These trees reminded me of brothers fighting to get in front of one another, with one of the brothers reaching his arm around the other to pull him back.
Type of Critique Requested
Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
Conceptual: Feedback on the message and story conveyed by the image.
Technical: Feedback on the technical aspects of the image, such as exposure, color, focus and reproduction of colors and details, post-processing, and print quality.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
I was inspired to frame this because it looked like a sibling rivalry in the woods. I did doge and bur to control some of the highlights and the shadows.
Great find and great story - I love your reference about the sibling rivalry! I see it, and get that emotion.
Technically, and of course in the realm of personal choice, But I could see raising the shadows ever so slightly under the “arm” of the big brother. Maybe adjust the contrast, but really hard to tell without seeing the RAW.
Certainly enjoy the vision and story that you’ve captured! Makes me smile actually.
Hi Todd. When I first saw this I was very curious to find out what the story may be, but once explained it’s a very strong concept, to me anyway. I definitely get the feeling of brotherly rivalry that you suggest, although not having any brothers I can only imagine it.
Although Lon suggested lifting the shadow under the big brothers arm, to me the darker tone there conveys a strong feeling of strength in that arm that is holding the other back. It seems to reinforce your story… maybe. Cheers.
Hey Todd, this is an interesting image for sure. I can appreciate your story about brothers. There are a few technical aspects that I notice when I click on the full version and you may have a way to address them, depending on your files. First, there is some significant blurring in the transitions between files it seems. It may also be caused by the software you used to stack it. I’m also drawn to the near white patch just below the “arm” of the one brother. When taken with the other part of the scene it almost makes it appear that the third tree in the background is floating in the air. Finally, the highlights on the arm and just above it are pretty bright when compared with the rest of the scene, I’m wondering if there is a way to bring those highlights back. None of these issues are super prevalent in the small version but when I viewed it large those technical aspects jumped out and got in the way of the story a little bit. On a bright side…the color green always gives me fits and I feel you’ve done well to handle those colors in this scene, not always easy.
