The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
And this is what usually passes for a white Christmas here. We have been mired in major fog for a couple of weeks. It burns off in the afternoon (some days) and is back the next night. I love the lichen on the branches and the Black Oaks that still have some color. I tweaked a little more contrast but didn’t want to spoil the feeling.
Specific Feedback
All comments welcome! Is the contrast too flat? I wish the trunk didn’t have all that light bark but it felt too complex to try to darken. Is it too much of a distraction?
Some minor global tonal tweaks in LR, and into PS for some dodging and burning. A little trimmed off the left.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Vision and Purpose:
Conceptual:
Emotional Impact and Mood:
Composition:
Balance and Visual Weight:
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Color:
Lighting:
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Technical:
This looks like an infra red image, which I really like. The tree trunk white adds to that look, and I love the bit of color. Just the right amount of contrast for me. Very nice.
I love the low-contrast aesthetic here. The lichen/moss on the branches, the foggy atmosphere and the secondary and background trees create a really nice mood. To me, it’s quiet, still, waiting for a change that might take months.
The white bark doesn’t bother me. It adds to the foggy, frosty feel of the scene. It reminds me of one of those high-key low-contrast, oriental screen prints. I love those and love this.
Oh, this is fabulous! I actually really like that those tree trunks are white as they draw my attention to them and then my eye kind of wanders around throughout the rest of image. I guess I would say they are a landing point. The subtle hints of color are quite nice, too. I’d say this is about as close to perfect as you’re going to get.
Diane, This image caught my eye with the Soft and yet Strong look !!! Really Nice !!! You captured your vision. The light bark works well. It needs that to give contrast to the top branches. Well Done !!! Happy Holidays
Photos in the fog always have a alluring mystery about them. They make you look longer trying to figure out what is hidden there in the fog. Those details that do stand out, are that much more apparent with the absence of other details, if that makes any sense. All that to say I love how the moss and lichens on the branches really make them stand out. Then the subtle splash of color from the remaining leaves come through hinting at autumn. Its a sweet quite reminder of how fog makes everything more silent. You captured the scene perfectly.
Diane, I find your image very compelling and agree with most prior comments. I think your post processing is spot on and like the soft, mystical feel you’ve created. Because you asked if the contrast is too flat, I’ll offer a technique that’s worked for me in similar scenes. If you raise the whites in the fog, without clipping, I expect you may get a bit more contrast at the top of the tree, where it blends into the fog, without loosing the wonderful mood you’ve created. This edit may also offer a bit more balance, adding more weight to the upper half of the image. Just a suggestion, if this doesn’t work, your base image is already a masterpiece.
Many thanks, @Jim_Gavin, @Marylynne_Diggs, @Bret_Edge, @Gill_Vanderlip, @Don_Peters, @Dudley_Slater and @Youssef_Ismail! I didn’t think this would prove of any interest to anyone who hadn’t seen the scene (as it were). I don’t feel I came close to the subtlety I saw (or felt I saw) – and maybe it can’t be done. But I’m not surprised everyone also loves what fog does to a scene.
Don – you are so right bout the rotation – many thanks! I’m usually more perceptive of that. It not only looks better rotated but I went back and checked and indeed the camera was not level. But of course the light was different so I rotated the original and reworked with more global adjustment to the raw file where there was a little more tonal overhead, so I didn’t need to force as much in PS. Posted above. It’s a little different, but with an image this soft I’m not sure there is enough difference for any preference.
And, @Dudley_Slater – I see you’re new here – a very hearty welcome! I had a quick glance at your web site and love what I saw and will peruse it more carefully! And yes, your suggestion for the fog is an excellent one. In this case I didn’t care for the shapes of the more distant treetops so let them drop out.
I hope we’ll see a lot of your work, and your thoughts on other images! It’s that sort of place!
Fog and complex trees are such a special mix, really lovely Diane.
The contrast question probably has a pretty strong dash of personal opinion in it, because the mood in these fog images is so delicate. You obviously have to have some, or it would be a photo of a white sheet, but too much and you lose the mood. I tend to fiddle with a bit of contrast in the darker areas and keep the lower contrast in the brighter. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. More for the fun of comparing than suggesting, here’s an alternative along those lines, just trying to give a kiss more contrast in the darker areas. Thinking about the second part of your question, I also played with dropping the luminosity of the whiter parts of the tree trunk just to see what it would look like.
Thanks @John_Williams – that is a small but wonderful enhancement! I will incorporate it into my next iteration (the paint never dries!) but won’t take time to post yet another revision. Holidays are closing in!
Thanks, @Bonnie_Lampley! I wasn’t sure about this one at first but it has grown on me. The Blue Oaks (the two large trees) are bare but the Black Oaks and Western Maple are just now in their prime of yellow – or what passes for autumn color out here.
Hi Diane,
This image is absolutely gorgeous and dripping with mood; I can see why these oaks are your favorite trees. I would be in heaven if we had some major fog for a couple of weeks. I am loving the lichen on the branches and the white areas on the trunk do not bother me at all as I feel it compliments the atmospherics beautifully. Your tweak is subtle, but I do like it. I think you could also get a pano crop out of this focusing on those lichen covered limbs; a twofer if you will. Beautifully done!
Wow – thanks, @John_Williams, @David_Haynes, @Bret_Edge, @Ed_Lowe and @Michael_Lowe! I just got back online after 24 hrs of internet outage and saw this! What a nice surprise after a cascade of bizarre things from the outage. One of them was that a water leak safety shutoff device decided, since it no longer had access to its app through the internet, to shut off our water! So we couldn’t turn it back on until the internet problem got fixed. And a recent OS update had dumped ALL my documents into the cloud instead of on my computer where I could retrieve all sorts of information I needed. I was way past the boiling point. I’m reset now!! Thanks again!
I saw this image a little while ago, life got in the way, and I didn’t comment.
Holy cow! And you know what a compliment that is. (There’s only one better compliment, and being such a nice place here, I will refrain.)
I do like the repost! For some reason the base of the trees is more interesting and anchors the image better. Colours are gorgeous. So well seen, captured and processed!
Glad you have you internet problems sorted. Modern living, eh!
