The Crystal Swamp

Critiques [Translate]

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• RAP (7405)
• [2006-12-06 18:21]

Nice compo Scott, with great sun effect.

I like it a lot: composition, POV, lighting, DOF, focus, sharpness, color, background, framing, notes.

I don't like it: nothing to grumble.

Excellent point of view to capture a magnificent image.
With admiration... Ricardo

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• blakitan (5401)
• [2006-12-06 19:47]

Hi Scott,
For us in the Tropics, this view is really amazing. Very unusual. Greatly composed picture. Beautiful sparkling sun at center. Nice colors. Sharp and neat.
Great shot.

Ben Lakitan

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• jchemas (3386)
• [2006-12-06 19:51]

Hello Scott.
You have a great shot and a beautiful composition here.
It is difficult to get a sun shot like this but you did it.
Superb details and the POV and DOF are excellent.
Again, great shot.
Sorry to here about your predicament and I hope it does not happen again.
Regards and TFS
JC

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• Dave (2127)
• [2006-12-06 20:28]

Hi Scott,
By the note it looks like you had to work hard for this one.
...hanging on to an icy slope and actually shot this one handed. I wrapped a leg around a small tree and used my other hand to try and shade the lens hood more to prevent flares....;-( Shows me a dedicated photographer took this shot...;-)

You picked a good one to post, I like it a lot! Did you use a special filter to get the star effect on the sun? I knew point the lens at the sun and looking at it was not a good thing, but can it actually hurt the camera?

This picture is really beautiful! I think your effort paid off nicely.

Thanks & TFS,

Dave

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• SkyF (8113)
• [2006-12-06 21:44]

Hi Scott,
this is wonderful, a lovely mood you captured with the wonderful light and the pure colors.
TFS..Sky

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• Evelynn (12330)
• [2006-12-06 22:54]

It is a fascinating image...more than decent. I thought the damage from looking at the sun through the camera, was to the eyes, not so much to the camera???? We had a similar ice storm several years ago and I agree, once is enough for that kind of event. I did get some interesting photos but that ice is treacherous and damaging. Many trees that survived the storm intact bent so severely that they never straightened back up. It sounded like a war zone with the trees snapping all around us, and electrical transformers blowing out. The light in this image is really special. Keep warm.

TFS
Evelynn : )

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• BillyGoat (4561)
• [2006-12-06 23:19]

Very cool composition and effect here Scott. Nicely exposed.

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• Ken52 (4153)
• [2006-12-07 0:35]
• - [workshop] [compare]

Excellent effort under harsh conditions. I think the composition is great, and focus is good, but I do not like the sun flare. I think it would be a more beautiful image with just the dark blue sky (but that would require a major alteration I guess, since the sun WAS there. I don't know much about post processing.

I wondered what is would look like to crop out the sun, so I tried a workshop.

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• coasties (27492)
• [2006-12-07 2:00]

Hi Scott

This is fantastic. The back lighting makes this shot! Awesome work. Thank you MF! :-)

•      
• jcoowanitwong (11461)
• [2006-12-07 2:37]

Hello Scott,
This could very well be backdrop for a movie. Dr.Zhivago or Star Wars:) Perfect composition, exposure, and sharpness. Congratulations to this fine picture. Regards,
JC

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• dew77 (13069)
• [2006-12-07 2:42]

Hello Scott,
Great post.Lighting,POV,visual impact are wonderful.Well caught,framed and composed.Excellent work!
TFS...:-)

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• osse (7661)
• [2006-12-07 3:27]

Hi Scott
Good composition and shot. I like the backlight here. Good sharpnes, details, DOF and POV.
Well done mf..

osse

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• anel (7858)
• [2006-12-07 3:37]

Hi Scott,
You obtained a magical light for this wintry landscape. The whole looks a little bit unreal.
I like a lot.
Anne

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• jmp (8400)
• [2006-12-07 3:47]

Hi Scott,
A pure snow-covered river with a pure blue sky with shining sun. A lovely landscape with beautiful light effects.
Best regards, José M.
PS.Thant for the advice about the risk of broken your camera pointing to the sun.

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• saeedabbasi (4058)
• [2006-12-07 4:37]

Hi Scott ,
excellent shot.
very good composition.
good sharpness.
thanks
Regards and TFS
Saeed

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• ramthakur (24125)
• [2006-12-07 5:13]

You have achieved an unusual effect here by pointing the camera directly at the sun, Scott. The resultant landscape of the swamp looks 'un-earth-like' to me, if you will permit me the liberty of inventing the term.
It amazes me that you did it not only successfully but also beautifully :-)!
Hope life has reurned to normal after the frightful ice storm.
Ram

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• Alain_cdn (634)
• [2006-12-07 5:56]

Beautifull picture, simply amazing. Great composition. It reminds me of the "Big Ice Storm" that we had here in Quebec in 1999. TFS

Alain

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• claudine (9649)
• [2006-12-07 6:12]

Hello Scott,
We lived this kind of situation recently but not that dramatic as yours. The worst ice storm we had so far in Quebec was in 1999 and it was a major crisis here. Some people lost electricity for more than 50 consecutive days... I talk about it in my picture called "One of my few visitors left"... The day I published it, we lost power for almost a day. I guess that the planet’s climate is a little upside down right now.

This is a wonderful, magical, brilliant capture! Ice storms are a mess but it is so nice at the same time when the sun is back... This is a great picture Scott.

The only picture I have from the last ice storm in 1999 is a fallen tree over my car... :-) Thanks,
Claudine

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• SelenE (11822)
• [2006-12-07 6:20]

Beautiful photo with a magical atmosphere. Very nice composition, colors, framing and exposure handling. TFS
Selen

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• sandpiper2 (11177)
• [2006-12-07 6:45]

Great story Scott, we get raging wildfires and you get masive ice storms, a world of extremes.

Great effect, very dramatic shot.
Wel ballanced and exposed.
Well done.

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• methos (1161)
• [2006-12-07 6:56]

WOW...this is a great shot...event though the phenomenon that caused it is severe.
I would have framed it with the sun to one side of the picture.
Excellent details and colors.

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• Alex99 (14369)
• [2006-12-07 7:29]

Hi Scott.
Outstanding work of art. Excellent captured state of Nature. Great POV, superb DOF, the extremely precise work with lighting. It is simply fantastically. BRABO-O-O. My best regards and TFS.
Alexei.

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• wkshelton (5492)
• [2006-12-07 8:22]

Hello scott,
Just a magical photo you have capture, excellent winter shot, perfect colors bg POv DOf excllent use of light perfect work,

TFS Kyle

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• uleko (22602)
• [2006-12-07 9:09]

Hello Scott!
What a fabulous Christmas card!! It's certainly beautiful when ice or frost covers everything but I understand how you suffered. But it was sure worth it as it resulted in this incredible shot. Amazing how you caught the sun - a big star!
Many thanks, Ulla

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• pankajbajpai (13576)
• [2006-12-07 9:12]

hi scott,
i guess it must have been very tought taking this shot in those extreme climatic condition. I appreciate your effort.
The shot is well composed with fine pov,
well done,
tfs & regards
pankaj

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• fyapici (6117)
• [2006-12-07 9:29]

Hello Scott!
What an amazing capture! Very attractive. No more words. Just perfect my dear friend.
Greetings
Fevzi

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• keanhoon (1147)
• [2006-12-07 10:00]

Dear Scott,

Great shot. I really like it. Especially the just nice exposure of the sun. It completed the whole scene.

TFS
Regards,
Ken

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• miuky (180)
• [2006-12-07 10:43]

Hy scott
Great, exellent light manage...exellent dof...superb, i love it!!
Regards, M.

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• Janice (17209)
• [2006-12-07 14:03]

Hi Scott, this does look so cold. Ice storm? WOW! This looks like a winter wonderland here. And I can see you swinging on the frozen tree taking this photo:)) Great results and the sun is placed perfectly. Good job my friend,
Janice

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• horia (12200)
• [2006-12-07 15:47]

Hi Scott

This is really something! I mean this picture represents both freezing cold and really hot at the same time!...and that's not something very easy to achieve :)
Excellent work here! I like the POV and the DOF very much. Also the exposure is very nicely managed and the colors are great.
Interesting idea with the direct sunlight...but that's what makes it so special :)

Bravo and TFS
Horia

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• jeanpaul (13841)
• [2006-12-07 18:48]

Hello Scott
Félicitation pour cette splendeurque tu nous envoies avec ce superbe paysage de givre.tu t'es très bien servi de la lumière pour cette photo.Très intéressant la position du soleil au dessus des plantes.
Merci et au revoir...JP

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• arfer (0)
• [2006-12-07 20:28]

Hello Scott

A very beautiful ice scene,one of the only positive things that emerge from a severe ice storm.Like sun refracting through crystal.It is sad when the ice melts and the trees are permanently bent in that shape,like their backs have been broken.A lovely composition,with well saturated colours and sharp detail.TFS

Rob

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• Silvio2006 (22581)
• [2006-12-08 7:56]

Hi Scott, wonderful winter composition, splendid light, lovely delicate colors, very well done, BRAVO, ciao Silvio

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• marmottelolo (14393)
• [2006-12-08 12:23]

bonjour scott
magnifique,avec les rayon du soleil sur cette glace ce cliché est particulierement reussi.
bravo et merci pour ce partage.
laurent

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• NellyD (1863)
• [2006-12-08 12:52]

Hi Scott,

Wow, this is really an amazing view and very unusaul!
It looks like this image is coming out of a fairytalebook :-)
Great light, composition, POV, sharpness, colours and framing.
It's very beautiful and I like it very much.
Thanks for sharing.

Greetings, Nel

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• loot (8971)
• [2006-12-08 16:00]
• [2]

Hi Scott

Apart from the fact that I need to commend you for your courage to brave the cold under the circumstance you’ve described, but also for the beauty of this brilliant postings. So well seen and reproduced to help us to observe the incredible splendour even amidst such disaster that visited your region and a great big part of the American Midwest. To say: “…under the conditions I think it is decent” is just so humble or totally deviant of the exceptional beauty you have captured here.

This iced up wonder world comes to life in this splendid composition. The colours are marvellous, the details are perfectly sharp throughout the entire range of the photo, and the exposure was masterfully managed.

Excellent work my friend and TFS.
Regards
Loot

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• Adam73 (2069)
• [2006-12-08 16:56]

Are you kidding????? wow what a mystical feeling I get from this shot. Absalutely gorgouse. I would try maybe a 2% sharpening to see if you could get the highlights to pop a bit more. Very beautiful though, the way it is. I agree with you Scott, pointing in the sun can be damaging but the end results can be very rewarding.

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• fiyo (8266)
• [2006-12-09 2:18]

Hello Scott,
Amazing shot and wonderful light!
Sharpness,details and colors are marvelous. TFS

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• lovenature (4146)
• [2006-12-09 12:54]

Hi Scott
Mother nature...sometimes she is kind and other times not so kind. I hope your power was not out for very long.

I do love the effect of shooting into the sun, it's really different , artistic and serene. It really shows off a unique aspect of what can be accomplished by shooting into the sun...carefully though.
TFS Janice

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• metcher (4105)
• [2006-12-09 16:20]

Hi, Scott.
Beautiful shot with special light and atmosphere. Nice star effect of sun. Well composed.

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• chiliu (6414)
• [2006-12-13 5:26]

Hi Scott,
It is a very difficult shot, you have captured nicely and well balanced, great composition.
Very well done!

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• marhowie (34457)
• [2006-12-13 7:58]

Hi Scott.
I just dropped by to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday season.
And what a fitting post for this Christmas season as well. I might've called it
"The Rising Star" :)
Great job on that pesky lens flare stuff..
Howard

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• marjan (2627)
• [2006-12-14 9:04]

hi Scott, what a magic moment you catch here. Exceletn coloures and good composition.
Majran

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• pablominto (15398)
• [2006-12-14 9:07]

Hello Scott,
This is an amazing view!
Not often to be seen I will guess, myself I have never witnessed anything like it...
Dangerous and problematic, but wonderful in images!!
Greetings,
Pablo -

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• sAner (4742)
• [2006-12-15 15:21]

Beautiful! The scene looks so peaceful. I think I would have tried to remove the the sunspots in between the rays, but other than that I think it's a great photo.

Regards,
Pieter

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• anavazao (3829)
• [2006-12-15 16:03]

Hi friend!
The scenery is well framed, I like light,perspective and textures! Take care Ana:)

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• elefantino (13651)
• [2006-12-16 1:48]

Lobely compo, magic atmosphere.
TFS,
Andrea

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• Graal (4998)
• [2006-12-17 8:52]

Hi Scott,
good idea, great view, beautiful composition and colours, good captured a place. Well done.
Gr., Aleksander

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• cecilia (4626)
• [2006-12-17 21:45]

Stunning image! with great colours and composition..
Well photograph...

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• SunToucher (8652)
• [2006-12-19 14:52]

Hi Scott,
Aren´t you living near St. Louis. About three hours south of St Louis you got a place you really need to visit. Its called Real Foot lake. It has some beautiful landscape ops and great birds and other animals. I´ve been there a few times, but back then didn´t know much about photography.
Anyway, this photo is just awesome. It almost looks like you took a quick trip to iceland. Just love the way you used the sun to your benefit. It makes the photo really special.
TFS,
Niek

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• saguzar (6571)
• [2006-12-21 10:02]

Hello Scott,
a chill history, with an image that shows a landscape, for my, rarest, since we do not have those events in Argentina, I believe that we are lucky not suffering the disasters that causes, although must be something beautiful to see. The composition, with the sun to the center and the brightness of the ice is very good.
Take care!
Hernán

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• AndyB (3978)
• [2006-12-22 12:20]

Hello Scott,
A magical looking scene you've captured.
Exposure is spot on and you've composed the shot very well considering how you say you took it!
Excellent work,TFS
Happy holidays to you.

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• touristdidi (2409)
• [2006-12-23 7:42]

It's beautiful...... I see lens flare in magazines, tv, movies, etc. I like it, adds to the nature of things!

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• cedryk (4949)
• [2006-12-23 15:06]

Hello Scott,
Very nice shot - accurate for the season :-)
This whole landscape looks very unreal, and the sun is like a comet or a supernova star.
I like it a lot!
Merry Christmas!
Michal

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• wuta (2034)
• [2006-12-26 8:24]

Hoi Scott , I like this photo It's like the star of Bethlehem , a beauty shot , tfs Greetings Teunie .

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• TAZ (10896)
• [2006-12-27 3:22]

Hello Scott,
It is more than decent, it is great ! Sorry for the incredible ice storm but it allows you this original shot. The effect of sun is so pleasant and I don't like the WS version of Ken52... The light on the top of tree make me feel a candle ;-)
In adavance my friend, I wish you a healthy and happy new year with less ice !!!

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• ScottHale (418)
• [2006-12-28 6:44]

Scott,
It's amazing how this storm looks so good here but yet devestated our area. I can imagine you wrapping your leg around a tree trying to get this shot. It kind of reminds me of climbing the HUGE rocks at the lock and dam to get pelican shots. Anything to get the shot! I like the sunburst here, the frozen water and the sagging of the trees. I am so glad that you documented this storm because I only got a few shots and this is by far better than anything I got.
Didn't Manfred Man sing, "Mama always told me not to look into the eye's of the sun, but mama, that's where the fun is"...? Looks like alot of fun here. :)
Not much tech stuff I can say except the f/22 was a good choice as was the 1/125 SS.
Your Pal,
Scott

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• hester (10890)
• [2006-12-28 6:48]

Hi Scott

I think this is just beautiful and I loved the story of how you took the shot! Excellent POV and I like the effect with the sun. Stunning colours and details

TFS

Karan

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• peter_stoeckl (9361)
• [2006-12-29 5:51]

Hello Scott,
this image is just superb! Quintessential beauty of winter in all aspects, taken with perfect technique and artistic skill. And your description of the very rough circumstances of when, where and how it was made, make it really surprising, moving, and loveable.
Thank you! Best regards,
Peter

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• thistle (9152)
• [2007-01-04 11:53]

Hello Scott,
I must say this is quite striking!
Though I live in quite cold country I've never seen an ice storm. The picture is superb because it's so unusuall. I very much like the blue BG, POV and even this Sun on the top. I would maybe want to see a little more FG, but I'm not sure about that :-)
Anyway, superb job on this one!

•      
• PDP (11751)
• [2007-01-09 18:11]
• [+]

Hi Scott, interesting effect you achieved here! Looks almost surreal. Did you do two exposures here or subdue the sun in some way? Well done.

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• oki (540)
• [2007-01-14 8:52]

Great picture!

Composition is excellent - the sun overviewing the very cold ground! I love pictures with direct sunlight even when it can cause damage.

Oki

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• TheMystic (483)
• [2007-02-13 14:05]

I truly admire all your shots, but this one stands out for the sheer effort it took! A natural disaster, and you turned it into a wonderfully romantic looking photo!
Great work, beautifully composed!
Cheers
Otto

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• bettinamarie (170)
• [2007-03-27 18:59]

hahahahhaha! I am beginning to think you are my twin! I am happy to know I am not the only one who gets in precarious positions to get a shot I want. Lovely photo....not anything more I can say that you don't already know from others. thank you!

Take care,
Bettina Marie =0)

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• webberworldwide (199)
• [2007-05-04 0:37]

Amazing shot Scott. a true work of art