This image is a combination of stunning, natural beauty and a generous helping of digital magic.  Let me share some of the details.

This is one of my earliest photos taken with my first decent digital camera. The camera a Kodak EasyShare DX7590 that I purchased to document my first trip to Liberia, Africa in 1995 .  The DX7590 was a minor step up from a typical point-and-shoot camera with a whopping 5-megapixels. (Pretty impressive, in those days, for a small, consumer grade camera. My current camera provides 24-megapixels.)

This photo was taken in march of 2007.  At home in the early evening, I saw the wonderful colors in the sky out my living room window.  Of course, I grabbed my camera and dashed out the door.

I crossed the road in front of my house to be able to frame up the sky without any interference from the power lines and poles between me and the beauty. I included the dormant tree to add contrast and interest to the scene. I snapped several frames of the incredible sky with the trees and field before me.

If you haven’t guessed by now, the water you see in the foreground wasn’t part of the original scene.  I added the water, digitally, after the fact.  The lovely, rippling reflection of the water in this image replaced a barren farm field, mostly covered with melting snow.  You can see a couple of the original images I took – with out the water effect – in this earlier post:  Fire In the Sky

The farm field was dark and dreary, compared to the sky, so I thought it needed an upgrade.  I had been trying out a trial version of software developed to add a water effect and thought the reflective quality of water might add more interest and color to the bottom of the image.  In fact, I extended the bottom area of the photo, to fit more ripples in the view.

You can view a larger version of this photo by clicking on it.