Took this on our trip to the Eastern Sierras this past spring. I just could not get enough of the beautiful aspen trees. I saw this composition on our first trip going toward Mono lake but didn’t stop. I vowed to stop and take a picture the next time. Sure enough, we headed in the same direction the next morning and I stopped to get the shot.
Specific Feedback Requested:
Any and all.
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
GFX 50s II. f/11, 1/110, ISO 100. 70mm on 35-70mm 4.5-5.6 lens.
I like the idea of this, but it doesn’t say open space to me. I think the composition is too stacked and the layers block my visual entrance to the scene. Maybe it’s the vantage point of height that’s doing it. I don’t feel like I can step into this unless I want to fall and wreck myself. I do like the colors (although they seem a bit over saturated on my monitor) and the change from a more brush-dominated landscape to a tree-dominated one. The aspen trunks give some separation in the greens and add texture. If you crop the mountains out, the story changes.
@Kris_Smith your feedback has been a huge help and has prodded some self-reflection. First off, I agree with every one of your points. The biggest being the saturation. I’m still finding my way with color as I mostly shoot BW. I think when I get insecure, I fall back on the HDR days of over-saturation. This image is crap so let’s just punch up the colors and it’s now awesome. When I look at the original I posted compared to a more natural look (as demonstrated below), I’m actually embarrassed. But I’m not a young man anymore. I know that I can’t grow without going through these episodes. The reworked version below is a much better photograph, but is it really worthy of posting? In my opinion, it is not. Nothing spectacular about it except to capture a wonderful scene on a great trip with my wife.
Thanks again for teaching me some valuable lessons. Onward goes the journey!
I like the way you put that - just add color, that will make it great. But then that got me thinking - so what if this is “just a picture” to help you remember or document a trip with your wife. Does that make it less valuable? Does it make it less interesting? Should we hide those away like some embarrassing uncle at Thanksgiving? I don’t think so. A lot of what I do wouldn’t be considered Art with that capital A because I take a documentarian approach to many things. However, documentaries have a place - they preserve and educate and can be a part of an overall collection of information about a subject. So these “snapshots” if you will are just as important to a photographer as are the “fine art” images that we so aspire to.
Ok. Off soapbox. I think possibly you took the desat a little far, but you remember the scene and I do not. The tight crop - well, I liked the extra room at the edge on the right for those little trees. Again, just me, but what the heck…that soapbox sure is handy!
I think we’re both saying the same thing. I meant that the picture has personal significance to myself and my wife, but it’s not necessarily a picture worthy of posting on here or other social media, except as part of a group showing off our trip.
I redid the crop and used Calibration to bring back some sat. I think this is probably the happy medium of this picture. Thanks again for your comments/feedback.
I really like your redo for the foreground colors much better than the original, but I miss the mountains of the original. I can see why you were drawn to this scene, it really is beautiful!
I like the original photo, although I agree that it is just a little bit oversaturated. I know that location well and I think you have captured it beautifully. I don’t feel cramped at all by the comp. It is an additional pleasure to see this in the spring…I’ve only been there (many times) for autumn color.
