A cluster of aspens near Telluride.
Wista DXIII 4x5 - Schneider APO 210mm - Velvia 50 QL.
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I quite like this one, Paul. I find myself drawn in and looking around nice and slow. At first, I thought the background was too bright, but the more I looked, the more I like it as is. The leaf shadow, the bole detail, the soft back, all great detailed points of interest. A lot of great stuff to explore. No nits here.
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The “four brothers”, Paul. the details and presence of these four big Aspens works very well. I especially like the yellow glow of the reflected light in the middle trunk. You’ve got enough surroundings to complete a fine story about fall in an aspen grove.
The dappled lighting is exquisite and the vertical format is perfect for showcasing these lovely aspens, Paul. The yellows of the autumn leaves in the BG make for the perfect backdrop IMO. Nicely seen! No suggestions from me.
Paul: I used to think that shooting an aspen grove was not much of a challenge until I actually came across one and found myself stymied and frustrated. I like that you have some of the surroundings and the play of light and shadow on the trunks is marvelous. Top notch shot. >=))>
Wonderful, bold composition. I like this one a lot!
Wonderful texture, color, shadows, and of course the aspen trees. I first went to Telluride in 1967 way before there was any development. Not much happening then…
Excellent Paul! Get’s me yearning for a trip to the East side this fall. Maybe by then all the craziness will be over.
4x5, so I’m gonna have to assume you’ve cropped - and I think you’ve done well with that leaving the viewer a glimpse in to the rest of the forest. The leaf shadows are wonderful and top this image off, and I also like the addition of the reflected yellow in the center of the trunks.
My suggestion, and to be clear, my opinion, I would drop the luminosity on the sides; maybe not whole lot, but some. But even if you didn’t, this is still a gem.
Lon
@martinmaier_photography @linda_mellor @Harley_Goldman @Mark_Seaver @Ed_Lowe @Bill_Fach @Tom_Nevesely @David_Schoen.
Thank you each for your input on this image. I’ve always felt folks who have had the opportunity to work inside forested areas to be fortunate. But at the same time know how difficult it can be to obtain decent scenes and images from those areas. Admittedly, this is probably the only one I’ve got that meets the WC criteria.
David, the year 1967 was a far piece in the rear view mirror now. I was in the thick of my duties on the DEW Line in Alaska back then.
Lon, yes this is a cropped version of the original 4x5. There was a tree to the right that was bugging me so I wanted to try and keep the focus more to the cluster in the FG.
Paul, I was just in Telluride this past fall. Spent 9 days in and around western Colorado shooting fall color and one full day looking for the famed curved aspen. I finally found them on the morning of my last day and had to leave but It reminds me how incredibly difficult it is to shoot something so seemingly simple as an aspen or a grove of aspen. I had bright blue sunshine for 8 of the 9 days so I was forced to shoot more intimately than I had hoped and man was it a frustrating learning experience. Your image depicts what I was hoping to capture on that trip. Straight, tightly clustered aspen with a beautiful backdrop and no visually distracting elements. You nailed this.
@David_Haynes, thank you for your comment here. I can appreciate your days spent in the same area. Your trip story is a good one outlining the challenges we all face during these outdoor photography ventures. It has been way too many years since my last trip to the area around Telluride but I do recall the name Sawpit as a familiar point I found some decent locations for aspen groves… 