Stills

What is fascinating is that this is so far removed from the experience of around 99.9% of the population of the UK.

It is also a day's drive away from 99.9% of the population.

Is there a photographer involved?!

All the photographer did was touch out some flare in Photoshop.

the sun awakens

It is literally sunset, but I take the point. I've never been to Glen Affric before (despite, or possibly because of, the fact it is a bit of a 'destination'). It was really interesting because it runs east and is high so it is distinctly colder than our experience of the Highlands. It also has not been farmed in anything like the same way as the warmer valleys (there is hydro though). Its status as a destination is reduced by the fact that the valley is a very long dead end and the road is single track. Car hell in mid summer I would have thought.
 

That ice is unlike anything I've ever seen -- I get a real experience of what it might be like to try to walk on it. The tree has a lot of character and I like the dull red and green tones. A nice diagonal of light -- I wonder if the sun flare is a bit much, but it overall it works quite well for me.
 

It took me a while to figure it out. Now that I did, I wish the sun was not in it. It does in the photo exactly what it would have done to me in reality: making the scene hard to see. In the photo it does that by kind of obliging you to compress the other tones towards the shadows, like the eye would react in reality. All this is a matter of taste, of course, and I am somewhat split between what I just said and the fact that you bring back the experience 'like it was', which is something I like too.
 

Stéphane,

You sum up nicely one of the things that I'm struggling with at the moment.

At the technical level: the digital sensor can't deal with the highlights or it compresses the shadows

At the judgement level: how far to divorce the picture from the experience of being there. The sun was very much a part of the experience. The nominal subject was very much in dull place. Yet the resulting photograph (especially when you remove the backlit screen and see it on paper) wants to be a bit brighter and more evenl spaced. I have many other examples from recent weeks that are more extreme than this one.
 

Colin,

Firstly, thanks for the acute accent in my first name. I know it is not easy with an English keyboard. Don't worry, though, I'm not offended when it's not there nor if anyone uses Stephen, the English form of it.

Regarding your struggle, I think it depends on the picture. The one you used to illustrate your gamut problems in dark areas in your blog works just as it is, I think. Before writing my previous comment, I took the liberty to try this one without the sun and with the contrast range of the remaining area extended. In my opinion it works better and is much more inviting that way. Sorry for mentioning this, I don't assume it is right to do it and I don't confuse critique with suggesting alternatives. I did it to check that what I was thinking held water.
 

An interesting dialog concerning the sun flare. I thought about that quite a bit as well, and though I did not go so far as to try it without, I "cropped" it onscreen with a piece of paper.

I ultimately decided that it would work either way, and best left to the intent of the photographer. As a print matter though, I would think that it might be preferable to go with Stéphane's suggestion. It would be of interest to see a comparison. Perhaps a link to Stéphane's revision?
 

I find it interesting that people are concerned about the sun. Whilst not directly mimicking a painting, the sun here is not dissimilar to the way some artists in the C19 might have used the sun - hence my comment about Turner. Of course it is difficult to have the same degree of 'artistic licence' in a photo but this should be allowed in that category! If anything, there could be darker areas in shade here.
 

Stéphane,

I've no problem with any thoughtful suggestion.

I had hoped to get back to this the following day to photograph this in different conditions (this was sunset, so the ice wasn't going to thin much before the following morning), but it wasn't to be.

John,

You can imagine that I was reacting to the circumstances rather than setting out to be Turneresque, yet the result contains strong 'in the style of' elements. There are also parts, like the two trees top right, that, in a print or high res file, look more like a photo of a painting than a photo of a thing.

I've a lot to learn from this photo.
 

Environmentally friendly crazing paving experiment goes wrong when sun appears?

The sweep of the ice round the tree is very pleasing on the eye. The scene is all so muted save that break of sunlight. Landscapes do not need to be Velvia moments to work for me.

The sun is the key to this picture working. without it I believe that 'man-made' forces have cracked the ice (I know I would have). With it, I can blame Mother Nature. I can nearly hear the cracking of the ice along that front left ridge and the sun is the power behind this.
 

I get a feeling of emergence, of the green breaking through the ice. The bush is a bit lost against the background. Would another PoV have got some sparkle off the branches from the backlight?