Thank you to everyone that submitted images for the "Seasons" assignment. This was another great week for participation in the assignment, with quite a few beautiful images submitted.
The guidelines for this assignment were to "compose an image that portrays a change in the seasons." Note that some of the most powerful images were the ones that didn't try to include too much in the scene, and instead isolated the composition to a few elements that best represented the concept of "seasons." It is often the simplest images that are the most effective at conveying a concept.
I noticed when reviewing the images that several of them were posted in the Adobe RGB color space. Unfortunately, most browsers are not “color space aware” so this results in an Adobe RGB image looking “flat” or dull. I converted Sue’s
Fall Foliage image and Rick’s
Yellow Aspen Leaves image to sRGB and reposted the images in this thread so you could see the difference. I couldn’t resist making a few other changes while I had the images open in Photoshop.
I thought Sue’s “Fall Foliage” image was still a bit too warm (the green leaves and mountain looked unnaturally warm) and so I used a curves adjustment in Photoshop to cool the image down a bit. Given more time, I would have used layers and masks in Photoshop to lighten the foliage a bit more and add more mid-tone contrast.
Fall Foliage
Fall Foliage, converted to sRGB
While I had Rick’s “Yellow Aspen Leaves” image open in Photoshop, I lightened the shadows a little bit to add more yellow and enhance the sense that this small group of leaves was part of a much larger aspen grove. This was definitely an “artistic” decision, meaning that the image could have been processed either way. (Doing this type of processing with the raw file would have resulted in better color and less noise in the background yellows.) I also sharpened the image just a bit in order to retain the definition between the foreground leaves and the background.
Yellow Aspen Leaves
Yellow Aspen Leaves (lighten shadows, sRGB, sharpen)
I also thought the
Colorado Fall Foliage and
Colorado Fall Color images could be improved with slightly tighter cropping
Colorado Fall Foliage
Colorado Fall Foliage (Cropped)
Colorado Fall Color
Colorado Fall Color (cropped)
While I was at it, I used Photoshop’s “Shadows and Highlights” tool to lighten Lar's beautiful
Stockholm Sweden image to enhance the colors of the leaves. I also added just a touch of sharpening. (These changes would have resulted in better quality if performed on the raw file instead of a small JPEG.)
Stockholm Sweden
Stockholm Sweden (lightened and sharpened)
I liked the composition of Rick’s
Yellow Aspen Grove image, but felt that it was too saturated, so that the skies look unnatural. Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to “desaturate” the image unless you have a raw file to work with. I also thought the composition would have been stronger if the tops of the three trees in the foreground would have been included. (The way the tops are cut off leads me to suspect that Rick might have hand held this image. One of the advantages of using a tripod is that it helps you to see and correct for these minor composition errors before taking the picture.) This image had a lot of potential, and if the tops of the trees had been included, and the sky more natural looking, it would have been one of my favorites.
Yellow Aspen Grove
I thought Tom’s image of
Maroon Creek was a great picture of the creek; however, the beautiful fall foliage and majestic Maroon Peaks have been "minimized" by the use of a wide angle lens.
Maroon Creek
Congratulations to Tom (Kermit) whose
Crystal Mill at Sunset image won the vote for
People’s Choice. As several people mentioned in the gallery comments, the processing on this image made it look like the paintings of several well known artists whose styles enhance the warm, saturated light in a scene. (Thomas Kincaid comes to mind for me.)
Crystal Mill at Sunset
I’ve awarded
Editor’s Choice for Artistic Merit to Becky Jenner’s
Loner image of the maple leaf. I thought this simple but powerful image was very successful at evoking a sense of a change in the seasons.
Loner
goes to Becky’s
Rustic Ride image. This was another image that was very successful at evoking a sense of change in the seasons. I could almost feel the chill of the autumn breeze as I viewed the pumpkins.
Rustic Ride
Thank you again to everyone that submitted images for the "Seasons" assignment. Great job by all!
P.S.
You are also invited to add your comments on these images to this thread. If you are the originator, you can add more detail about the image, or if you have a comment or question on someone else's image, please feel free to post a reply to this thread.
