Clearly I need to come up with a better title! I spent a few days in the rainforest a couple of weeks ago. I took it slow and stayed in the same area for a few days to observe it under different types of light because photographing forests are difficult for me. I had some ok stuff but nothing amazing, until the last morning when I had the nicest light (whew). The shape of the tree isn’t exactly what I had in mind for my best photo of the trip, but the light really caught my eye. I’m happy to hear any commentary you might have.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
Any
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
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@brentgoesoutsidephoto
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Take my,thoughts with a grain of salt, because I’m relatively new to serious photography and even more so to critiquing the work of others, but…
I love the subject. The tree itself is interesting, mysterious and intriguing. The light that is brushing the tree really grants it something special.
I question whether the brightness of the greens behind and to the left of the tree are distracting. I’d also like to see what happens when the shadows in the trunk of the tree are opened up a bit - not much - just enough to hint at some of the detail of the texture.
As someone newer to this art, I tend to just “try it and see what happens”. Those are the two things I would try to see how they impact the image.
Overall, it definitely has impact. I am especially enjoying how you captured the warm light just kissing the moss on the branches to the left.
Hi, I agree, forests are tough, it took me years to start making images in that environment that I felt were honest and insightful. You make an interesting statement:
Walking around any environment with something in your mind essentially means you are looking for something. This can lead to expectations and disappointment when they are not met. Humans respond to the landscape in. numerous ways, emotional, by shape, pattern, texture, light, contrast, luminosity, color etc. Until I learned to listen to the landscape and to allow the noticing with creative awareness to be the trigger to my image-making (I call it sketching) - then you find your resonance in the landscape.
For this image, the shape may not be what you wanted, but perhaps that’s because you’re showing all of it. The left side is more dynamic than the right. I’d also experiment by varying the white balance, to change the feel. I just posted a short video link in the Technical Section demonstrating the relationship of processing by feel, rather than any tech nicad process.
I like the image, and in short it could be any way you want it. Finding your preference in all of this, is your commitment to yourself and your creative development.
Brent, shooting in rain-forests like this is often really hard, but I really love the light you have here. It was a wise decision to spend more time in one place and observe how the light changes, that is a great approach to coming away with better images. I’m going to go against the grain of the earlier comments here and say that I like the light and processing in this image, I do not find the sunlit background trees to be a distraction, and I actually love your white balance as presented, I would not change it, your shadows are cool enough for me, and the highlights look great.
To me, your concerns about the tree to me come back to @Alister_Benn comment about how much of the tree you chose to show, as opposed to the shape of the tree itself. I agree with Alister about the left side of the tree being more interesting (the light on the moss is exquisite). But I also like the background both to the left and right of the tree. What bothers me most about the tree and composition is that I would like to see more of the tree at the top, it feels cut off as presented (and I don’t like how the horizontal branch parallel to the frame edge is in deep shadow). But you are a pretty accomplished shooter, so I suspect that you had good reason not to include more at the top, whether that be distractions or deep shadows. If that is the case, then maybe a 16:9 crop, eliminating some of the top might salvage this scene.
But overall, this is a great image, with nice light and processing, and worth tweaking the composition to improve it.
Brent, I like this scene very much. I am not going to reiterate what others have already stated except that for me the horizontal dark top branch is the main issue I have with the scene. I do not think it is a deal breaker but it does grab my eye and prevent easy movement through the scene. I still like this one a lot and feel your pain when it comes to working in these chaotic areas. Many of my local spots are swamps and marshes and they are always a struggle even when they are familiar areas.
Well done!
My initial reaction was mostly about the dominance of the big trunk, which immediately led to the thought of wanting a tad more detail on shady side; right along with @Dan_McCarthy’s excellent comment and suggestion.
Something that often gets lost in our critiques is that emotional response of the viewer; the success or brilliance of an image is often what is evoked in the viewer and actually how much discussion is generated. Whether that discussion is for technical reasons like white balance, saturation, shadow detail or whether that discussion is about an emotional connection - those discussions are most always a positive response to an image.
Maybe that’s a round about way of saying there is a lot to enjoy and appreciate with this image - beyond the dominance of the trunk. The story is of course about the beautiful light. And at first glance I thought about a slight crop off the right since of the light was to the left. But now I realize the light in the background; the trunk on the far right, adds such depth and interest to the whole scene, that wouldn’t take away anything here.
The longer I’ve looked at this, the more brilliant and successful it becomes. Yes, I would still like a hint more detail in the trunk (obviously realizing it’s in shadow…) The only other small thing you might address is near the left edge above the mid line. Not sure if it’s rock, or base of trees, but the color there is a pretty strong purple. I would mitigate that if it were mine. That’s the only real nit I have.
BTW, your greens are beautiful here; light, color and saturation.
Hi Brent! Beautiful side-light hitting the foliage here. The light and the greens look very natural. Interesting thoughts already written above. I also find the horizontal branch at the top the main ‘problem’, it also cuts that beautifully illuminated trunk. I tried a quick crop but that didn’t work for me. Maybe a lower angle in the field could’ve resolved something there.
But this is after the first wow-impression; the light on the mossy branches is beautiful, so it’s just bad luch that horizontal one doesn’t have it
Brent, definitely not an easy composition but I think it’s quite cohesive. I think the processing very successful in rendering the feeling of being “in the forest”. There is a lot of depth in the image. Maybe you can have a little more on top, but it’s not a big deal to me. I would, however, consider desaturating the purple/magenta in some of the background trunks especially those close to the right edge of the frame.
The best part of this image is the lighting on the tree and how it plays on those wonderful greens in the back. I also like the overall darkness of this image and how the elements come out of this darkness. Even though this image is shot in a forest it’s really a portrait, with the forest playing a secondary role. Last week I spent an afternoon shooting in a similar environment and came back with nothing. I’ve decided that that’s because not all forests are alike. The forests of upper Michigan, for example, are much drier than the rain forests of the Olympic Peninsula and compositions come easier. I think the forest you chose is particularly difficult to shoot. Just my opinion.
Brent. I like this image a lot. The light is gorgeous as it selectively plays across the leaves, moss, and tree trunk. I think the graduation in light from lighter to darker going left to right adds to the mood of a deep forest image. I like the hint of magenta coloration in the trees and I would hope that if you do lighten the central tree trunk more texture and more of that color would come out. The only part of the image that I feel is distracting is that darn dark horizontal branch.
Hey everybody, thanks so much for all the great comments. I definitely agree with those that pointed out that top dark branch. It can be cropped, but I tend to shy away from really wide aspect ratios. I’ll have to think about it more. It’s tough to make an image with 0 imperfections and this might just have to be an image with one.
I felt kinda boxed in for this composition - there was an ugly distracting log below, and above was kinda junky. Here’s a slightly wider exposure with just quick raw edits. You can see part of the ugly log at the bottom and how it looked higher up the tree.
I lightened the very dark part of the main trunk a bit, any brighter and I think I’d lose some eye-catching contrast. There was some detail in it already on my monitor, but I always wonder how different sensitive things like that look on all of our different screens. I toned down the color of the background trunks on the left a bit. Not big changes but they help.
It’s funny you say that Igor - I’m from Wisconsin and I feel like the big forests in the western US are so much easier to shoot. I feel like the ground floor of midwestern forests tend to be a lot more chaotic and junky. The grass is always greener on the other side I suppose!
Brent, May I as a late respondent give a suggestion for your title. I think by seeing your image of
" living light". I like this image very much. I MHO is it for the balance better to crop out the tree at the right site, but that is rather personal I think,
Brent, after seeing your wider view, I retract my earlier comment that this may be more about how much of the tree you elected to show rather than the shape of the tree. The shape of that tree clearly presents some real challenges. I think your original composition did about as good a job as one could expect given what you had to work with. Showing anything above your original crop just introduces too many other problems. The rainforest wins this round…
