It’s winter here in Georgia, and the once vibrant fall colors of the leaves on deciduous trees have dropped, juxtaposing their fine branch ramification against the evergreens in the forest. I did not set out on a photographic excursion on this day. We have friends from Texas visiting for the holidays and we took advantage of warmer weather to go for a bicycle ride at a local garden/nature park. I carried the camera along to document the children enjoying each other; but, as a nature/outdoor photographer I’m always on the alert for a great photo. After a few miles up and down hills, we rode up on this old church in the woods. It’s a beautiful scene and we would be there for no more than 10-minutes. Of course, the family images with the church came first. After that, I had to make some fast decisions on what to capture.
The water was extremely still so I had a great reflection to work with. The sky was dull and grey, but the light was diffused and soft. I decided to compose the image you see here but in the dull grey light, the colors were less than vibrant. In Photoshop, I decided to render this as an oil painting. Since I opted for an artistic impression, I punched up the reds and yellows to give the image a little pop. I used the oil filter tool in CS6 and adjusted the sliders until I was happy with the overall look. I used a layer mask on the window and a couple of select items on the church to leave that detail.
Soon after, we were back on the bicycle trail enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells along the piney wood trail. Until next time, good light and keep shooting. –KEVIN