesterday that he's still alive and well!!!

Then I came across an interesting observation. This raven was sitting on a white poplar picking away at a clump of shrooms. He/she didn't seem to mind my presence so I began to fire off a few images. Once the bird had secured it's lunch, it slightly flew off. Small wonder why these interesting and entertaining birds have earned the nick-name, "primates of the sky", for they'll eat just about anything!

[Dbl]

Very nice work Stu. Something about heavy snow and photography just go hand in hand. I would have loved to see that first scene if you could have eliminated the branches in the foreground by walking forward six feet or so. It looks like it is open to camera right, a real wide shot with the emptiness to the right and the fence and dark trees on the left and the fence separating the two would be a very powerful composition.

[MN Shutterbug]

Keep your snow! I like the raven shot. Perfect exposure on his feathers.

[dukhnt]

I really like the 2nd shot. Keep em coming.

[eyeguy 54]

Very nice. Cool fence.

[mmeyer]

Hey Stu, I'm glad someone else is getting the snow. I'm sick of it. I do like your pics though. The second is really great.

[Catmendo]

Very nice work Stu. Something about heavy snow and photography just go hand in hand. I would have loved to see that first scene if you could have eliminated the branches in the foreground by walking forward six feet or so. It looks like it is open to camera right, a real wide shot with the emptiness to the right and the fence and dark trees on the left and the fence separating the two would be a very powerful composition.

Thanks all for your comments!!!

Dan, I totally agree with your comments and observations. Unfortunately there was no way in which to get the shot you were visualizing without trespassing on private property.

Have a look at this next photo before it had been cropped/edited, it will depict my circumstances...

Notice the pine tree on the right. This scene also depicts what I had to work with. I was shooting my 70-200 f2.8 for this scene.

All I could do was to leave the grass & branches in the foreground and crop the scene much tighter. Trespassing in cottage country along the east side of Lake Winniepg would probably be an unwise decision!

Once again I totally agree with your comments and they are much appreciated too!

[Birdsong]

Just beautiful! Interesting observation of dbl's, even if impossible. I usually do try to anchor with foreground branches of some sort, as you have here. I will have to think about that as I shoot. B & w is perfect for that 2nd scene. Not yet, X-T just keep thinking restoration of water tables. I'm actually going to have some water in my little river this year.

[Dbl]

Forgive me, I know what you mean Stu. I certainly wasn't there so I have no idea what you had to work with. I just sometimes visualize things and how I would like them to look, I am an artist as well so I like to imagine how I would paint that scene. After seeing what you had to work with, you've done exactly what I would have done with the scene, not that it matters what I would do. I sometimes type what I am thinking and your photo got me excited to come up with a painting incorporating those types of elements, so thank you for that!

Birdsong, as mentioned I generally look at photos a bit different than many people do. I think the idea of any photo should be to keep your eye from wandering off the composition and to try and grab your attention to the main focus of the shot. A quick thing I do with every photo I look at is to cover my eyes and remove them and glance at the shot and make note of where my eye goes and what it is attracted to. Does it stay within the photo? If it doesn't where does it go, off the composition? What distracts from the main focus of the image, or pulls me away from the center of attention.

Sometimes framing a composition with natural elements works well to keep your interest on the subject, sometimes it distracts. And what distracts for me might not for you. I like to take the time to do this with any photo I look at, I think it helps me with any scene you are trying to make a meaningful composition with. How can you improve on it, what would I do different.

Often times we are confronted with a scene and we just know it will make a great photo, but we don't quite know how to capture what we know is a winner! Without really thinking about you end up with what I call a snapshot. You are just taking pictures without figuring out what makes the scene stand out to you in the first place. We know it is interesting, we just didn't capture the essence of what made it so interesting. That really is the challenge isn't it? I take a more deliberate approach to this than many because I shot film for so many years. It was costly to shoot the volume you can these days with digital so I spent a bit more time on thinking through how I wanted to convey what was in front of me. Stu I am far from saying that with these photos, I really enjoyed them. I am just generalizing random thoughts.

I got into photography some 30 years ago to help with research for my painting. At times because I was taking elements from many different photos to make one composition it didn't matter how I captured something, just that I would have a reference shot. At times those "snapshots" ended up being OK in their own right. So what I am saying is you can do a bit of both and still come up with a beautiful photo. We often get hung up with the technical aspects of a photo, the shutter speed, ISO, etc. without really thinking about what makes it a scene that attracted us in the first place.

I am so sorry Stu for taking this off track and away from your beautiful work, it just sparked some random thoughts that may or may not be of benefit.

[dockothebay]

Stu, Thanks for sharing these images - they are wonderful, #2 is my favorite. We've been in the south since mid January and these almost make me miss the snow. But we're returning next week and I hear I'll still have some time to "enjoy" the white stuff!

Dan and the rest of you who commented, that's what I really appreciate about this forum! First, having these wonderful images to look at, and then the observations and discussion that follows gives me, as a rank amateur, some insight into how others ply their craft, and what goes into getting good images. We each have our own perspective and it helps me to identify exactly what mine is when others comment so articulately.

Some days I just peek at the pictures and simply enjoy the images, and some days I spend a little more time trying to identify what it is that draws me to a particular shot. So Thanks very much to all who contributor - you put a little sunshine in my day nearly every day, whether I comment or not!

Thanks Stu!

[Catmendo]

Jackie, thank you for those kind words! I, like yourself, Dan, Steve and all who contribute to share their photography on this site...do so for the love of photography. Sharing images in order that others might gain some enjoyment is a wonderful thing!

Dan, I hope that I never offended you by the comments in my last post. Please believe me, there was no offense directed towards you. I sincerely appreciated your comments in every sense of the word. My response was merely an attempt to show you what I had to work with in that scene.

I also wanted to show others who partiscipate here, ways in which one can make positive changes to enhance a photograph.

A sincere thank you Dan for your thoughts and your comments...they are always welcome and greatly appreciated my friend!

[Dbl]

The inter-web is so cold and impersonal. Hard to convey feelings! I took absolutely no offense and I was very glad you posted what you had to work with. It helps me as well to see how you made something from a difficult situation. You along with everyone that posts in this little forum are talented and it is a pleasure to see this work everyday!

[Catmendo]

I was confident that your reply would convey this massage...and I'm very glad!

[jwhjr]

Nice pics, the second one is my favorite.

[Iambjm]

I actually liked the picture before it was cropped.