Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Growing up from the chaos of the forest floor and surrounded by the harmony of the upright trunks of the ancient grove, this fir tree, roots embracing a fallen redwood, caught my eye. To me it embodied the continuous cycle of growth and decay.
Specific Feedback
Does the image convey a mood or narrative?
Are the tonal values of the B&W processing pleasing or a bit muddied?
Any other feedback welcome.
Technical Details
Canon R5 w/ 24-105 f4
5 images merged to HDR in LR to tame the overly bright , backlit forest canopy
1/15, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 and 1 sec.
f8, ISO 100
Paul,
Most certainly conveys a mood for me - and that leans towards mysterious. The absence of fog for the main comp here doesn’t give this much atmosphere - but then again this image isn’t about that. The narritive, or for me, the nature story is strongly captured here. Those roots are amazing! In fact I now have this vision of a science-fiction feature from the 50’s… “The Attack of the Deadly Roots,” - or something more imaginable.
Great eye and vision here. The processing looks great too; not muddy at all.
The thing I might suggest is dealing with the sliver of space to the left of the tree on the left. You might consider either bringing up the luminosity of the two trees on the left, but mostly the far left one; Not to bring out detail necessarily, but to balance the luminosity in the scene. Alternatively, I think you have some room to potentiall crop. Or yet, maybe burn down the left edge. At least for me the left edge is pulling my eye a bit. Not a major deal or image killer though for sure.
I did a quick edit to illustrate. Not better, but an alternate
Hi Paul, This most definitely creates a mood and a story in my mind. New life grasping the old, growing from it, taking strength from it. And the ferns in the foreground add to the story of life on the forest floor. The roots are striking, and perhaps you’ve brought them out in your processing. If so, you’ve done it nicely. I can agree with Lon’s suggested edit of lightening the left tree, but to my taste a crop isn’t needed. Bottom line: this photo makes me want to be right there.
