Snowbound by kannafoot

Snowbound

When I set out for Haines Park for today's photo, I hoped these rowboats would still be staked to the shoreline. They're there all summer and are the means boat owners use to access the sailboats that are typically moored off-shore. Apparently, they leave them here all winter, too.

The high contrast of the scene provided the drama I'd hoped to achieve. The snow consisted of fine ice crystals, so I took care not to soften the feel of the snow in the composition. It was cold and gritty, and that's exactly how I wanted it to appear here. The wind typically whips off the water, and that's evident in the wave patterns in the snow.

Post processing started with a classic filter in Topaz B&W FX. I adjusted color sensitivity sliders, adaptive exposure, regions, contrast, and boost black. I then brought a copy of the original back into Topaz B&W FX and applied a neutral greyscale filter. I adjusted color sensitivity sliders, adaptive exposure, regions, details, strength, contrast, boost black, and boost white. In PSE, I set that second version over the first using a soft light blend mode. I applied a high pass filter at a 5.2 pixel radius. The net effect is to provide a detailed sharpening effect that helped emphasize the ice crystals. A levels adjustment was added to the composite.

Here's the high res version in Smugmug: http://kannafoot.smugmug.com/Photo-Challenges/PAD2013/i-b7b5PgW/0/XL/2013%2012%2018_0004%20copy-XL.jpg
I can see the texture very well--I always go to smugmug--very successful and interesting. Thanks too, Ron, for your feedback on our cave photos--much appreciated! Charlie and I have a term we coined: the balloon effect. It comes from the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. You take a million photos because you're in the moment, and what do you have in the end? One balloon is much like another!
December 19th, 2013  
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