Here’s a version with some cloning at the top edge and a TK6 mask to bring the highlights between the trees in back down a notch. Thoughts?
This tree has a little story. I was floundering in the kayak in the open part of this little backwater. Not finding the shot…you’ve all been there. So I decided to move into the tighter backwaters and see what I could see. I was shooting some video while gliding along and I saw this tree up ahead. Drawn like an arrow straight to it I settled in for this composition. Waiting for the ripples to dissipate. It was the saplings’ leaves and the arch of the cypress branch that got my heart pounding.
After our group returned to home base and started processing some images, one of the other participants ooohed and ahhed and asked where this was so he could try shooting it in the morning (we decided two sunrises here would be a great option and we were right), so I gave him directions. The next morning after I got my open water shots, I paddled in to see if he found it. He had and was photographing it when I found him. I paddled deeper in and got another incredible shot (I can post later).
This image was taken minutes and just yards away from the Witch Haze shot, but has a different feel altogether. That’s how it is in a cypress lake. Crazy. But I wanted to put this up because Igor was curious about bluer fog and yellow leaves. This is one of three that show it well, but it’s the closest in subject to Witch Haze, so I’m showing this one.
I also think the mood in this is different because of the change in color palette. The somber browns are replaced with blues and grays so it feels different to me even though it was literally minutes from the other. I’m curious as to how it strikes you and how they compare.
Specific Feedback Requested
The discussion around Witch Haze was pretty terrific and all the ideas and suggestions were fun to try and improved the final result as well as my thinking toward my images, so have at it!
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Lumix G9
LUMIX G VARIO 35-100mm F2.8 lens @ 38mm (76mm equiv.)
f/5.6 | 1/30 sec. | ISO 400
Handheld in a kayak
Lr processed pretty intensely - lots of work with the local adjustment brush to improve the transitions from light to dark in the fog, the branches and the background. Color channel work to liven up the leaves a bit. Ps to remove bits in the water. I don’t think this is a big crop.