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Cool River
Cool River
timfythetoo


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Zen Photography (Advanced Editing IV)
Camera: Olympus C-2020Z
Location: Rochester NY
Date: Jul 24, 2006
Aperture: 2
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/60
Galleries: Landscape, Infrared
Date Uploaded: Jul 28, 2006

My first entry with the Olympus 2020 that I purchased from Philup. Went home to Rochester NY this past week and walked across a bridge that crosses high overthe Genessee River. The other direction you can see Kodak as the river heads to Lake Ontario. I realize that this really does not fit the entire challenge description but I do think it captures serenity and harmony well. Lets see how this does. Wish I could get extra credit for having to listen to my kids whine and cry the entire walk down there.

Post Process - crop, channel mixer, levels, saturation adjustments, selective color adjustments, USM, NI a couple of times, blur on sky and water, extensive burning and doging, minor cloning, resize for web.

Statistics
Place: 106 out of 329
Avg (all users): 5.8284
Avg (commenters): 7.0769
Avg (participants): 5.5243
Avg (non-participants): 6.1386
Views since voting: 1495
Views during voting: 356
Votes: 204
Comments: 22
Favorites: 2 (view)


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AuthorThread
01/06/2008 08:51:16 AM
Initial thoughts
Honestly? Not to keen on the strange effects of the processing.

Composition/ Content
Content is interesting – a simple combination of natural landscape scene and two man-made structures.

Compositionally, I like how the river sweeps around to the bridge and is echoed by the curve of the bridge arch itself. There is also a strong diagonal formed by the main line of clouds and then down into trees of the right bank of the river.

Digital Processing - Technical
It’s totally down to personal taste, I know. For me, the processing ruins the image. I don’t like the effect of desaturation on the foliage nor the artificial look of the water surface. The clouds and sky seem to suffer the most from the processing and no longer look natural.

Any negatives?
The processing is the main one for me. Additionally, I’m not sure the content of the image is strong enough to make the image stand out.

Fits The Challenge
The last thing I feel when I look at this is the peace and harmony of zen. Instead I feel discordant and out of sorts, like the natural order of things has been thrown away.

Hope this isn’t too disheartening a comment? I figured an honest reaction was more valuable than a vanity comment!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/30/2007 06:35:36 PM
Interesting how I faved this and never commented....

I just love the interaction between the blues and the whites. The bridge gives just enough to break the ground and the sky. I like the IR shots quite a bit.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
08/11/2006 07:02:55 PM
Trading post...
The clouds and the water are fantastic! That said, I really don't like the infrared too much. And I know it's not fair, but I tend to vote down these types of pictures. They just look too unnatural to me. I actually didn't vote on this one for that reason. My zen didn't do too well, so take this with a grain of salt... it just doesn't seem like a zen type picture. There is too much going on.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
08/07/2006 10:12:15 PM
Trading Post comment

Well I didn't beat you by much... but since I don't beat you very often these days, allow me a moment to gloat... :-) OK, moment over. First I must admit that I am not a huge fan of infared - I know a lot of people really like it, but to me it reminds me of flocked Christmas trees and I've never liked flocked Christmas trees. Christmas trees should be green and smell of pine. Period.

The setting and the composition (once I get past the flocked trees) is pretty peaceful (though it probably wasn't with the kids whining and all). Would that you could get rid of the building, though. The one thing I will say for infared is it makes the river a lovely color.

All in all, I'd take a 5.8 that you "phfftttt" at any day.

Heh! Just read Posthumous' broku - it does look like popcorn eating the bridge...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
08/07/2006 01:14:00 PM
Wow, looks like you did a lot of work on this from your description, I really like how you post processed it, it should have placed higher IMO but apparently I missed it during the challenge, I don't see my vote in red :(
  Photographer found comment helpful.
08/07/2006 12:46:08 AM
Hi Tim... for me, this image didn't feel Zen, but was more of a landscape. I also think I'm unfortunately biased against IR images; it's an effect I'm just not crazy about (as some don't like selective desat or fisheye, for example). But your image has a nice dreamy feel to it, and the way the trees reflect the clouds is a clever touch.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
08/06/2006 11:31:15 PM
popcorn eats a bridge
this is not the popcorn's way
the bridge is now sad
  Photographer found comment helpful.
08/06/2006 06:09:54 PM
this is gorgious!!!!! I love the colour and depth, how the river leads your eye. I have the immediate fantasy of clomping over the bridge in a horse drawn carrage with a big fir coat on and the top down.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
08/06/2006 12:33:03 PM
Very nice - soothing. Great shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
08/04/2006 04:41:36 PM
Kinda weird and creepy - in a fascinating photography kinda way!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
08/04/2006 08:22:06 AM
this is wonderful! great shot! (9)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
08/04/2006 08:00:55 AM
very lovely infrared shot... i love the reflections in and smoothness of the water, and the bridge looks great. the tower block is a bit of an eyesore, but it doesn't detract from the impact overtly. there does also appear to be a highish level of noise in the blues, but overall it's a nice effectively done example of IR photography. and a bit zen-ish too. 7.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
08/03/2006 05:14:11 PM
IR is so damn cool!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/31/2006 10:29:27 PM
Infrared was born for Zen!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/31/2006 03:18:10 PM
Wow. This looks cold. Great photo.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/31/2006 12:09:49 PM
yea, pretty freakin cool! 10!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/31/2006 11:26:11 AM
Great shot
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/31/2006 11:04:14 AM
Great snap...very soothing
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/31/2006 10:15:27 AM
zen and skyscraper? No way.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/31/2006 10:03:48 AM
neat looking shot, was there alot of ps work? not sure if the trees/brush had snow on them or if it was editing... looks neat, just a little weird how they blend into the sky IMO, nice shot tho :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/31/2006 08:40:20 AM
For me this would say Zen even more if the building wasn't there, however it is a peaceful scene and the colours are nice :o) 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/31/2006 12:48:48 AM
wow, where the heck is that...snow? or just white trees...but still awesome! 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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