The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
February in California’s Central Valley means the almonds are blossoming. I’m always struck by the artificiality of these landscapes, and every couple of years I get a new idea for a composition that tries to communicate that. This image was taken from a pedestrian overpass along a massive new road a half-mile from my house, and I think higher angle helps bring out the geometry of the rows.
Technical Details
I need to update my camera’s clock, this was taken around 5:20pm on the 26th.
Processed for tone, color, and crop in On1 PR 2024
I really like the light hitting the bare trees along with the green grass. The repetition of the trees are also very nice.
The first thing I would do is straighten the image. It appears to be tilting to the left. I would suggest finding a way to crop out the top half of the image. The wires and random trees a bit distracting. The crop might be a panoramic crop or a 4:3 or 3:2 and focus more on a smaller selection of trees.
I do really like the concept and overall feel of the image, and I think a few minor tweaks could really elevate this image.
Thanks! If you look at the original again, it was already cropped down to 2:1. Maybe someday I’ll get a shot with less haze that can include the mountain in the UL, but for this shot I do think 3:1 works better.
I was probably too focused on getting the access road straight in my original shot, and overlooked the slant at the tops of the almond trees in the background. I fixed that with a keystone adjustment and it looks much better.
Tree rows make such interesting patterns; I can see what attracted you here. I do think cropping out those power lines was a good idea, I’m always a fan of cleaning up dust bunnies. You might play with the color balance as well; this seems a bit too green and a bit too red to my eye.
