Went to a local game refuge after a recent snow storm.

3 frame HDR processed with Oloneo then further pp in CNX2.

D300, 24-70@50mm, A at f/8, ISO 200, tripod.

John

Attachment #1, (jpg file)

Very nice shot and PP!

Jon Kandel
A New York City Nikonian and Team Member
Please visit my website and critique the images!

Thank you Jon. Appreciate the comment.

John

Hi

My comments are based on what North-European (eg Finnish) forests look like in winter. Your forests may be different. What I find striking is how light the conifers are compared with the snow and clouds. In a North-European forest in winter, the conifers would be almost black, except some treetops in direct sunlight if the rest of the scenery is in a shade. But your trees do not appear to be in bright sunlight because there are no shadows. So, it is quite apparent that the image is not a realistic image from a North-European forest. On the other hand, if your aim was a mystery forest this is a very good picture, and indeed technically perfect. But as I said, American forests may be different.

Best regards,
Antero

Attachment #1, (jpg file)

Hi Antero,

Very nice shot of a beautiful scene.

After reading your comments on my image I went back to look at the longer exposure image that I used for the HDR processing. I did do some enhancement of the color in the conifers but the lighter colored conifers closest to the camera are indeed lighter colored in the original. The taller conifers in the back of the scene are noticeably darker in the original image. So yes there was some enhancement of the color of the conifers but the lighter colored conifers would also look lighter to the naked eye.

Thanks for your comments.

John

John

I have to take back what I said about the conifers looking unnaturally bright (to a North-European viewer). I was skiing last Sunday, and I noticed something which I probably had not noticed were it not for this discussion. The pines were actually looking very much lighter than the spruces. This is normal to a certain degree but last Sunday the difference between pines and spruces was remarkable. Saturday was quite cold (-20C or -4F) and Sunday brought warm moist air (still a few degrees below freezing point). The moist air had condensed on the pines which had a very thin frosty icing. I had to look very closely to notice the icing. From a distance of one meter and beyond, the pines simply looked very light in color. I have no idea why it only affected the pines and not the spruces. A different micro- or nanostructure on the surface, maybe.

Best regards,
Antero