Birch tree bark pre-study series (4 images)

Image Critiques Weekly Challenge
1

Inspired by the excellent birch bark image posted by Kristen Vernal Jubilee, during my lunch walk yesterday I revisited a birch tree near my home. I decided to come back and create a series of images when having more time. However, during 15 minutes I shoot these four images handheld as a pre-study. All images are from the same tree (there is only one birch tree at that location!)

Specific Feedback Requested

Any comments are welcome to improve when I return to capture more images!
Two specific questions:

  • How to manage the colors?
  • Am I too much in love with my 25 mm (50 mm equiv.) f/1.2 lens, favoring to much a very shallow DOF?

Technical Details

Is this a composite: No
All images are taken with my Olympus 25 mm (50 mm equiv.) f/1.2 lens @ f/1.2 except for the last one (f/5.6). Olympus OM-D E-M1 camera (mft system).

#1

Birch tree pre-study series (4 images)
Birch tree pre-study series (4 images)2110×1610 143 KB

#2

no2 red final
no2 red final2907×2110 318 KB

#3

no3 red final
no3 red final2110×1191 79.1 KB

#4

no4 red final
no4 red final1880×2110 295 KB

1 Like
2

Beautiful details of this tree. Very enjoyable. The selective focus works well for me.

3

Ola, I like #1 and #4 the best. The very limited dof in #1 creates a feeling of warm playfulness from that curl of bark. (This would also work well rotated so the bark strip was across the top.) In #4, the subtle horizontal marks with their hint of warmth stands out from the surrounding whiteness. The darker strip in the middle is neat because it creates a feeling of being recessed slightly, so there’s a nice double humped feeling across the frame. A bit more dof might be good here so that the edges were also sharp (and that might not work…). Is that a screw holding that one strip of bark in place?

4

Oh that’s very flattering, Ola. Thank you.

The series works really well and why not use a lens like that to the fullest effect? Wide open it emphasizes the delicacy of the bark and the smooth texture. My favorites are #s 2 & 3. #4 reminds me of code writing. #1 has such a crisp focal point. All are beautiful. Funny that there’s only one birch - are they at the edge of their range where you found this one?

5

@Kris_Smith, @Ronald_Murphy and @Mark_Seaver thanks for your kind comments.

Yes, I thought this was an important part of the composition. I tried several different adjustments in the post-processing software to more or less accentuate the darker strip.

I will increae the DOF at my next visit.

No, everything is natural.

The tree is placed in a suburban park (a very dull park in fact, placed between a set of residential houses and the highway). They only planted one birch tree.