While certainly not as famous as the one at Pebble Beach, for me it has always been a welcome sight in the early morning hours. This tree is out by itself within yards of the busy boat launch regularly used by local bass fishermen, and thankfully they respect this lovely specimen. In post I reframed a bit to decenter from 4/3rds raw file to 3:2 aspect using content aware crop.
E-3 Zuiko 14-54 @28 on tripod, ISO 100, 1/125 F5.6, 0.0EV
Crisp, clean and simple works for me Bill. The water has rippled just enough to create some interesting texture in the tree reflection. I like the amount of spacing from the edge you have achieved with your crop, having a bit more spacing on the right vs. the left works well. The White Balance looks better here than in your prior post (I suspect this was taken a little later in the morning). In the large version, the two birds swimming in the water become more prominent, and add a nice touch. My only nit would be to add some vignette here, the URC especially could come down in luminosity.
This works better than the last post, Bill. The light allows more contrast here. I like the placement of the tree on the left, but I think getting the background line of trees below the Spanish moss it crosses hanging from the main left branch might work even better.
Bill,
That’s one great looking cypress. Very picturesque standing out there by its lonesome. Processing on the main tree itself looks good. I wouldn’t mind seeing a bit more contrast in the water/reflection, but that’s a minor suggestion.
Lon
I think it could use more contrast but not being a local, this may reflect the scene better…
Terrific subject and nice 60/40 comp.
The color balance (warm) says early morning but the light level is a liitle too bright (late morning). Light seems a liitle too flat, so I would boost the contrast. You could also tone down the far tree line and sky a bit to bring more emphasis to the tree.
Thanks @Ed_McGuirk, @Dennis_Plank, @Lon_Overacker, @Dan_Kearl and @Rick_Alway for your comments and valued input.
Ed, this was actually only one minute later than the last, but I have a few adjacent frames where the light actually did change pretty dramatically in a short period, but it’s doubtful the balance would have. And those little birds are Pied Billed grebes.
Dennis, you have a good suggestion about a lower POV, but it just isn’t possible without getting into the water. This was taken from a spit of land jutting out into the lake.
Rick, I’m not sure about boosting contrast, but I really like like your idea of darkening the distant shoreline, which addresses suggestion by Dennis. Attached is a somewhat revised version which does just that.
Thanks all for your constructive comments. There are more to come from Acadiana soon.
Rgds - Bill
That works considerably better, Bill.
I think your repost nailed it rather nicely, Bill. By darkening the far shoreline and sky you have focused the attention on the lone cypress which is the star of the show. Very nicely done.
I like the repost better, but the centered comp is a bit static. But really don’t see a good alternative here. Poor thing seems a bit lonely.
