San Jose de Gracias is a small pueblo within a narrow desert canyon. Only 40 people live there. The water comes out of the ground and runs downhill resulting in a profusion of palms, shrubs, flowers, and fruits. I don’t recall the name of this particular fruit but many Los Angelinos grew them in their yards. That’s what initially drew me to them - an old memory. I found this tree after the shadows had crossed. The fruits seemed to glow in the darkness and I processed it to look that way by greatly underexposing it.
The glow of the fruit and the subdued hue of the leaves is stunning.
My only suggestion would be to pull the top edge down a smige - apparently, that’s a precision measure unknown to the dictionary. I like the hushed background foliage that just provides a hint of place, but the darkness below is much more mysterious and appealing. I’m anxious to see what sort of creature lurks below to feast on the fruit.
This is lovely, Igor. The lighting is very subtle and the darker surroundings have placed the emphasis front and center on the trio of yellow berries. I could also see this as a square crop with a little from the top so the leaves have the same spacing top and bottom. Just a thought of course. Very nicely done.
This is a very intriguing image Igor. The darkness along the edges enhances the glow effect. I love the bluish-green color of the leaves, it looks unusual and adds a nice mood to the image. I would agree, the subject here would be enhanced by a square aspect ratio. And I would clone away the stick in the LRC, especially if you change this to a square crop (it diminishes the symmetry of the composition).
This is a real beauty, Igor. Yes, it’s a Loquat. We have a tree in our yard, but I’ve never tasted the fruit; we let the squirrels have them. Your processing is excellent, but the leaf color appears a bit bluish, at least in comparison to the leaves on our tree. I agree with the square format choice, and I think Ed’s suggestion of cloning the LRC stick is good also.
Ooh, I almost missed this. Love it! The colours are beautifully understated and complimentary. I am a great fan of chiaroscuro and this one has it in spades. Personally, I would not go square with this - to do so would diminish its depth. there is something about this image, probably the succulence of the yellow fruit, that has a dark sexuality to it that is quite compelling.
Pretty much, Kristen! We let hem eat the loquats because they’re gonna eat them regardless. We try harder to keep the squirrels (our dogs chase the sqirrels, but the loquat tree is too far away or either our dogs are too lazy to run that far) from eating from our peach trees, but I’m sure they get their fair share from those as well.
Hi Igor … this is a great image … really more of a portrait in some respects than a landscape shot … has some of the feel of studio lighting about it. The dark shadows and color of the leaves beautifully sets off the color of the fruit.
