1852 Healan Millhouseby
wetlandComment: I'm having a hard time commenting on this one because I love the scene but would have edited it differently. Please don't take my preferences as any put down on the image. It's more as though I really like the image and would have fun editing it, so I'm thinking aloud.
First off it's an excellent find, and the composition is great. A bit more of the brook leading the eye in would be wonderful, but of course there may have been limitations.
For editing, to my eyes, it is just slightly harsh. The bright colors and the sharp foliage make it a bit of a cluttered scene. I would not have sharpened the foreground (or any of the surrounding) foliage at all, and would likely have even added a vignette-like treatment to get rid of it's busy-ness, and reduce the bright blue of the sky, which would bring the eye right to the wonderful mill. That's the only bit I would have sharpened. To be honest the scene may be slightly over-sharpened in its current state.
On the mill I would have done a bit of local contrast work, and dodged and burned it a bit to really get the texture of the old wood to pop out a bit with those great colors.
It likely would have looked horrible, but in my mind that's what I see when I look at this. That said, your photo here is great, and it's an excellent entry.
Photographer found comment helpful.
