Absolutely overwhelmed by the response this image has received. And incredibly happy that it got the Blue. It really was an incredibly close finish between the first 3 placings and any of the other two could have snatched it.
In retrospect though I realize that I was a bit too enthusiastic as far as sharpening is concerned as has been pointed out in some of the comments.
I had played around with this image so much trying various editing options that eventually I couldn't see the woods for the trees anymore. Here is another version of the same image that was edited to get a softer overall tone. Personally I prefer this version over the one I uploaded as my challenge entry.
It was incredibly cold on the day (-10) with a thick layer of ground fog and my camera and lens were actually covered with a very thin layer of ice after half an hour outside.
Statistics
Place: 1 out of 275 Avg (all users): 7.6788 Avg (commenters): 8.5517 Avg (participants): 7.6036 Avg (non-participants): 7.8333 Views since voting: 7098 Views during voting: 387 Votes: 165 Comments: 66 Favorites: 39 (view)
Fred, no idea how I missed this. What a fabulous iconic winter scene.
Of course everyone will dissect the image as they have the luxury of looking at it for a long period of time. What's often missed by viewers, voters, and this irks me no end, is the lack of comprehension of the effort required to get a shot and purely voting on ROT, sharpness, colour, composition, and their perception of DMC/DNMC. To get out in the cold, to get up early, to visualise the shot, to know how to shoot it, and to return after a long or cold or perilous journey. Landscape photographers know this too well. Early mornings, cold late evenings after sunrise, mountains, and so on. Work load and effort is valid also for studio work, but generally that is a repetitive re-creatable environment.
Not withstanding the above drivel , what makes this shot are the two shoe trails seemingly leading away into the mist. Without that enigma, I think the image may not have had the impact it does. Well done, ribbon or not.
Oooeee, Fred! Eks nou terug van 'n lekker warm seevakansie, en kyk net wat vang jy aan! -10 Grade, man ek verstaan nie hoe koud is dit nie. Die foto lyk of daar 'n sagte lig vanuit die ys uitstraal. Werklik mooi. Baie geluk, en welverdiend.
Beautiful image, congrats! I do agree with you that your alternate edit is better; significantly so, in fact. I don't think the score would have been all that much different, though.
This is just awesome Fred! Again a picture after my own heart. It's perfectly executed and the contrast whilst maintaining the foggy look is amazing. Congrats with a well deserved blue ribbon.
Jy weet nie hoe bly ek is toe ek sien dit is jou foto wat Blou gewen het nie. As ek dit nie mis het nie was jy 'n man wat alles wou opgee so ruk terug. Ek weet jy sou nie maar jy was moedeloos. Ons meet nie ons werk aan die Ribbons nie maar dit bly 'n groot beloning en ongeag van die wen of nie, moet jy altyd self tevrede wees met jou fotos.
Fantastiese foto en welverdien. Holland het miskien minder geleenthede as ander plekke soos Ysland maar kyk net die resultaat in die foto van eenvoud. Alles wat 'n foto karakter gee en atmosfeer is daar en dit is 'n toneel wat net raakgesien moet word.
Gorgeous photo! I love the colors, and scene. I agree it's a bit oversharpened around the tree and brush, but such is the problem making 800 pixel shots and deciding how much to resharpen. I'm sure it will make a stunning enlargement...maybe good for canvas. Congratulations!
Oh! Takes my breath away! The softness of the pastels is lovely and I love the tracks - a man walking his dog, I assume. Beautiful! (My only suggestion is to revisit for sharpness - perhaps a tad oversharp on my monitor but I suspect it would be fine printed.)
This is gorgeous. The use of parallel lines and the vanishing point really leads us into this photo. And the mixture of warm and cool colors is very pleasing.
This is certainly a pretty scene and the colour gradient in the sky is tremendous. Personally though, this looks like you've been a bit heavy with the sharpening to me (something I'm prone to do myself) - I think this delicate scene would better suit a smooth rather than crisp treatment. This appearance is particularly prominent in the lower left foreground foliage which is also quite bright and thus accentuates the over-sharpened look.
Perhaps it is jpeg artifaction, if I look in the upper branches of the tree I can see a cross-hatch pattern...
Overall, clearly a beautiful scene with outstanding colour handling but for me, the sharpening / compression combination takes the shine off it.
Winter Wonderland
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