Two Views of Seneca Harbor

I visited one of the iconic scenes of the Finger Lakes this winter.  The cold wind driving straight down Seneca Lake made my eyes water, even though there was barely a breeze. I only had my little Canon G9 point and shoot camera with me and was struggling with the controls.  Glove liners really change the tactile feel of a small button. I rushed to finish this and retreat to the warm car.  With modest editing, the image does capture the feeling of cold. Doesn't the blue seem cold when in the context of ice?  I do make different associations with blue in a summer setting.


Looking at the image a few days later, I thought there was another way to work this image and make more of it.  A little voice kept saying to go monochromatic.  Off I went into editing wonderland.  At some point,  however, I longed to recover the lake house and it's simple red, and I did.

What moved me to go to this?  Well, the red lake house seemed the only thing remaining warm -- red is warm, right? -- and I wanted it to be holding out against the bleak cold.

I welcome your reactions to the two renderings of the scene.

The eighteen day forecast for the region says below average cold and average precipitation, so I guess this image will be timely for a while.

Paul Schmitt