@Alan_Kreyger and I spent four days in early October photographing in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. We had rainy/foggy weather the entire time. These soggy conditions were actually perfect for shooting woodland intimates in the Groton State Forest. This maple/beech forest is a wonderfully lush environment, with lots of ferns and moss covered boulders. This glacial erratic boulder was about ten feet long. To make it even more impressive looking, I got down low with a wide-angle lens. Everything was wet from the rain and the colors were intense, the yellow of the beech leaves seemed like they were glowing. I actually had to significantly back off the green saturation to even keep it at this level.
Specific Feedback Requested
as usual, any critique or comments are welcome
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Canon 5D MK4, Canon 24-70mm lens, ISO 400.
I tried something like this back in Sept/Oct, but didnāt have the smooth light you have here so it was a bust. Great forms here - the solidity of the boulder and the fragility of the ferns is a nice contrast, as are the colors. I totally believe you about the greens and often take those down in my photos, too. Otherwise they seem cartoonish and youāve avoided that there. Same with the red/magenta/purple channels, those can get tricky, too. Overall it seems on the cool side to me, but thatās subjective. Did you place the large tree trunk deliberately at the crest of the boulder? Iām not sure how I feel about that.
Thanks Kris. I agree the tree trunk is not ideal, and maybe a clone job would help. The shape of the boulder was best from this point of view (rather than from the other three sides), and I knew that I wanted to show some of the glow in the yellow beech trees in the background. The dark trunk just came along for the ride, but you are right, it probably needs to be dealt with.
My personal taste runs to a cooler treatment of autumn foliage images, itās just how I am wired I guess.
In some sense, this composition does feel a little āerraticā to me. There are a few elements here that I like a lot and some that I donāt. I like how those two ferns at the bottom of the frame cradle the boulder, in fact how all of the ferns hug the boulder. I am not a fan of the brown/red area on the LLC. In my mind, those leaves should have been ferns. I like your repost with the brown trunk cloned out better than the original but I am thinking of a better separation between the boulder and the trees in the BG; perhaps a lighter BG?
The cloned out tree definitely helps with the overall scene, Ed. I think these scenes are always hard to pull off well (at least I have a hard time with them), but this one works quite well. Thereās the ferns framing the mossy rock and the strewing of leaves make for an interesting overlay. The colors and the white balance are superb.
Me neither, but there were no ferns there. And while Iām okay with cloning the tree away, Iām not sure Iād be okay with adding ferns that werenāt there. I guess my processing ethics are a bit erratic tooā¦
Iām going to have to look into something, I agree with you on trying to get better separation of the boulder (the colors of the trees make it harder to do).
See above, Rework #2, brightening, hue shifting, and blur on the background.
I, too, thought you had a separation problem and tried a rework. I must say your rework does a lot to fix this āissueā. The only problem with this solution is that the shift of attention has now taken place to the bg. I attempted a separation by darkening the forest but that didnāt work at all.
In the end I really liked an intimate of the lower half of the image but thatās a different image altogether because itās no longer a boulder in the forest.
I also prefer rework #2. I can attest to the saturation of the colors in real life, and I think you did a fine job with those in this image. This was such an interesting and diverse mountain side forest to shoot and practice slow photography. We could have visited here 10 times and found new stuff every time.
I enjoy the ferns as a framing element, but the cascading leaves are what really hold my interest.
I literally have been to this forest about 10 times (in both fall and spring) , and every time there are new intimate details to discover. The amount and variety of moss and ferns here is amazing. One of the more interesting aspects of this forest to me are the numerous large glacial erratics scattered about in the woods (some the size of cars). Thatās why I went wide-angle here, I prefer telling that story even if creates some separation issues.
Thank you for your comments, suggestions and reworks. I appreciate the sense of perspective youāve provided. I was so fascinated with the mossy boulder and ferns that I looked past the issues in the background. I think Igorās and Harleyās suggestion to crop works aesthetically, but at the expense of the story I wanted to tell. Iām going to keep the composition of rework #2, and see if I can play with it further.
Shots like this are really hard to pull off and youāve succeeded quite nicely. Iām really attracted to scenes like this rather than the grand landscape. The tree " growing" out of the top of the rock was my initial nit. I rather like the rework in #2.
Like you, I also prefer a little coolness in my fall images. Well done.
Hereās my vote for rework #2. I like the way the ferns and leaves drape around and over the erratic. I rather like the leaves in the LLC and the way there is a line of leaves wrapping around to the other side of the erratic. I also like those two foreground ferns that frame the front of the rock.
Another vote for rework #2, Ed. Scenes like these are really tough to pull off; at least for me; and I have to say that you nailed it. The greens and the reds are vibrant and lush without being overdone IMO. I am going to put a fall trip to Groton State Forest on my to do list after seeing this beautiful scene. Looking forward to seeing what else you and Alan come back with.
Number three for me Ed. I agree that these fall greens can be powerful, but that third backs off on the accelerator just enough to put better color variation in the scene.
Not being there, I have no idea what was to the right and left. My first thought looking at this is that I would love to see a comp with the camera shifted to the right, so that that the lower left fern moved to the corner. That would put the rock at a sight diagonal, and pull that big patch of leaves away from the right edge. In my mindās eye I like those changes, but reality might be quite different.
I hear you, Ed. I am the same in this regard.
