Well, aspens of course are most photogenic and photographed during the fall season - and so often overlooked during the summer - at least in terms of straight landscape photography. But why not ICM? this is a small grove of aspens right on the road. In fact I’m just standing on the opposite shoulder of the 2-lane highway.
Specific Feedback Requested
All feedback, reactions, comments and suggestions welcome!
Technical Details
D800E, 28-300mm @100mm f/9 1/4s iso 71. Simple verticle motion blur. Additional texture/clarity in ACR.
I’ve recently learned to do this, but I will often now as part of my workflow, open a bg layer with the ACR “filter” to make adjustments in ACR - in addition to whatever I do in PS.
Lovely, Lon. Aspens are by far my favorite tree, having lived in Colorado for over 20 years it is hard not to love them. You certainly have this technique down. I admire how you’ve gotten just enough information while still creating a painterly abstract feel. The detail, textures and colors are stunning.
Hi Lon,
I love the ethereal quality of this. The greens mixing with the whites, and then the little aspen trunks remaining white for contrast. It’s really pretty and mesmerizing. I like this so much more than the standard aspen landscape or ICM wherein the identity of the trees is more distinct.
ML
Wonderful!! I love the dancing lines with the mix of fine and medium detail, and the clean edges R and L.
Sooo nice Lon. Love those tones and the sense of levels with the grass in the foreground, the aspens and then those shades of green in the back. Beautiful!
Lon this is outstanding. I love Aspens from my time in Colorado. Back then I would never have thought to shoot them as ICM, much less in any season other than fall. Sure shows me what I missed.
I think this works quite well as a painterly impression. Well done.
Thank you @linda_mellor , @Marylynne_Diggs , @Diane_Miller , @AndreDonawa and @David_Bostock . Appreciate your comments very much!
I’m glad you mentioned this because the original scene actually had grass, and actually some yellow flowers at the bottom. In fact, I played with the bottom and actually reduced and downplayed the colors to make them more consistent with the rest of the image. I couldn’t get the yellows the way I wanted them (I have other frames where the yellow flowers are more in play.) Anyway, I was worried the bottom wouldn’t meld well with the rest of the image.
And that is one of the nice things about ICM. And that is processing, color manipulation, etc. etc. is completely fair game and actually part of the process. In other words, it’s not a goal to replicate a scene in terms of color, sat, luminosity, etc. - but tthe goal is to produce a work that is pleasing and engaging. I think bringing out the starkness of the aspen trunks against the overall green backdrop is an example of that.
Thanks again! I’m off for a few days in Monterey! Hopefully give it a go with some waves along the Pacific coast!
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Lon, what I love about ICM is that it feels like drawing or painting by motion. Your image is a great example of that. Love t he wave patters in the aspen tree trunks surrounded by fields of green. Wonderful balanced scene that brings me joy. Great work!
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I’m very much enjoying all of these posted ICMs and viewing them is really giving me the itch to try ICM, but I’m thinking that landscapes, birds, macros/small scenes and waterfalls are a full plate for me now. It’ll be nice to have something new to learn ahead of me.
This is a beautiful ICM, Lon. I love how the golds across the bottom sift and fade through to the top. The colors are striking. I love the spacing and shapes of the trees too. Great job.
This is so good in it’s simplicity.
Love this one.
