I wasn’t as pleased with this one as I thought I would be. I straightened the crop, cooled it down and brought out the lichen more. It is almost monochrome but I did a B/W out of curiosity.
Original:
Above is is the crop I liked
Above is the assembled 2-image pano
Critique Style: Standard
The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic / Expressive
About This Image
The light, though soft, isn’t anything special but the draping lichen appealed to me. I shot 2 frames and assembled a horizontal pano but wound up cropping it back to this, which was basically the first frame. I could maybe play with some artistic ideas here but liked it well enough for the straightforward view.
Feedback Requested
Not a lot of mood here, so basically I was just capturing a pleasing composition. Hope it hold up enough to be worth a glance.
Technical Details
Camera: Canon EOS R5
Lens: RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM + EXTENDER RF1.4x
Focal length: 420mm
Shutter speed: 1/350s
Aperture: f/16
ISO: 1600
Processing software: LR and PS
Major adjustments: Very little done – some basic global tonal sliders in LR.
Blending/stacking:
Other notes:
2 Likes
Diane,
Most certainly worth a look. And thanks for providing the variants and how you derived at each.
For me, the original 2-image pano is kind of a “tweaner” - meaning I almost want to see more of the scene - more tree structure, more dangling moss, etc. OR, less like you’ve done with your crop, which I prefer.
I like what you did with the WB in the top version; the cooling really did work to bring out the moss. And the larger view of that pops quite nicely.
The b&w works nicely too. I do think some additional processing could bring out the moss even more in the monochrome version. With this version and with b&w in general, the lack of contrast like in the darker background works well to help isolate subjects like the branch and hanging moss. Introducint color, the bg reveals more detail (but your WB adjustment helped offset that, bringing out the moss.)
I can see why you were attracted to this scene. Great job capturing and translating it to the screen!
Thanks, @Lon_Overacker ! Going any wider with the pano got into less-than-pretty branches and no more lichen. I’ll play with a little more contrast in the B/W. I fiddled with it a lot and finally sort of gave up – or decided to quit while I was maybe a little ahead.
Diane: My apologies for being so late to comment. I also cheated and read @Lon_Overacker’s comments and found them really interesting because my immediate impression of the first image was, “too blue!” I like the original better. What do those landscape guys know 
? The B&W is a fine conversion. Viewing the whole scene in your pano makes it easy to see why you were attracted. I’m not seeing an obvious alternative crop or comp so deferring to your judgment seems the wise course. Nice find and fine work in the presentation. >=))>
Thanks, @Bill_Fach ! WB can be so subjective, but the OP was shot in foggy light with my default daylight WB, and the FG leaves are the aptly-named Blue Oak. Maybe halfway in between? But for now I’ll let it be.
I like the top version the most. I find that bluish color cast gives it the lighting that works best for this subject. The colors of the top image gives it that look you find after the sun has set and yet there is still light. That’s due to the blue sky’s color reflecting on all that’s not sunlit. It’s a very special time of day that’s seldom photographed. And I think it suits the hanging moss well.
Thanks, @Igor_Doncov ! It was early morning fog but the cooler color does evoke after sunset to me, as well. I think that works for this image.
