There is a startling grove of Autumn Blaze Maples planted in precision near me. This was taken last year and I am planning on visiting again soon. I am looking for ideas for other compositions. Also, it’s so hard when you have a location that everyone and their brother wants you to disclose. It’s the one and often time I’ve been asked, how do you deal with this? It’s so hard! I have some approach shots which really don’t do it justice, and some intimate, that I think I could do better (how do I post more than one photo - or can I?) Thanks for any other comments you would like to share.
It is very hard when people want you to disclose a location. I have a specific waterfall that is like this but I tend to try to tell people that it is a very sensitive location in this general area if you wish to do the research required to find it as I did you will find it. I love the composition of this photo and the processing! it definitely jumps out at me, Would also like to see a more symmetrical composition, down that main path!
I love this. What a riot of colors. See the really vivid greens on the left. I would make all the greens like that instead of having natural greens on the right and wild greens on the left. Experiment with how wild they should be.
I like how the passage way in the distant looks like a column of light coming down from above.
Great image with amazing colors. One idea could be to reduce the brightness in the BG to the right leaving the vertical light column to be the only very bright part of the image. Regarding other compositions maybe you could come back when the trees are backlit giving glowing leaves and interesting shadows. You could also try ICM.
I would be very interested to know your intention , your vision for this image because of the way you’ve pushed the colours. But I have to say, I find this image powerfully surreal. It has enormous depth and I love the way my eye is directed and drawn towards the the horizontal light at the “end of the rainbow?” Wonder filled image.
This is beautiful! You got near to far sharpness with your focal length, yet managed to also have a feeling of telephoto “flatness” or two-dimensionality. I enjoy the shaft of brightness on the right to break up the predictability of the grove.
Wonderful, wonderful image. I don’t know about you, but for many like myself I see this as a classic stock photo. And I mean that in a most positive way - This would be a seller! The classic, “arranged” forest so beautifully accented with the fall colors; the lead-in path “to the light” - This just has that stock look - and part of that of course is the color red.
Love the light - both the obvious vertical strip as well as the backlighting on the horizon.
Others have also mentioned the strong colors. Not sure what your intentions were with the strong color (as hinted by the distinct blue in the dark trunks and the strong red and green on the left edge. But guess what? It all works! It’s hard to be critical here when this has such a strong visual impact.
Oh Lon, that’s a lot to take in. I’m overwhelmed by so many kind comments. I took this last year and my editing style has changed a lot since then. I was planning on going back there this weekend to see what a different outlook might be, but I think I’m not going to go. I don’t remember pushing the color so hard, the place itself is kind of otherworldly in the middle of nowhere out of the blue surprise!
Thanks David, I’m not sure I want to comment on the color either, this edit is from a year ago when I was just getting my feet wet. Thanks again for taking the time to respond.
Pamela:
I love this image! Regarding your issue with disclosing the location, you might check out this website: https://www.naturefirstphotography.org/ . It is an organization of well known photographers who are putting together an effort to address this issue. The answer isn’t exactly clear, but perhaps you could refer people to this website when they ask you for the location. I heard about this on a Brenda Petrella podcast with Karen Cooper. I can tell you I have been to many very popular photography locations and seen how the area has been destroyed by people walking all over the area. Clearly something needs to be done. National Park locations like Maroon Bells have started requiring reservations and roping areas off.
Regarding your question on ideas for other perspectives, I would suggest trying a vertical shot down one of the rows. Another interesting idea would be to include a few leaves falling from the trees. There are many YouTube videos on this topic. Also, would shooting up to the sky to the tops of the trees work with these trees? I see this type of image a lot with Aspens in the Fall.
I’m late to the discussion but I wanted to comment that I love the colors and the symmetry of this photo. I very often push my colors to the extreme just to give them a very different or surreal look. I love all of the things that the other photographers mentioned - the leading line, the light from above. For your question on different angles, maybe try shooting up or getting lower to the ground with just trunks and leaves.
Thank you @Willemd , I actually am a member of Nature First - longer than a member here , it’s a great resource. I don’t think I’m going back this year because of the many location requests. It’s so hard for me to deal with. I did take some shots looking up, but they were meh, at best.
I’m trying to catch up here while pressed for time, but just had to say how wonderful this composition is! A few times when I’ve been pressed to disclose a location, I’ve said something to the effect that the property owner is armed and dangerous.
Thanks again for taking the time to respond.
, it’s a great resource. I don’t think I’m going back this year because of the many location requests. It’s so hard for me to deal with. I did take some shots looking up, but they were meh, at best.