The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Two weeks ago we did a nice hike on the island of La Palma. It blossomed everywhere between all those beautiful pine trees with their rough bark. The sun was shining, and the higher we got the closer we came to the cloud line. Above a certain altitude, it was a mixture of sun and clouds/fog.
Since I was hiking with my wife, I didn’t take a tripod with me. So during the eight kilometers, I had the camera in my hand the whole time. I stopped here and there to make a quick shot.
When I saw this pine tree, I immediately knew that I had to shoot it from different positions.
Specific Feedback
Does the composition work for you? I had a totally different approach this time than I normally do when photographing trees because I was always in a hurry not to make the wife wait too long.
In postprocessing, I tried to emphasize the flowers in the foreground. I hope I didn’t go over the top with that.
Jens, I think you did a great job portraying this remarkable tree. There are prominent diagonals in the foreground, and the tree as the main subject is interestingly balanced upon them to my eye. The blossoming flowers at the bottom as well as the fog in the distance add a lot and make for a nice sense of depth for me. Your processing is spot on in my opinion, maintaining the overall atmosphere of the scene. Thanks for sharing.
PS: I am always together with my wife when I am out taking photographs. Meanwhile she either takes her own images or enjoys the sense of the place.
Oh, this is such a wonderful image. It’s so romantic. Very emotional. The composition is perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing. In this case the lack of saturation works in your favor. It’s both spiritual and gentle.
Oh, this doesn’t look over the top at all. In fact, it feels subdued and gentle. Your framing/composition is lovely. And all those textures! Very nice.
Quite poised and cohesive. The structure of the tree is framed well and given room for it to feel relaxed and natural. I love the scattering of wildflowers and how you used them to underpin the scene and give us some context. The colors are rich, but the contrast is light so the overall feel is one of peace. I envy you and your wife on your walk.
And it’s funny that you talk about carrying your camera alone and no tripod out of respect for your fellow walker. I just put a blog post up about “fast photography” and how contrary to the “slow photography” movement everyone is on about, I find it more difficult to shoot well under pressure. Getting a good “grab shot” as I call them is a skill unto itself and it comes from a lot of practice and honing of instinctive compositional insight. Knowing what works, what doesn’t and deciding in a few seconds takes a lot of experience and guts sometimes. I’ve been noodling with a follow up post diving into fast photography a bit more and this is an excellent example of what I mean. It’s considered and well executed, but didn’t take you 15 minutes and endless small changes and equipment. Just you, the scene and all your sensibilities firing together. Very cool.
What a wonderful gnarly old tree, but in such a peaceful setting! Very well photographed and presented. The FG is lovely and it all fits together so well. I love the canopy of the pine branches, but my eye goes a bit to the more open area on the left. I wonder about a bit of cloning or a slight crop. It seems almost too insignificant to mention, though.
Amazing vibe here. I’m such a lover of flowers that I’d probably have gone lower and closer to the flowers, but there is nothing wrong with your vision for the scene. Really nice!
My wife has no ambitions to take photos herself. But she likes to be outside with me and is happy when I have fun taking pictures. In fact, she has more patience to offer than I can stand. She always tells me “take your time”. But if I’m honest, I’m not as relaxed taking pictures as I am when I’m out on my own.
@Kris_Smith, that sounds interesting, I have to check that out.
I usually always take the tripod with me. But I knew it would be a long hike, so I decided to leave it in the car. This hike would have taken days if I had always set up the tripod. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have photographed some scenes at all, because I would have thought it wasn’t worth setting up the tripod.
But on the other hand, the quality of some of my images could be better. Many pictures have been taken with far too high ISO or with a depth of field that is too shallow. In my case, it was “too fast photography” because I even didn’t think about the camera settings. Maybe I have to practice that.
Seems like a good topic for your blog posts indeed.
Thanks for pointing that out. I already cropped the image on the left to get rid of an even bigger open area. I try to fix that.
I agree with you. That could have worked well. And I’m sure I would have paid more attention to the foreground if I had used a tripod. But unfortunately, I don’t have any shots with a closer foreground.
Yes, that’s the spot. It’s very pretty, with the soft BG foliage (bright sky would be much more distracting), but it pulls my eye a bit. It’s a small thing, though.
This is beautiful image Jens and I think your composition is just wonderful and really showcases the tree in its surroundings. I also think that your post processing perfectly compliments the subject. Excellent job!
This totally works for me, Jens! That gnarly tree is dripping with character and the FG flowers make for another wonderful element in the scene. Kudos for capturing this without a tripod. I have to take mine everywhere with me. I just tell anyone with me that I will catch up. I love your processing on this .
I see what tooked you to photograph this tree, there’s a lot of carahter in those straight bended branches and those flowers add a bit of interesting information and a subtle but beautiful color.
I like the overall colors of the image, the subtle, low tones go very well with the misty atmosphere. As a matter of personal preference, I would create a bit more overall contrast, as the image is a bit faded, and perhaps crop the right side a bit.
I hope you don’t mind that I applied some of the things to your image.
I quite like the crop. It even removes the distraction at the left edge that was mentioned by @Diane_Miller. And I like the slight extra pop caused by your contrast enhancement. I’ll try to revise that again.
Sometimes I look up locations like this using Google Maps, then I click on a few of the information balloons so I can view some of the associated images.
This island is one massive volcano with several smaller volcanos scattered about.
While on the subject of volcanos, the last one here was just 1-1/2 years ago and the lava flow lasted 100 days!
Of course I’m sure you already know about all of this since you were there
I use Google Maps so I can get a feel for the environment beyond the edges of the frame (For context).
This island has a few radio telescopes (some called MAGIC telescopes) and if I’m not mistaken was part of the “Event Horizon Collaboration” project to capture an image of a black hole.
So, when I look at your image, not only do I see the wonderful texture and shape of the tree, the colorful wildflowers, the rocks and pine needles, I also get a good sense for what lies beyond the frame.
The view into the BG gives me the sense of significant elevation.
I really like the perspective and the mild atmosphere. It has just the right amount of contrast to show details but not so much that it loses the feel of calm and peacefulness.
I like the crop suggestion by JoĂŁo FerrĂŁo, and the adjustments you did in the repost version!
Thanks for inspiring me to learn a little more about the world we live in.
Outstanding composition Jens. I love the wildflowers and how they compliment the gnarly tree. The understated color is also adds the the mood of the scene.
Well all has already been said but I must admit to really liking the soft, gentle mood this image evokes. @Diane_Miller suggestion to crop off the bright spot takes this to a new level. Well done Diane! The tree has such character, almost whimsical in nature because it looks like none of the other trees. The foreground flowers really anchor the foreground without screamer for the viewers attention and I love the rocks piles and the pine needles. Well done, Jens!
I’ve also done this before with shots I’ve seen here in the community. It’s always interesting to have some context to the images.
That was very impressive, but also very touching at the same time. There is a 5 to 6-meter-high lava layer down to the sea. Parallel to the coast, only a temporary gravel road is passable so far.
We talked to people who live there. They were evacuated for several months and all this time they didn’t know if their home still existed. We saw a house with the lava flow running past it on the right and left sides, but the house itself was intact… incredible luck for the owners.
Thanks for the personal interaction story with residents of the island!
The surviving house is inspiring. Reminds me of a tornado that destroyed an entire neighborhood leaving just one house intact, problem was when they restored the power, a loose wire at the service entrance caused the house to catch fire and burn down. Not lucky in that case, that was delayed disappointment and grief at it’s worst.
According to a damage report of La Palma, there was over $1 Billion worth of damage and it destroyed their entire banana plantation and vineyard industry. Only 1 reported indirect death from inhaling the toxic fumes (the fella passed away a few months after the fact). Circa 3,000 buildings were entombed but life goes on, people rebuild and thrive once again after a time.
I watched a documentary where the number of people living near volcanos is at an all time high, and those are volcanos that are still potentially very active. I think I’ll stay way from them unless it’s just a visit
A bit late here, but couldn’t pass up not leaving a comment. This is gorgeous! Beautiful portraiture of the pine, also in a beautiful setting. I love the foreground blooms and lava rock. This is just balanced perfectly.
Great job on the repost taking care of the little things. No further nits or suggestions. Beautifully seen!
I love your processing on this .
