Leaves in a stream

[gluwater]

I took this in Wilderness State Park in Michigan last fall and just got around to processing it tonight. Looking through my shots from a year ago I wondered what I was thinking in a lot of my shots but I liked this one. Does it work for you? Thanks for the help.

http://gluwater.smugmug.com/photos/107594005-L.jpg

[Roger]

Well there is a lot going on in the picture but I like wilderness shots, being that you would want to get as much detail as you can the only thing I would suggest would be to trying to get more DOF. The only other thing that would maybe work would be to use a polarizer filter that would cut off the waters reflections.

Don't get me wrong I like the pictures, you asked and just a couple of things I could think off.

;)
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[MGlennn]

I like it... but the OOF foreground AND OOF background bother me some....maybe one or the other but not both....?????dunno; dunno;

[gluwater]

Thanks fo the input guys!

[Rudi]

I know what you're talking about, Nick. There is something in this photo! It's not quite there, but I'm sure I'm seeing what you're seeing.

If it's any consolation, I have tons of these! :D Hundreds of photos that I like, but can't quite put my finger on why, and they're not quite there, not quite ready for prime time...

[Jeff JTPhoto]

Nick ... I agree with Rudi. There is definitely something here and that is why you like it, but what is it? Hhhmmmm, that is probably the toughest part of a good critique with images such as this. I'll need to look at this for a few minutes to see what I can find in it....... I'll be baaaack!

OK.... First, I was going to try and explain the image I found within your image, but that crop would take a page to explain. So, I just cropped and posted it back instead to show. Hope you don't mind.. Here it is.
http://jtphoto.ca/webimages/107594005-L2.jpg

Now for the explaination. This is just my opinion. The top corner, on the original, contained too much dark area which drew my eye away from the beauty in the middle. By cropping that out you focus more on the pattern the leaves make in the water. The arc of the leaves (top to bottom) resemble a star trail, but instead of a star at the end there is this wonderful maple leaf (in the bottom corner). The DOF is OK as it does add dimension to the image... Being able to to see the bottom of the stream is what makes this image really work as it adds color and not just another dark area to draw our attention away. It also makes me take a little closer look to see if maybe I can see a fish in there..