Reflected Half Dome with Fall Colors

Since I have never shot Half Dome by the river, I needed to find out where it was. I decided to scope it out early, and then come back when the conditions were better. I liked how the sun was lighting up the fall colors. I chose to compose just the reflection of Half Dome mainly because the lighting on Half Dome was pretty harsh

I like the idea you were going for here, but this photo seems a little out of balance to me. There's much at the top of the frame that has been abruptly cropped, but the bottom of the photo has a lot of space where nothing's happening (where the water is without reflections). This presentation just seems off to me, despite it being a really pretty scene and otherwise well captured.

I agree with Cobra about it being unbalanced. Pretty, but when I look at the landscape and then the reflection I'm left asking myself "where did that mountain come from?" so I scroll back up only to be left disappointed that it's not there.

The image is missing the most important thing - snow!!!

dkizzle wrote in post #17373728
The image is missing the most important thing - snow!!!

I wish too.

Thanks for looking.

I agree that the photo is out of balance for all the reasons stated above. If the lighting on half dome was harsh, you might have considered a GND filter or HDR.

cerett wrote in post #17377857
I agree that the photo is out of balance for all the reasons stated above. If the lighting on half dome was harsh, you might have considered a GND filter or HDR.

I knew (and did) I would come back when conditions were better. While I was there, I decided to try something different then the normal Half Dome shot. I don't own a GND, and I did make a "HDR"...using two different exposures and hand-blending in CS2.

Very nice shot! Love the reflection!