And a v3 with Dennis’ suggestion:
And a split-toned B/W:
The original:
Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I’ve been mired in computer quicksand for about a week – mine and my husband’s – but both are running now. Nothing like a twofer to make your day. (Hint: If you have Mac OS 12 Monterey, do the Safari update at your own risk. It completely trashed my OS, to the point it wouldn’t boot. And I’m not the only one.) So I haven’t been shooting much, but looked out this morning to see soft light just kissing the trees down the hill. It was too late for warm light, but it was filtered through trees on the hill to the east. No way I could get closer and still get this angle, looking slightly down, as I would have been moving downhill on a decent grade. So it was shot with a telephoto from the deck. There was mercifully no breeze. I could have saturated it a bit, but it truthfully shows the wonderful fall colors our Blue Oaks display. : > (
Specific Feedback
All comments welcome!
Technical Details
About a 50% crop. Minor global tonal corrections in LR; into PS for some NR and microscopic sharpening, then some edge burning and very minor cloning.
1 Like
I love the look of the lichen and I’m a sucker for oaks, but when I look at this I’m seeing two subjects and my eyes keep shuttling back and forth between the lichen and the brighter patch of leaves. Maybe bring the leaves down a bit? I don’t think it would take too much.
Hmmm – interesting, @Dennis_Plank. When I saw the scene I think I was attracted to it partly because of the tonal similarity of the lichen and the nearby leaves. Much of the vignetting at the edges was due to the natural light.
But I wasn’t delighted by the drab color and was thinking about B/W, but hadn’t gone there yet. I’ve posted a B/W above and tweaking the color sliders let me minimize the brightness of the leaves closest to the lichen. The one area insisted on being brighter so I didn’t burn it, but could easily.
What do you think?
I like the B&W version in that it does reduce the distraction caused by the oak leaves and focuses more attention on the lichen, Diane. I was troubled though by the darker shade of the upper half of the right hand strand. I did a quick and dirty on it with the local adjustment brush in LR. See if you think it might be a direction to go in.
Ah yes, I had noticed that early on and then managed to forget about it. Fixed now, in the OP. Thanks @Dennis_Plank!
Nice job on the fix, Diane.
