Berries In The Snow

The berries seem to have generated heat around them to melt them into the snow.

Posted by Ruth Rittichier on Thu, 01/24/08 15:42
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Comments by Dave Geyer on Thu, 01/24/08 16:43

Makes sense. The red color would absorb solar energy and convert it to heat energy.

The tonal rendition on this is very skillfully done I think. It's not easy to get just the right amount of white in a snow close up shot, so that it appears properly bright and crystalline, yet keeps the detail clear. It's so easy to blow the highlights completely, or have the snow come out looking dull. This is perfect!

A bit spongy in the upper right hand corner. Not much you could have done in the taking phase: a lens can only do so much. It could be remedied by my favorite sneaky approach - clone detail in from a sharp area and adjust brightness as needed.

Simple and effective composition with good color. I like it!


Comments by Jan Bjorklund on Thu, 01/24/08 16:52

Dave answered my question as to how these red berries seem to be sinking into the snow. I like the sense of texturing from the three elements that make up the picture (the berries, the stalk, and the snow) and this sense is particularly strong right around the area where the berries contact the snow and one has the sense that they could reach right into the image and feel the slight roughness of the snow and the smoothness of the berries.


Comments by Linda Frey on Thu, 01/24/08 16:57

So bright and real, I can taste them. Must be cranberries, as they are very tart! ;-)


Comments by luis pereira on Thu, 01/24/08 17:17

Very graceful...and fresh. You must have a great lens, it's incredibly sharp and clear.


Comments by Rick Longworth on Thu, 01/24/08 17:56

Yes. I'm a boysenberry jam fan.
Lookin' good Ruth. I just wondering if something less centered would work.


Comments by DebbiK on Thu, 01/24/08 23:28

I think the comp is OK as is since it's not really centered-maybe you try losing a little from the LLH corner. Good eye and great shot. It should be 100% sharp from edge to edge but the slight OOF areas don't seem to detract at all from this image.


Comments by Jeff Dye on Fri, 01/25/08 00:22

Very elegant in it's simplicity but IMO the composition could be better. The horizontal format places alot of unnecessary ice on the right and left. A vertical comp and with a little off the bottom is stronger IMO. The stem starts roughly in the URHC and the berries sweep toward the LLHC. Unless the spots are in there by the hundreds I usually do a little spotting on an ice photo so the black specks don't look like a dirty sensor.


Comments by Julie M. Dant on Fri, 01/25/08 02:31

Whoohoo, Ruth! What a shot! I shoot pretty one day, too! ;0)
I love it. Just seems perfect to me.


Comments by Tommy McGee on Fri, 01/25/08 06:47

Beautifully minimalistic, Ruth. A thought provoking photo as evidenced above. I think I would spot heal the specks. Otherwise it is great as is. I wonder though, as an alternative to a different crop, if you could place a centered, rectangular, berry colored stroke within the photo. That way you could keep all that beautiful crystalline snow, while highlighting the color and focusing the viewer a little tighter into the frame. (Just a thought.)


Comments by Pietro Cecchi on Fri, 01/25/08 12:17

It's the perfection, Ruth!...


Comments by Richard Glover on Fri, 01/25/08 13:51

Really, really lovely! Love that splash of color on the crystals.


Comments by Christie on Fri, 01/25/08 23:11

Ruth, this shot reminds me of when my grandparents had two large cherry trees... every year, we would pick buckets and eat them as we went along :-) Thanks for the post!


Comments by Maria Salvador on Sat, 01/26/08 10:01

The snow is perfectly crystalline, and the red berries are like jewels. Very pleasing and nice!


Comments by John Long on Sat, 01/26/08 14:00

Great shot Ruth - the comments by Dave are most interesting!