The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
The sun had just topped the horizon and the horizontal light was creating strong shadows.
Specific Feedback
Mostly I’m interested in whether anyone else finds it interesting.
I did a focus stack here . It was challenging for the software because of the mass of details. When I zoom in a lot, I can see furry edges around some features. They don’t bother me but I’d be interested in knowing whether they bother anyone else.
Don, this is a wonderful tree! Your composition using the gesture of the branches works well. In fact, they are the star of the image. The foreground works well, almost mimicking the craggy branches. I did examine the image for “furry edges,” etc. and didn’t see anything that bothered me, but I did see some thin branches that were ghosting a little. That would be easy to take care of in Photoshop.
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
The sun had just topped the horizon and the horizontal light was creating strong shadows.
Specific Feedback
Mostly I’m interested in whether anyone else finds it interesting.
I did a focus stack here . It was challenging for the software because of the mass of details. When I zoom in a lot, I can see furry edges around some features. They don’t bother me but I’d be interested in knowing whether they bother anyone else.
I love the tree, Don, but I do find the dark shadows in the foreground rocks to be a distraction rather than an addition for my taste. Unfortunately, I’m not sure they could be cropped out successfully. Maybe pull the shadows in that area up a bit?
The composition is very nice. Did you use helicon focus to focus stack? I had ghosting issues like this when I focus stacked with Photoshop several years ago. As you say, this subject matter is particularly hard to stack and very noticeable. All of that can be fixed manually since there are sharp images in the stack. You could also have focus stacked a subset of the bracketed images, say 2 for the rocks and 1 for the tree. And if that still produces ghosting then add a mask to the fg brackets that erases everything beyond the grass (which the software should be doing anyway).
Susanna, Dennis, Igor, thanks for the helpful comments.
Dennis, I like the rocks. I did lighten them some but they can’t be lightened too much. There’s no reason why the shadows behind the rocks should be significantly lighter than the shadows in the branches and I don’t want the shadows in the branches any lighter.
Igor, I did use Helicon. I first used method B and got bad results. I tried again with method C and that’s what’s here. I recently started using Helicon after having avoided focus-stacking for a few years and I’m realizing that I’ve forgotten much of what I once knew about the program. All your suggestions make perfect sense.
Hi Don,
This scene makes for a wonderful B&W and I am loving the character of that tree with all those arching limbs branching out. I think the high key effect works really well here. To answer your questions; yes I find this interesting and no I do not see any ghosting that bothers me as I think there are enough details and textures to hide them pretty well. My only suggestion would be to remove those three bright spots of vegetation along the bottom toward the LLC. Beautifully done.
The tree is a real eye-grabber here Don. I love the elegant twists and turns it has. I think a version that crops out the foreground rocks out pretty good too; they don’t add as much for me.
What a wonderful tangle of life and time. There is something almost calligraphic about this scene, the smooth pale trunk and limbs sweeping through the frame like brushstrokes, while the surrounding thicket of finer branches scribbles in the rest of the story. Stripped to monochrome, it stops being a record of a tree and becomes a study in line, weight, and texture, the kind of image that rewards the slow eye.
The composition is nicely worked out overall. That central trunk, with its lovely curving fork, anchors everything and gives the eye an unmissable focal point in what could easily have been overwhelming chaos. The branches radiate outward from there in a way that feels almost organized, even though nature clearly improvised the whole arrangement. The base of rocks and the dry grasses provide a solid grounding note, keeping the image from floating off into pure pattern. The depth holds beautifully across the scene, from the rough stones in the foreground through the sinuous trunk to the delicate lacework reaching back, which is exactly the kind of layered crispness this subject needs.
A few thoughts that might lift it further. The tonal range, while pleasant, feels a touch even across the frame. A bit more dodging on that wonderful pale trunk and selective burning on the surrounding tangle could help the central subject step forward more dramatically and turn the existing compositional logic into a real spotlight. Right now the trunk is the hero, but it shares too much luminosity with its neighbors to fully own the stage.
The top edge is also working hard. The branches reach right up to the frame and in places almost touch it, which creates a slight feeling of compression. Either a touch more breathing room above, if the original frame allows, or a small crop from the top to remove the busiest tangle could let the upper limbs feel like they are reaching into space rather than bumping against a ceiling.
Finally, the foreground rocks are lovely as a grounding element but they are slightly dim and undefined compared to the rest. A gentle local contrast lift there would give them more presence and strengthen the front to back layering you have built into the composition.
None of this is essential. The image already has real atmosphere and a quiet meditative pull. These are just small nudges that might help the desert sing a little louder. Thank you for sharing it.
Thanks for the thoughtful critique, Sebastien. All of your suggested nudges make sense. I need to revisit this shot with a fresh eye and with the benefit of the comments that have been made.
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