[aboekman]

Let me know what you think. Thanks so much,
Andrew
[IMG][/IMG]

[ray]

Simple but effective i like it

[Rob Barron]

I like this Andrew, it has a lovely feel to it. As Ray has said, it has a very effective simplicity about it and the colour of the leaf punctuates the white as well as being reflected in it which is warming and pleasant.

The composition is also well thought-out. Good work

Cheers,
Rob

[Soupdragon]

Works like a charm, well done!

[chrisa]

Looks nice.

[JMitchell]

yes like it Nice contrast between the yellow and the white, and well controlled exposure on the snow.

[aboekman]

Thanks so much everyone. I really have been trying to be more intentional about framing and composition. Your words are truly encouraging.

-Any way to improve would also be appreciated. (ie. Do you think that I should have tried to include the entire shadow instead of having it be cut off in the upper left hand side? Is the snow the right color? )

Thanks again,
Andrew

[Charlotte]

I like this a lot

Would suggest just two improvements:

It's a bit tightly cropped on the RHS, I'd like to see just a bit of space to the right of the leaf.

Also - and this was the first thing that struck me - the colour of the snow, which you have questioned yourself, doesn't really 'go' IMHO. One would expect a blue cast from snow, but here you have a warm magenta cast, which does look a little odd to me.

I'm undecided about the shadow On one hand I think it balances the image well the way it is, but on the other hand it does tend to lead the viewer's eye out of the frame, which is not a good thing.

I like your use of DoF, it's just right, as is the composition, spot on - love the shapes formed by the leaf.

Overall, very well done

[aboekman]

Thanks so much for the advice.

I cooled the WB down a bit and also added to the right side of the image. Any better...worse?

Thanks

[Charlotte]

Yes, I like it even better now that I can see the complete leaf

I can still see a magenta cast + not sure that magenta is the right tint to have in this shot As you've called it "Late Afternoon Leaf" + therefore have gone for a warm cast, I'd say an orange cast would look more natural than magenta here. Although I still feel that a blue cast would suit this snowy scene better + would contrast nicely with the yellow leaf.

[brian wright22]

I think the composition and idea is excellent but the snow is not quite "white " enough for me also the shadows are rather magenta/blue. If the colours look ok on your monitor you might have a look at calibrating your monitor.
A quick and easy check would be to display this picture converted to Black & White, if it looks ok without any bias of colour away from a true B&W your monitor is probably ok. Brian
I hope this helps

[aboekman]

Thanks for the advice Brian,

I can see that the colors and the snow are not quite right and I think that my monitor is fairly correct. I guess I don't quite know how to fix it. I tried adjusting the color balance with only limited success. If anyone wants to tinker with it to fix the colors and then tell me how to do it myself that would be great.

I think part of the issue is that I shot it with WB set to cloudy. I was going for a warm sunset look but it didn't turn out very convincing.

Thank you all for your comments, they are very helpful.

[stupot]

i like this Andrew, well done

[Rob Barron]

Here is a bluer version with the magenta removed.

I just adjusted the colour balance (Ctrl+B in Photoshop) and reduced magenta and red and increased blue and cyan.

I am quite happy with it in the original but this is a different version of the same shot just so you can see how to adjust it. See what you think.

Cheers,
Rob

ps The above technique is one of the best ways to remove any colour cast accurately