Hoh Rainforest at Olympic National Park. This opening in the woods attracted my attention from the trail I was on. Shot in late May, you can can see that the ferns are still opening up their fronds. The main attraction for me, as I recall, was the outline of the trees with the sunlit moss as the light poured through this gap. I have composed this with the right tree flushed up against the frame and with space between tree and frame. In this case I’m not decided which is better but decided to post the one with the space. What do you think? I feel this image is pretty saturated but I have seen pictures from this area that are far more saturated so this feels about right. What do you think?
Beautifully seen and composed. I could tell it was yours before I read your name. You’ve achieved a terrific balance here with the elements - harmonious. Cutting off the big tree helps reduce its weight and serves to frame up the opening behind quite well. Given that the center fern is such a presence, I’d lift the shadows there a little. I want to see more of why you included it and gave it such prominence. The light fall-off surrounding it looks more appropriate since the ground cover (oh the lovely wood sorrel!) doesn’t need more emphasis than it has. This is a stunner. I particularly like the way you’ve raised the camera to show those large roots coming in to separate the foreground from the background. Print it large.
Hey Igor, when it comes to saturation, I think we’re our own worst critic, right? Because we’re the ones who were there looking at it and we know exactly what it looked like in RIs. I think the goal is to enhance it enough to where it looks realistic, but still enhances the raw file enough to bring out enough color in the same. That can differ from person to person. To me looking at this photo I don’t think it’s oversaturated at all. I think you nailed it.
The greens and overall luminosity are wonderful. The greens look realistic for the Hoh Rain Forest. I like the space between the right tree and edge of the frame. My only suggestion would be to bring up the shadows slightly on the far left tree against the frame.
Maybe this is now over-used, cliche’d, etc., but if the shoe fits… Order from chaos. There, I said it. Now actually, this is not chaotic at all and although I wasn’t there, this looks like a scene that presented itself cleanly to you and so not much to be done to have to create order…
I like the feedback from Kris and also Eva. I too was thinking about raising the shadow detail on the left tree just a smidge. While I do think the light values are appropriate across the frame, that side of the tree weighs just a bit more and might consider some adjustment there. Minor stuff.
I especially like the different greens, stages of the ferns. Well seen and captured.
This feels well composed to me although I could see a version with the right tree against the frame working nicely as well. I have not been to this location. That said, the saturation looks appropriate and natural to me.
The composition is wonderful, almost as though it was a composed still life. The lighting is marvellous. I don’t think there is any problem with saturation however I would consider pulling down the vibrance in the lighter-most greens centre/left/top of frame. I find them a little too "electric when viewed large.
Lovely scene here Igor… with the GFX I was expecting a ton more detail and resolution out of this image… wondering if you just compressed it a ton to post here. I found myself wanting to dig deeper into those amazing flora details you got going on here. Nice composition as well!
Saturation can be a slippery slope, but this looks perfect. I too would consider lightening the shadows in the left tree to balance with the brighter right side of the photo. Because the two ferns are asymmetrical, the asymmetry of the two trees seems fine. Nature managed an essentially perfect arrangement of components.
I notice that as well and really can’t explain it. It was shot at 1/4 second on a tripod so that’s not it. I think it has to do with shooting against the light. Some of the moss has a hazy look to it. It’s actually sharp blown up but the light passing through those fine details all next together gives it a fuzzy look.
Here is a snippet of the moss at 100% without sharpening. At this magnification you can see the individual strands and the leaves in back look real sharp. My theory is that when you see all those strands together from a distance they look like fuzz balls and there is an absence of sharpness.
Very, very late to the party on this one Igor. You certainly had incredibly soft light on your trip. The fresh greens are super nice and realistic enough for my taste. The one thing that immediately pulls my eye is the base of the dark trunk on the left side of the image. Others have pointed it out so it’s not a new revelation. Otherwise, this is a terrific composition, with great light and beautiful saturation. For what it’s worth, that darker fern front and center is just right in tone an luminance. I wouldn’t change anything on that. The darkness is what separates it from everything in the rest of the image.
PS I hope your Zion trip turned out ok. I stopped by for a couple of hours on my return trip from northern Utah on the 11th and the colors had not even begun to start. Looks like a late year for Zion. Also, the monsoon season wreaked havoc on the wash. Hope you got some good ones anyway. Actually, I hope you’re still there. Probably turning about now anyway.
If you want to shoot Aspens in the area, go up Boulder mountain from Torrey. It’s only a 20 minute drive and the colors should either be at peak or just beyond. You are probably too early for fall colors around CR. Maybe another week. Hope you find the mouse. No fun!
