I was finally able to go back to my favorite local hike around here. It is my favorite place around here to saunter and look for owls and other critters to photograph. These two trees grabbed my eyes the first time I saw them but I didn’t take a picture of them until perhaps the seventh or eighth time I went past them (in the course of two weeks or so). For whatever reason, everything clicked together last Saturday.
As always, I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
Revision based on Igor’s suggestion below. I brought up the red leaves on the tree on the left and a little bit in the FG a little bit more. I think it helps to make the tree stand out from the BG a little more. And also dodged the darker part of the green tree as Bonnie pointed out below.
Nice pastel/light composition. I really like the dancing grasses on the bottom. I would perhaps bring out the orange leaves on the left a bit (or bring down the intensity of the sappling on the right. Right now one is dominating the other. Is that undesirable? I don’t know if it is. I like the cyan green at bottom center. I also like the small oranges at the very bottom popping between the light grasses. I would bring out that orange even more. Make the viewer take notice.
Love this idea. Thanks, Igor. I made a L+Red selection and added a selective color layer to bring that up a little bit. I think it makes the tree separated from the BG a little more.
I quite like this one. A very Eliot Porter look. Honestly, I can’t see much/any difference between the two versions. But no suggestions here. Looks good as posted.
Oooh, this is beautiful. The pastel colors are lovely. The gesture of the trees is so good - the way they tip and curve just a bit makes it look like they’re dancing. So well seen.
The only nit that strikes me is the darker and redder area mid-way along the right side of the green tree. It feels out of place. I think dodging the darker reds there would reduce the distraction (my idea attached). Just a nit, though, and my OCD kicking in. This is simply lovely.
You really had great conditions to shoot in Adhika. Nice soft light which brings out such a painterly feel to this image. The foreground sure makes this image for me though. The reds, greens and whites all dancing for these two friends. Love the title. Really caught my eye . The soft lighting at the top of the frame on the hill is important along with the once dappled lighting behind the tree. Well seen and captured. Glad the eighth time caught your eye and made you pull the trigger.
This is lovely, Adhika. Each small tweak is making this image better and better. I love the soft pastel colors and the lighting is sublime as it accentuates the textures and details throughout the scene. The hillside in the BG makes for the perfect canvas for these two friends. Glad it clicked for you on the seventh or eighth trip by so you could share this with us.
Adhika, this image is simply sublime. The soft colors and soft light create a wonderful mood.
It’s just brilliant work from you…
I recently watched a webinar done by Saraha Marino, TJ Thorne and Alex Noriega on photographing trees and forests. Alex used one of his tree images, “Kindred Spirits”, to illustrate a point. He referred to the trees as whimsical, and very “Dr. Seussian” looking. The trees in your image here reminded me of Alex’s image, because they evoke the same feeling of whimsy, and do look like something from Dr. Seuss.
Splendid, Adhika. It presents a rare, understated beauty that takes a dedicated eye to see. I watched the same webinar that Ed referred to and this image perfectly illustrates many of the ideas on composition that Alex Noriega addressed. This is an image that I could look at over and over. Beautifully conceived and executed.
Consider them dodged.