I rather like this image but as soon as I showed it to my better half her first words were, “it looks fake.” I’ll put that aside after a couple hours of editing… 
What technical feedback would you like if any?
I cropped this to 4x5 as I usually prefer that on vertical shots… but wonder if the standard 2x3 crop may work better on this one.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
I did a lot of range masking in Lightroom to hone in on the colors of the leaves in the background and to add some contrast and softness to the white aspen trunks without going too far. As always, I’m interested in reading feedback from others here.
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Single frame shot (not fake!)
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I usually prefer 4x5 for vertical images too.
Fake or real is not relevant to art.
The only thing that doesn’t work for me is the out of focus trees in the front. For some reason that causes my eyes to not focus. That may just be me. I have limited depth perception. I find background blur to be pleasant and foreground blur to be unsettling.
This is where lots of photographers focus stack multiple images. I’m not a fan of it, but it might work with images like this. I personally would focus on the front trees and let the background go out of focus for a single image.
Michael, I think the processing is fine and the aspect ratio is also fine. However to be totally honest, I feel the the depth of field should be switched and the FG trees sharp with the BG leaves OOF. Or even everything in focus. Also the cut off trees on the edges, esp. the left one. JMHO
@Bradley_Strong @Michael_Lowe I definitely get the argument about the focus. I intentionally focused on the background as it was the mix of fall colors back there that drew my eye. Unfortunately, I didn’t try it with a different focal point so I can’t play around with it.
I had thought about using a couple gradient filters on the sides to darken those trunks down to force the eye to the back a bit more. May give that a quick try this evening or tomorrow.
I appreciate the input!
Michael,
I can see where you were heading with this and what you “saw” and tried to convey. With all respects to your wife, this doesn’t look “fake…” 
I see where you wanted to go, just not sure how you could have pulled this off better. the aspen trunks - in their classic presentation, are still pretty real and present - even though you’re trying to show off the bg leaves and color. In other words, there’s a back and forth, conflict between the two and the bg leaves/color just aren’t coming through dominant enough - at least without the presence of the boles.
I think the trunks either have to be grossly OOF, or focused stacked and just have everything sharp.
One point - you’ve left the format/ratio fairly tall (4:5) - that tells me as the viewer that the trunks are still important - yet, this conflicts with the background that you’re trying to showcase.
I most certainly appreciate this effort, especially considering I’ve been photographing aspens in the Eastern Sierra since well, the late 80’s… and I haven’t been able to pull off this concept yet (but now you’ve given me ideas!)
For a suggestion, you might consider a square crop of the top, OR bottom section. This might reduce the importance of the aspen trunks. I do think the bg leaves in the bottom half are sharper though…
Lon
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Thanks, @Lon_Overacker. I’m beginning to think this may be a case of not seeing the forest for the tree (horrible pun absolutely intended). The image has meaning for me because I remember being there and being drawn to the colors in the background but it seems it may not resonate with the viewer without that connection.
I still want to try darkening the sides a bit, and will try your suggestion of a square crop, but this one may get relegated to the “post-processing practice / good enough for Instagram” pile and not added to my portfolio.
Interesting image Michael. I love the idea, but also wish the color to trunk ratio was higher. On the one hand the OOF trees do somewhat lead the eye to the center, but I do think that since the tree trunks are so dominant that it would be an improvement if everything was in focus as others have noted above.
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