Sorry, one more cypress image. Shot this a few minutes after the sun slipped under the horizon. Perfectly still afternoon with no wind.
Any and all comments, critiques, suggestions welcomed.
Is this a composite: No
Fuji GFX50S w/ 100-200 @ 200mm (158mm in 35 mm format)
1/2 sec @ f/11, 400 ISO
Tripod
David’s version:
There can never be enough cypress images! And you’ve caught those wonderful leafy needles. Finding nice arrangements with lower branches is tough and this is a super composition with one. If it were mine I’d clone away the farthest left reflection at the very least and maybe have a go at the ones in the center or at least dim them a bit. The trunks spaced nicely and have great detail. The history of the water level is written there.
Bill,
I have not shot Cypress, but have seen quite a few images here at NPN. I can’t remember any with the nice leaves included in an intimate scene. This is a really a thoughtful composition! I do agree with @Kris_Smith that the bright green reflections on the left and center grab the eye a bit.
These are very minor and this excellent as presented!
Hey Bill, I like this one a lot! The splash of green on the left is a great addition to the scene. I’m wondering what it would look like with the highlights on that needeles brought down a bit in terms of brightness, especially the ones closer to the edge. Something like this maybe? Done quickly on my iPad.
On a side note, I assume you are shooting from a watercraft of some sort. I just bought a kayak and am apprenhisive about taking a camera in it…any suggestions?
These cypress are amazing. And your image captures the prehistoric quality and mystery of the environment. I do like the the green frond coming in from the left but agree that bringing down the brightness as per @David_Wallace does improve the image by giving it a more cohesive tonal quality all around. I might be tempted to alter the hue a hair and darken the green just to be little bit more to align with the darkness of the water and foliage behind (that chiaroscuro feel). I love the reflections, just gorgeous. But, here again, the bright green reflection on the far left might do with reducing the brightness and darkening just so it doesn’t draw the eye quite so much.
I am not getting tired of these cypress at all Bill, keep them coming. They are just such neat looking trees. I have seen a number of cypress images, both at NPN and other places, and I think this is one of the few one where I’ve seen the photographer work the needles so effectively into the composition. Nice idea to include them like this.
To me, the base of the trees and their mirror image reflection are most appealing. I’d suggest emphasizing this more by burning the highlights in the URC and top center, and then dodging the highlights in the tree base and reflections. I would also clone away the green reflection in the LLC. This minor re-balancing of luminosity would help focus more attention in the center of the image.
