First Light || Second Chances

Other than some light contract work, I've been in a bit of a shooting slump lately. So, I've been revisiting things on my hard drive to see what I may...
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Other than some light contract work, I've been in a bit of a shooting slump lately. So, I've been revisiting things on my hard drive to see what I may have missed, or to analyze "keepers" versus "throw-aways." This shot stands out to me because I took it over two years ago on one of my regular Connecticut trips. I got off work in the morning, and was headed up some back roads towards a state park that I knew had a magnificent eastern overlook where I'd hoped to catch sunrise. As I was driving along, I passed over a bridge with a break in the trees and saw dawn light filtering through a light fog and throwing all sorts of pastel shades over the water. I pretty much locked up my brakes, parked in a random driveway, and ran back to catch the scene before anything changed.

When I reviewed the phots later, I hated them. I can't say why, I just did. They felt "off." But, yesterday, I went back to look at it again. I still hated it. So I moved it from lightroom to photoshop, and told myself that I wouldn't leave it be until I loved it as much as the original scene. And that's when it hit me. I had a few settings off, causing it to look nothing like the original scene, but rather like a cacaphony of clashing colors and tones. A few manipulations later, and I had recreated the scene as it existed that morning. And I love it.
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