Challenge:Poem (Standard Editing) Location: Lauvitel Lake, French Alps Date: Aug 26, 2016 Aperture: 16 ISO: 320 Shutter: 1/125 Date Uploaded: Aug 29, 2016
The wind was very strong, and i had no tripod for this hard walk, therefore i had to up the iso a little bit to avoid any camera shakes and be sure to fix those beautiful leaves and clouds at f16 on hyperfocal with a fast enough shutter speed and a good depth.
The result is a B&W conversion with a lot of work on the shadows. As you can guess the sun was still high and the luminosity of the original shot was pretty violent, that's why i chose to darken the entire atmosphere and play with the beautiful and strong contrasts i already got. Hard to balance the result, i hope i did it well.
Statistics
Place: 1 out of 62 Avg (all users): 7.1695 Avg (commenters): 8.1429 Avg (participants): 6.7667 Avg (non-participants): 7.5862 Views since voting: 1620 Views during voting: 140 Votes: 59 Comments: 23 Favorites: 10 (view)
Hmm, so I have to critique a challenge winner...no pressure at all...:-)
Sebastien, this is a beautiful photo, incredible scenery with the mountains looming all around, the trees betray how big the mountains are by their puny size. Gorgeous lighting and classic composition for such a tiny lake dwarfed by its surroundings. I can see why others have favourably likened this to the work of Ansel Adams. Great use of b/w, true not only to Adams' style but i helps bring the photo down to form and line and detail in a way that colour never does. Funny how nobody else seems to have noticed that arrow painted on a rock in the left, pointing to the lake.
The only nitpick I can find is in the clouds immediately above the mountains, which are just a little on the bleachy side. Otherwise it's quite clear that you know what you're doing and scarcely in need of any help, which I offer to most noobs. Though of course I am always happy to offer my opinion.
Other than that, all I have to say is a huge congrats on your first ribbon, your first blue and a PB to boot! Please keep up the great work and I do look forward to more entries from you.
Congratulations on the Blue, Sebastien. Your first ribbon is a Blue! And a Personal Best, so your PP choices were perfect. Woot! Thanks for posting the poem to go with this beautiful comp.
Hi and thanks a lot for all your kind comments and the high final note, i'm really flattered !
Thanks also to all the poets here, i'm happy to have inspired you.
Til this is not my mother's tongue, i'm giving you the english poem i found initialy :
The low lands call
I am tempted to answer
They are offering me a free dwelling
Without having to conquer
The massive mountain makes its move
Beckoning me to ascend
A much more difficult path
To get up the slippery bend
I cannot choose both
I have a choice to make
I must be wise
This will determine my fate
I choose, I choose the mountain
With all its stress and strain
Because only by climbing
Can I rise above the plain
I choose the mountain
And I will never stop climbing
I choose the mountain
And I shall forever be ascending
I choose the mountain
Howard Simon
Again i thank you all a lot, see you soon for the next challenge !
What a marvellous job you did, that still small lake, the stunning light. Just a tremendously done black-and-white landscape! Congrats on the blue, and I'm not surprised at all!
to choose or not to choose to go that is
when it looks this good there's little to hold us back
and then there's that arrow to show the way
and confirm our choice
Superb BW conversion, beautiful view, excellent framing, your image is a winner and an instant favorite for me! The title is mind-catching as well, I can't wait to read the poem!
Good luck! (10)
The Chosen Path
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