Many of the oak trees in California wear a fuzzy dry coat of brown fuzz. You see them everywhere but mostly in the foothills and lower elevations of the mountains. So it was with great surprise that I saw this at one of the campgrounds along the Upper Sacramento. The fuzz had come to life! The tree was enveloped with bright green microtrees. I don’t know my mosses very well but this one produce tiny ‘leaves’ that looked like baby trees. There had been a tremendous amount of rain recently which gave life to that which seldom shows any life.
I didn’t process this image very much and, in fact, I fear the little processing I did do made it worse. Let me know what you think of this image in general.
Very interesting and colorful growth, Igor. As Eva mentions, it has a nice anchor at the bottom, and I think that you should have even more of the ground than how it’s framed, as it feels too cramped down at bottom right to me. Seems that ISO 64 and f/20 gives you plenty of latitude for that option.
It also looks like all that fresh green growth would make for a really fun macro project as well.
Interesting that you bring that up. I tried to shoot it in a way where the growth was large enough to show the detail of each moss frond and yet show the overall tree structure. That was my intent. I could have moved in closer or further but in each case I’m losing one or the other. I’m working from a laptop so I’m not entirely confident of the detail crispness that I’m seeing.
I am quite enjoying the V shape formation of the greenery, both in shape, color and texture. I might consider a crop up from the bottom and in from the left to isolate and highlight those features (takes it quite a bit more abstract).
Like it enormously, Igor. The trunks have a strong presence - a sense of life - from the perspective you’ve taken on them. This reminds me somewhat of Paul Strand’s early photos of natural forms.
I quite like this; simple, engaging and true. Not sure why you think minimal process made it worse… the colors, sat, contrast, everything looks spot on to me. Ok, maybe you could burn down the brighter moss in the lower right, but that’s minor.
My initial response was like Harley’s, in that the bottom is cramped. I’d even go so far as the very small breach of the edge creates a tension. I tried “stretching” and even just a sliver of space at the bottom makes a difference. On the flip side, you can go more abstract by eliminating the leaf litter with a much tighter crop.
As presented, this is still quite wonderful; well seen and captured. An excellent nature intimate. I’ve recently seen this growth on some oaks in the Merced River Canyon around El Portal. Wanted to photograph, but couldn’t find anything - certainly nothing as good as this.
I like that! I love trees and areas like these. I think with the minimal processing, each little tip of the moss shines nicely. I like how you placed the trees in the frame, but like others said some more of the forest floor in the frame at the bottom might give them some breathing room. Would love to see an abstract of the V shaped part too, maybe with just a touch of extra (side-?)light on the mosses, if at all possible.
Beautiful spot.
I also love this a lot. The texture is exquisite. I really like the vantage point looking down, too. Although I must admit that I am wishing for a sliver more at the bottom.
This is a very wonderful find, Igor. I have no idea what they are, but the lush greens work very well. The details and textures in the large version are a real treat. I too could see a bit more canvas at the bottom FWIW. Beautifully done.
Igor, I think the others have covered this pretty well. I agree with @Harley_Goldman and like the idea of his suggested crop to make this more abstract and really emphasize the “V”. But that does change your vision.
Nice eye to find this at the local campgrounds.
I think you made the best choice here Igor, by getting either closer or further away you would have lost what makes this image unique. What is different about this image is the lushness of the moss on the trees, and how it completely covers the trunks. To get closer you would have a pattern shot of the mosses, but lose the sense of trees. To get further away, you lose the pattern of mosses, and it become more of “just another tree shot”. Your comp emphasizes shapes and patterns but keeps it grounded enough that the viewer still knows it is a tree. I do think adding the small patch of ground in the rework helps a lot. I really like how you saw and executed this one, its a great intimate.
I agree with @Alan_Kreyger, a second, completely different abstract image lurks within this subject, not better or worse, just different. Something like this abstract crop makes me think of the title “Rainforest Meets Slot Canyon”
I love trees and areas like these. I think with the minimal processing, each little tip of the moss shines nicely. I like how you placed the trees in the frame, but like others said some more of the forest floor in the frame at the bottom might give them some breathing room. Would love to see an abstract of the V shaped part too, maybe with just a touch of extra (side-?)light on the mosses, if at all possible.