Colorful Reflection

Nikon  D200, Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR - 102mm, f/2.8, 1/640 sec at ISO 100

When I shot this image, I originally just wanted to capture the stark texture of the down trees that lined the pond's rim. Being on the opposite side of the pond (approximately 40 yards), I mounted a 70-200mm 2.8 VR on my nikon D200 body.  The D200's APS-C sensor gave me a 1.50 crop value that extended my reach to 300mm.  Looking through the viewfinder, I found a beautiful play of color in the reflection off the pond.  Wanting to include this in my image, I pulled back to about 100mm.  In doing that, the green foliage that was a few feet in front of me, was rendered in a very shallow depth of field, which added more color to the shot.  The result, as shown above, created an image of stark contrast.  The upper portion, sharp, textured with an almost monochromatic tone to the branches, combined with the soft color reflection of the pond, with an almost painterly feel, I think, made for an interesting image.