Such an eye-catching and unusual take on the theme. Often symmetry works against an image, but there's just enough deviation to make it work really well - it's absolutely right to have that sun central, highlighting the wiggly track like an arrow between the twin silhouettes of both the trees and the ducks. There's one speck of sensor dust on the upper right, and it would be worth tidying that to take it up a notch. A fantastic capture coupled with perfect timing, well done.
I've picked this one out because the composition feels really dynamic, with the flowing water rushing towards us and a well thought-out shutter speed that doesn't overly freeze the action... pardon the pun! It's a tricky exposure with the deep rock shadows against the highlights on snow, but you've kept it all under control. I'd love to have something to give an idea of the scale, but find it such a pleasing image with all of the textures to take in. As a fellow Sony photographer, I sympathise with the battery challenge in the cold!
There are a couple of things in this image that really complete it for me - the way the sunlight catches the snowy heads of the reeds against the more shadowy trees beyond; and the tiny highlight at the tip of the boat that gives it shape and form. For an image where the horizon line bisects the frame, I think this is nicely judged; there's so much interest in the bottom half, that you need that space above to let the details breathe a little. Beautifully done!
Brief
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**This contest is open to photographers ranked between 251 and 1000 in this week’s <a href="https://www.photocrowd.com/photographer-community/">Leaderboard</a>.** With winter now receding in the northern hemisphere, here’s an opportunity to showcase any frozen lakes or rivers you’ve been photographing during the cold months. Ice and snow mute our landscapes with their whiteness, and that includes water features when they freeze. The blues and browns give way to the ice, and blend in with their surroundings, creating fresh photographic opportunities in landscapes that you might already have photographed plenty in warmer times.
394 Images entered
186 Photographers
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I love the traffic trails in this emphasising the shape of the bridge. It's an image that really does convey the feeling of bitter cold. The bridge towers are perfectly positioned in the frame and add that slight warm complementary glow to counteract the chilly blues. There's a couple of sensor spots just on the top left quarter which are always worth removing in post-processing for a professional finish. A carefully crafted image, well done!
I always enjoy a landscape image where our eye is given a sense of scale - and the human figures and vehicles in this do exactly that. It adds another dimension to a landscape photograph if there's a story to be told - and here, it conveys to me ideas of how we treat and respect our environment, the fine balance of tours going on and how nature endures. The colour tones are beautifully balanced and timing immaculate as the sun dips to display its rays. You've hemmed in all the highlight and shadow detail too - a really eye-catching image, congratulations.
What beautiful tones in this image! I'm appreciating the shape of the moving cloud which is echoed in the curve of the shoreline below - it gives the image a restful completeness. f/11 has give us plenty of detail to enjoy, which these textural layers deserve. Highlights and shadows have been handled beautifully in your exposure. I'd love to see the two dust spots removed, top left, to take this to a really professional standard. A well-crafted capture!
This is a great take on the theme, and I too am fascinated by ice bubbles and formations, so it's good to enjoy all the details here. What makes this one stand out for me, are the top-left details of shimmering moving water, reflected on the stones of the river bed. The composition then becomes really dynamic as it moves from the almost shattered lines of the bottom-left ice, to the fluid shapes of the bubbles across the diagonal, and then to the hint of sunlight in the moving water. I'm glad you spotted this composition - a great capture, well done!
I keep returning to this image because it's absolutely captivating, and an ideal candidate for monochrome. It's always going to be a challenging exposure and I don't mind the deep shadows on the right, because that bank of trees isn't catching any of the light at all anyway. There's enough of a hint of detail to let the viewer know what is there. Obviously the picture is all about the island, the tips of the trees just highlighted enough against the background, and the spectacular long shadows perfectly positioned in the frame. The image has such energy and has stuck in my mind - congratulations!