With drones becoming more popular and helicopter tourism becoming cheaper, aerial photographs have dominated the social networks as of late and for good reason – they provide unique angles of scenes that we're familiar with. This photo, however, takes that one step further. It brings out a sense of fear of heights and vertigo while also putting the viewer exactly in this position. I can see myself in the basket of this balloon. Excellent idea to shoot this while over the river, as well, and the placement of the reflection is perfect. Beautiful and very creative photograph.
Beautiful photograph! I can feel the warmth that this image conveys. My favorite part of this image, aside from the swans, are the tiny highlights that hit the grass on the left side of this image. It's these small, often unnoticeable details, that can really make an image special. One small thought on the composition is that with the two subjects being the swans and the windmill, there is some space towards the bottom of the frame that is just lost. Shooting at a tighter focal length could emphasize the subjects more, making them more important in the scene.
This photo really brings about such feelings of calmness and serenity. The composition here is excellent, and I love how the frog breaks up the small pattern of the plant life. My only small recommendation would be that a polarizer on front of your lens would have possibly cut down on the reflections of the sky. My eye tends to gravitate towards lighter portions of the image (along with the watermark) and the sky reflection shines through here. Otherwise, it's a perfect photo.
Beautiful, calm scene. It is simple to photograph a lake from a shoreline with ugly mud or twigs, and even easier to shoot it with no foreground details, but these rocks are arguably perfect. The red really provides a complimentary colour to the blue sky and transitions well into the green and cyan water. I love the way they fade into the lake and disappear right before seeing the main subject – the boat. The mountains in the background top it off and keep my eye in the scene. Wonderful shot.
Gorgeous fall colours and great mood to this photograph. The composition is great, and I love how the trail divides the photo in half, but yet has a vanishing point as it wraps around the lake. A couple of minor things I would've adjusted: I love the bike providing balance to the scene, but leaving a bit more space on the right and bottom sides would've allowed it to "breathe" more. Also, not a critique, but as great as this shot is, I can't help but want to know what the composition of the couple sitting on the bench between the trees looks like. The light seems to be hitting them perfectly. Regardless of my curiosity, this is a fabulous shot. Well done.
Excellent use of colour to show off the subject here. The orange and blue really play off of each other well. I imagine that the shadows were boosted in post, as well, so nice job of making it look natural with no halos. The bench is great, however this photo could be improved with someone sitting in it and enjoying the scene - unless the photographer was going for a somber, lonely feeling, of course. I like how the mountain is framed between the tree branch foreground which provides excellent depth. Nice work!
Living the past 5 years in Colorado, I'm a sucker for yellow autumn trees and this scene takes me back to many Octobers. The pose and placement of this fisherman are excellent. He almost seems to be looking back and down as if talking to the fish. When shooting what is essentially a landscape photo with a person in it, I always strive to find a natural frame for the subject to fit, and you did this well with both the subject and his reflection fitting in the reflection of the trees. The bottom white reflection of the sky also allows my eye to leave the scene nicely. Wonderful mood and excellent shot.
A painter from the Hudson River School couldn't have put that little drop of light in a more perfect position. Everything in this shot seems perfectly placed. Obviously the couple being the focal point of the image draws in your eye, but I'm also attracted to the swans and the bird with its wings spread. I love the way the light hits just the rim of the feathers outlining it against the darker water. The outer edges make for an excellent frame and the S-curve of the shoreline leads directly to the subject. Wonderful photo.
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The wider panorama crop works really well with this image as it does a great job to spread the elements out in the scene perfectly. The main rock in the bottom left third offsets the weight of the two mountains, provides an excellent foreground, and shows lots of depth. I love the muted pink and purple colors as they really make the lead your eye to the foliage on the far shoreline and make them contrast against the water. Wonderful photo!
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**Minimal Photoshop.** Water has many different moods, and whether it takes the form of a wild, winding river or a perfectly still lake, it can make a landscape come alive. We want to see how you’ve captured lakes or rivers in your photography - BUT, please note that this is a “minimal Photoshop” challenge! We want to see how good you are at taking photographs, not how good you are at processing them. Use of Photoshop or Lightroom or other software is not prohibited, but it should be kept to a minimum, and submitted images should faithfully represent the scene that they captured. Please click on 'The brief in detail' tab to read our guidelines for submission.
114,064 Ratings
This is a really inviting winter scene. The sky and reflection really does a great job at showing how warm the sunrise / sunset can be and likely welcoming in such a cold scene. That said, my mind does get a little confused as typically a winter scene will have some blue colours somewhere, but this is lacking that. Great composition with the reflection and long exposure, and the lights on in the home add a great touch to showing the viewer how welcoming it must be inside. Wonderful shot!
