One of my favorite pastimes is to fail miserably at trying to capture the chaos of our forests here in the Pacific Northwest. It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful it can be in person, only to look like so much mud when I get my images back home. Nevertheless, I foolishly soldier on.
Cape Horn is a wonderful area in the Columbia River Gorge, and it has some stunning views of the Gorge looking east. It also has one of the better patches of larkspur that I know of each spring, and this is an image from this year’s crop.
Normally I inconsistently post on NPN because I just don’t get out as often as I would like to take images. This summer has been different, and I actually have a dozen, or so, keepers(?) to work my way through. I purchased a Fujifilm X-T30 in May, and have had a good time getting to know it. This image is from the first time I took the camera out into the field. (I went with Fuji based in a large part on @David_Kingham’s review, and the X-T30 because I’ve been taking the camera backpacking more and fell in love with how light it is. So far, I’m really happy with it. I’m in love with the focus bracketing.)
Any and all thoughts and suggestions are welcome!
FUJIFILM X-T30
FUJIFILM XF 10-24mm F4 at 12.6 mm (19 mm equivalent)
1/4 sec. at f/9 and ISO 800
1/125 sec. at f/9 and ISO 800
1/60 sec. at f/22 and ISO 800
Blend of 5 images for DOF and 2 for DR and to get a better sun star
Great to see a post from you and good to hear you’ve been out capturing some images and just getting out.
Wow, this is just dreamy. Enchanting, delightful… I could go on. I really like the processing here emphasizing the bright glow that surrounds the welcoming sun. The stack and processing in general work beautifully. Love this image!
Very minor. I would address the small blank patch on right top edge. Now I can’t call it a bright patch that’s distracting, cause it’s certainly not drawing attention like the sun star… but simply from a continuity perspective you might consider filling it in a tiny bit. Pretty minor though.
Image is still gorgeous! Looking forward to more from your outings.
Fabulous image! My only nit is that the starburst is so bright it keeps pulling the eye back there. Maybe darkening the upper half a bit and lightening a little of the center to keep the eye in the rest of the lovely landscape.
John, my first glance at this image and it seemed chaotic. The more you look the more enchanted you are and the scene simplifies itself. I think the larger green leaves that form the midground do a great job of separating the fore and back as well as giving it depth.
You have created a really great and mesmerising piece here. Nicely done!
John,I love images with color and a lot of light. So yours is stunning in my eyes. A very small nit as you call it. You could take a small part of the top so that the little blue part on the right is gone. For me it makes your image a bit more peaceful to look at. I hope I used the right english words.
Hi John - I think you did a really nice job of composing this scene in a way that highlights the chaos of a forest but offers it up in a visually pleasing way. The large trees and wildflowers add a nice structure to the composition with the sunstar providing some visual interest. Overall, I think the photo is a success and well done. In terms of critique, my only observation is that the top portion of the photo feels a bit bright compared to the lowest part of the frame. Evening out the exposure a bit between the top and bottom might make it feel more balanced. I like the light feel of the top of the frame so if this were mine, I might start by brightening the bottom rather than darkening the top.
John, this is a beauty. Great job blending the multiple exposures and creating structure out of chaos. The flowers are shown very well and the backlight/sunstar are strong attention grabbers. I wonder how some burning-in of the darker tones in the upper half for more contrast up there would look.
No failure here, this image is great John. I love the light and colors in this image, the blues, greens and yellows create a nice combination of colors. The warm yellow light on the backlit leaves in the mid-ground is especially appealing. And I like how your composition creates a strong diagonal line, it makes the scene more dynamic.
I would agree with the others comments about trying to balance the exposures a little better. I actually like having the dark shadows in the foreground because they make the backlit leaves stand out better. I would suggest darkening the shadows in the upper half of the image. I reworked this using a TK Darks selection to burn down the darks in the upper half, which retains the highlights in the sky, but helps balance the exposure top vs. bottom.
John, I am late on his one but did want to comment on this fairytale like scene. The bright colors shot into the sun are a favorite of mine and this is presented beautifully. I also love your quote about chaos and failing to find order. I think we all can relate, and when it comes together as this has the reward is even sweeter.
Well done!
Honestly, John, you are one of only 2 or 3 people who never post a failed image. Indeed, I usually find myself in amazement at your ability to produce exquisite renderings of difficult to capture images on a truly consistent basis. I always love to view your work. Now, while I remove my lips from your butt, I’ll comment on this image. I think your composition is well thought out and well balanced even if the light itself isn’t so balanced. Actually, I could see making a slight crop on both the right side and top, with emphasis on “slight”. I like @Ed_McGuirk’s treatment of darkening the trunks to balance out the light. All in all, a very beautiful image.
Thanks @Ed_McGuirk ; I do think that’s an improvement. I’ll play with a bit of cloning to cover the empty spots on the upper right as @Lon_Overacker suggested too.
This image is magical, like stepping into an enchanted forest. You handled the light so deftly and I love the small white flowers scattered throughout the foreground, as they mimic the sun in brightness and make me think of twinkling lights or small suns. Outstanding!
