The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I have stood across from this ancient redwood trunk more times than I can count in the last two decades, always enamored by it but never could capture its elegance, or at least I was not happy with the frame that I came away with. Its not a living tree anymore, its just a remnant trunk that sits on the edge of a creek running through the west side of the Santa Cruz mountains. The lean and the gentle arc of its now bark-less ripple wood just grips my vision. I always wish there was a way to just isolate that from the rest of the surrounding chaos.
I did not think cloning such a large area would work, but PS has a pretty good cloning tool now. So I have two versions, one with all the fallen branches removed and one with only the smaller branches removed. Once I removed everything, the area on the right just seemed empty, so I think leaving the larger fallen tree acts as a geometric counterpart. Which do you like best?
This is a complex image, Youssef. There is a lot going on but your composition has made order from the chaos. The whitish vertical trunk/limb that bisects the larger horizontal trunk keeps drawing my eye to the background. I’m not sure that’s a bad thing but I would be interested in seeing a version without it. I also find myself drawn to the fern growing on the redwood, and it’s one of my favorite elements here. Very well put together and processed image, my friend!
Hi Youssef,
This image shows the cycle of life beautifully. This once majestic redwood is giving back to it’s surrounding environment so that future generations of trees can thrive. The sinewy nature of the redwood has caught my eye as well as I find it very appealing. I don’t know how you feel about removing things from the frame, but here is a little rework with what I am proposing. For my tastes I could see removing those BG limbs as IMO it would simplify the scene and place all of the emphasis on the still beautiful character of the tree. If you do not like to remove things pay me no mind.
To capture the spirit of such a thing is no small task. Especially when you think of the ages the tree lived and the passage of time that it experienced.
I think this works very well Youssef. While I prefer the cloned version for its cleaner lines, I do prefer to do less of that these days.
If you have a zoom that will grab it, I think this is a pretty cool, more abstract, section:
Youssef, I believe that nature is usually complex, so I like the original. The fallen branch seems fitting and adds some extra information and interest to the scene. (The view without that branch feels empty and simple.) What I really like is how the main trunk “slides” down and meets the water. Then, the the subtle reflections pull my eyes back the other way. I would try burning-in the two brightest (nearly vertical) small branches and maybe the left hand part of that smaller limb.
Wow! Thank you for the EP. I was not expecting this at all. I appreciate all the feedback on this photo. I wanted to make one more edit option but got busy with other things and then when I came to make that edit found it was the EP this week!
In any case, I have added my last edit where I burned down the small vertical branch rather than cloning it out. I also burned down some other hot spots.
