The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Dark Hedges, Gracehill, N. Ireland
A truly iconic location and understandably over run with visitors and photographers alike, Dark Hedges 12 miles or so east of Coleraine is very much worth a visit and despite having seen it a number of times in many publications, I am very glad I paid my own homage to it. I went on a dry windless morning well before dawn and within minutes other appeared. I really loved the cathedral like buttresses of the magnificent Beech trees that formed an elegant leaning tunnel over the bumpy wee track that passed through the corridor of trees. The subtle soft lighting and the white flowering Blackthorn made the shot even more memorable below the lush green Spring canopy.
Technical Details
Fuji GFX50S the old version. Fuji GF100-200mm zoom, Photo stack of 5 images for depth of field. Partially polarised approx 50% to maintain saturated colour but with a hint of reflective quality off the leaves and boughs, ISO 100 f/13 at 1 second.
Brilliant, impactful image! Beautiful composition, sharpness and colours.
That’s very beautifully described. It’s just that!
My only thought may be to very slightly burn the road to increase separation, as it is close in tone to the lighter beeches. And perhaps to close the foreground a little more in the LLC?
Beautiful image with nice lines and colors and tones. The trees are magnificent and perfectly captured. I wonder if toning down just a few of the brightist areas of the flowers on the left would keep the eye from being pulled away from the trees…but that is just a nit pick. Great shot
Wonderful image of this natural canopy illuminated tunnel, I wonder how this looks under a glowing moonlit canopy.
And that’s the part that matters the most! It’s your image done your way with your camera and this image is unique to you because it was your experience and is your memory.
Very well described!
I find that this is a great example of how chaos can be displayed in such an organized and cohesive manner.
As for improvement suggestions, all I can think of is to maybe brighten the foliage on the right to help balance out the FG area.
Wow, Ian, those twisted trunks look like an introduction to the “Twilight Zone” or an other worldly place. They are so unusual and striking - wonderful image. I don’t know if its what @LauraEmerson meant, but I’d burn the far side of the path so it is not so light. The twisted trees are the attraction for me. The light patch on the path leads me away from the trees. This is an amazing site.
Wow, beautiful image and a wonderful take on the classic “tunnel of trees” composition. It may be a popular and iconic location, but I’m pretty sure this is my first glimpse of.
I really like the soft, dappled light - most notably picked up on the semi-wet pavement. Speaking of the path, I could agree with others about a slight burning, but that’s really pretty minor. If anything, I could see selectively burning the branches congregating in the URC; perhaps toning them down to match the luminosity of the rest? Also a minor point.
Other than that, hard to find anything to be critical of. And I’m glad despite the iconic status that you indeed paid your own homage.
Oh I really like this image. The look like snakes coming in from the sides. Even though this is a still photograph you can sense movement in those trees due to their shapes and overlap. The light center of green the trail and farthest trees really draws you in. This is a fascinating image for sure.
Thank you everyone for your thoughts on Dark Hedges. If I get the opportunity I hope to visit it with a wee bit of mist around or indeed some moonlight. Very happy with the way it turned out. I certainly agree with toning down the end of the road. It’s actually been darkened a touch already but a little more would not go amiss. It took a good few minutes to find a location where little to know direct sky light filtered through the nave of the cathedral!
So inviting. I like how you put the path in the middle of the frame. It leads my eye and suggests that more is just around the corner. I do agree with Richard and Marvin about the edges of the foreground. I wonder if tracing a loose vignette around the edges would keep the eye focused on the point of interest . The bush to the left and the foliage to the right are not important enough, in my opinion, to cause the eye to stop there, but they are needed as part of the composition. Thanks, Ian, for letting me enjoy the place through your camera lens.
