Still trying to get that pine forest feel. I had intended to do this in black and white but I kind of chickened out. It is hard to get the tonal separation I’m looking for, but I think I might be close. But, for now, here’s the colour version, which is very different. The colour pulls the trees out pretty much on its own and , in this case, I think the colour enhances rather than distracts. It’s a simple scene where I’m trying to highlight the almost muscular texture of these tenacious creatures. How does it work for you?
4 Likes
I might warm up that bright spot on the left trunk a bit. Otherwise the texture on the trunks looks great.
Between the latest season of 'Mark in the Park" that just wrapped up and all these Algonquin images you have been posting lately, I’m getting major FOMO / cabin fever. In a regular year I might have been up there a couple times already. Your images really transport me back there.
Best,
Mike
Yeah, it’s hard to do B&W effectively when everything is essentially mid-tone. I run into this issue a lot with my autumn foliage images, while the colors are beautiful, they often don’t translate well to B&W because o lot of those colors are mid-tones. So it does make sense to render this scene in color instead of B&W, the texture of the red pines still looks great, and the color does creates nice contrast within the scene. The analogous colors of yellow and green work well together. Overall this tells a nice story about the trees and the forest.
My only concern with this image is the dark tree in the ULC. It keeps pulling my eye there more than I would like. On the other hand I like having the amount of space that you do have to the left of the two pines, so I don’t think a crop would help. And I do like having repetition of trees in the background to provide a sense of being in a forest, rather than just having two lone trees. I might suggest either blurring or softening that tree to reduce it’s visual impact.
The light on the bark is superb. I love the texture.
I like this tree scene fine. I think that small sapling at the bottom adds a lot. In fact the bottom half of the image is more interesting than the upper half.
I’m going to write my current opinion about shooting shooting forest scenes, about finding order in the chaos. Don’t do it.
The problem with this forest scene is that there is too much order. It’s overly simplified.
My feeling is that forests by nature are chaotic and disordered and the best forest scenes are often ones that convey this disorder in some way. I don’t mean they should be a total chaotic mess. It’s challenging to create compositions that are balanced yet contain an inherent disorder but when you pull it off then somehow the feel of the forest is conveyed. Basically, with forest scenes I follow the Eliot Porter school of thought.
So, I agree with you, this scene is simple in composition and in what it says. All the colors and tones are perfect but, as you stated in your previous tree picture, something is lacking. Perhaps it lacks a soul. Perhaps it’s the perfect, almost studio like lighting, that robs it of that.
Sorry if this sounds harsh. I really am trying to be helpful. For many this would be a good photograph. But you often state a dissatisfaction with your own work. That is good. You are searching. I’m merely offering one direction, my current direction.
@Igor_Doncov I really appreciate your response to this image. It accurately reflects my own feelings about it. I’m looking for something but I’m still not quite sure what it is or how to get there. All of these pine forest images are as much an expression of my groping as they are of the forest. When you say that “perhaps it lacks soul” I think you’ve put your finger on it precisely. But what that actually means and how that translates into the images I make is really what it’s all about for me. When I look at Guy Tal’s images, for example, that’s my first reaction - soulful! - an expression of a very deep and intimate relationship between the photographer and the subject that comes through strongly in the picture. But, naturally, I don’t want to be replicating Guy Tal’s pictures. I’m certain Guy Tal would agree, that one Guy Tal is sufficient. I think what I’m after will come through digging deeper into the process, which is both digging deeper into myself and the essence of my relationship to the forest and the world around that I’m photographing. But even as I say that, I’m not quite sure what I mean. So, thank you, Igor, for your frankness, I feel we’re talking the same language and I appreciate it.
I will dissent from your and Igor’s opinion, as I quite like this. Nothing wrong with simplicity to convey the soul of the forest and landscape, but to that is a personal feeling. I like the way only the two trunks are in total focus and your processing looks good. It is strange to go against the photographer’s opinion by saying I like it, but I like it.
@Harley_Goldman. Damn you, Harley! Truthfully, I do like this image but it doesn’t quite get to something deeper that I’m trying to get at. But maybe that will always be the case.
Kerry, I sometimes use this painter as well to inspire my forest images. Perhaps you will too.
Thanks for this, Igor. I watched this slide show twice. An amazing painter. His early work is almost reminiscent of the Hudson River School painters but evolves into his gorgeous impressionist work. I will definitely come back to Shishkin’s work for inspiration. I would like to return the favour. @Igor_Doncov Here is the artist who inspires my landscape work because of its soulfulness. Tom Thomson is highly regarded in Canada but not know so much internationally. He died young under very mysterious circumstances. An expert canoeist, swimmer and outdoorsman, he drowned while camping. There was always the suggestion of foul play but his body was never found. To look at the images, scroll down and you will find four entry points that show a sampling of different periods of his work.
1 Like
Kerry, I’d love to help you make this image better but I love it as is. The colors are not too saturated and look “just right,” and the lighting is almost perfect. The bottom half of the scene has lots of character and the trunks certainly have a lot of texture although I don’t know if they convey any sort of muscular texture. Not sure what that means. The tree in the upper left does not bother me at all as it reinforces the “forest” feel you might have been going for. If there is one thing that might be missing it’s a forest MOOD. I tend to think of a forest as dark, a little brooding, maybe a little bit scary and frightening. That’s just me though…or maybe I’ve been to Redwood forests one too many times! 
Enjoying the “forest” conversation here…lots of elements at play with a walk in the woods. I have been frightened, awe struck, found solitude and most often a calm and peaceful mind set when I have hiked through woodlands. Pretty difficult to make an image that conveys all of that. I think you have captured the “almost muscular texture” with the isolation of the two trunks. There is great detail and texture in the bark structure, a nice forest floor and the subject is well framed. For my eyes the image is too bright and the trunks are very shiny. If mine, I might want to see how it looked with a softer profile. Like your image Kerry. And I’ll check T Thomson out, thanks.