I did a day trip to the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge area north of my house that’s about an hour and 20 min. drive. I had a friend text me that photographers were seeing Sandhill Cranes in the mudlands. I knew where that was, but decided take some time to drive through a 2 mile stretch of the wildlife refuge that closes for winter that was on my way. It was toward the end of this drive I stopped at a pullover to take a look at a pond.
The drive was very foggy and the fog was still fairly thick when I arrived at this spot. It’s very unusual that we have this amount of fog that’s everywhere. We usually have fog in the valleys or through the peaks of high hills and it’s generally gone not long after the sun rises.
I saw this orange tree in the foggy distance glowing where the sun was still in fog, but was trying to pop out. At this time of year, the fall colors are very spars. I was very surprised that the entire tree still had it’s leaves and stood out even in the fog. I loved the high key effect and went with it. BTW, I didn’t see the Sandhill Cranes on this trip.
Specific Feedback Requested
I like the high key effect and simplicity of this image, but I’m not sure if others will feel the same way. I hope so. Let me know.
Any other suggestions appreciated.
Technical Details
Sony a7r iv 100- 400mm @ 241mm
ACR - Tone
Photoshop - Cropped, Hue/Saturation on tree
I find the high key treatment and simplicity of the scene pleasing. The foreground grasses leading to the foggy background provides nice depth. And that orange tree does pop compared to the rest of the rather subdued elements.
This is a wonderful high-key image, Donna. It has four very nice layers-grass, trees, background trees, and sky. The fog masks the details leaving some mystery. I love it. My only comment would be a thought to move the camera slightly to the right. There’s a bit of room on the left, and it’s a bit tight on the right. Evening out the space on each side would make for an even stronger image. That’s really minor though. Great image all around.
Fog is a photographer’s best friend! Super job looking for and taking the time to make this photo. Did you experiment with shifting perspective to eliminate the tree on the right? I would definitely try it to see if you can showcase the other tree more dramatically. I think it deserves it. I also like how delicately you kept the fog in terms of color and lightness.
Excellent! I love this! Great job crafting this one. That lone tree stands out beautiully in the fog and I think you have a great balance in the layers - foreground field, line of trees and the top fog (and bg trees).
I too was thinking and viewing the tree on the right. I understand there is a little pull towards that tree, but as I considered cropping from there, the entire impact of the image changed to just a snapshot (maybe too harsh), but the point is I think the impact of the image is reduced by any crop on the right. And the good news is the tree on the right has half the leaves and half the luminosity, so it’s not really competing with the main tree - which is glowing beautifully.
Only suggestion I have if you like panoramic - is cropping slightly top and bottom just for a more pano look, which I think this scene supports nicely.
@David_Bostock@Kris_Smith@Lon_Overacker Thanks for your cropping suggestions. I knew when I took this photo, I might have a hard time cropping. I took a wider angle photo so I could play around with the crop. Kristen, I did try cropping all the trees on the far rt. and made the one yellow tree the center focus, put I thought it took away from the scene. I did do a rework 2 of this crop to see how others might respond to it. David and Lon, I think the pano idea and adding more to the rt. side (had to clone part of a tree out) really helped make this photo the way I pictured it. Such a little change, but a nice improvement. I was thrilled that this photo was liked by everyone. Thank you!!
Hi Donna,
What a lovely find. Great job exposing it. I always struggle with fog.
As for the reworks, I’m partial to the one with only one-tree hanging on. To me, it’s more symbolic, but that could be a result of the title too. However I like the placement of the single golden tree further to the left in the frame as in the versions with two trees.
My suggestion would be to use spot/heal or content-aware replacement to remove the tree to the right so you can go pano crop and keep the lone tree further to the left. I don’t know what your feelings are about removing objects or duplicating them, etc, but to me, having another bare tree there would be ideal. I might also be inclined to make the lone tree pop ever so slightly more, but not so much that the scene loses its ethereal quality.
Just a few thoughts you can consider or disregard as suits your vision. It’s a photograph to be proud of!
ML
Thank you Mary Lynne for your critique. This was a tough crop for me. Do I keep the second yellow tree and just give it a slight presence. Do I put the main subject in the middle like rework 2 which I really didn’t want to do. I wanted it to be off center. I didn’t have anything on the left side after the bare tree and I had too much on the rt. side. I did clone out a tree on the rt. side on rework 1 which is a pano. I think I might want to clone out that small bare trunk just to the rt. of the rt. tree too. I’m going to let this one sit for a few days and then return to it. I find that it always helps to step away awhile. Again, appreciate your thoughts. They help.
). Great image and wonderful reworks on both.