REWORK:
ORIGINAL:
Another winter oak scene - this one appeared to be reaching out to something, I don’t know what.
Any critique welcome. Do the various shades of green look ok? I’m thinking mainly in the ULC and URC the bluish shades of green maybe are distracting/don’t fit, but I can’t decide. And the LLC - too busy?
Is this a composite: No
a7r3, 164mm, f/8, 1/13s, ISO 100
The colors are terrific, still convey some warmth on what looks like is a muted sunshine winter day.
The corner comp works with trees so well. I would eject the dark branches in the upper right, I like the color change in the corner without them.
Great image. I love trees, but find it difficult to capture the beauty. This one is very successful to me.
I don’t mind the blueish green in the corners at all, on the contrary, it is a nice contrast with the other greens and yellow/green of the oak and the trees behind the oak.
No problem with the LLC too, but I can understand the suggestion of @Dan_Kearl to clone out the dark branches in the URC.
That trunk and its branches are a real eye catcher. It’s dominant enough that the busy corners don’t distract me much. I think the color looks fine.
Lovely scene. Love this picture.
not a problem with tones/colors
If it was my image i would, definitely, try to clone da branches in the URC
I love the ice fog effect. I just posted some myself. Your’s are quite successful. If anything, I agree with @Dan_Kearl that you can clone out the upper right branches. My only addition would be to have the background trees less in focus.
Bonnie, the trunk with all of it’s moss makes a great lead into the “mist” of bright leaves. The darker greens and blues in the corners create a sense that your main subject is catching the light with those areas are in shadow, which works well.
I do not think the LLC s too busy, it’s complex, but it works for me. The moss on the trees looks good, it has the glow look without it being overdone.
This is subjective personal taste, but I would crop away the area in the URC, like in this attached rework. I think it creates the illusion of the tree extending much further, and I think it makes the interesting shape of the tree trunks more prominent in the image.
Bonnie, I love what you’re experimenting with here. The drama , darkness and chaotic movement of the trunk and branches play off beautifully with the almost cloud-like structure of the foliage. The subtle transitions in texture, tone and colour of the foliage is part of what makes this image as compelling as it is for me. I like the upper right corner moving into darker greens and blues. Where it doesn’t quite work for me is the way in which the upper left corner feels out of balance with the right. I wish it came down further on the left side and mirrored that shape on the right. I mean, you could make that happen but I don’t know if that is something you’d be comfortable doing. Another way to resolve the problem would be to try lightening up the upper left corner and tonally matching it to what is going on with the main body of the foliage in the rest of the picture. I guess what I’m thinking is that the ULC needs either to be the same as the URC or completely not. As it is, I find it close enough to be annoying, if you get my meaning. I don’t care for Ed’s crop. For me it loses something very important in terms of the diagonal flow of the picture beginning with the trunk in the LLC and moving to that bit of branch and darker colour in the URC.
Bonnie, beautiful image. Like the softness yet the branch is a strong diagonal which brings me in.
Thank you, @Dan_Kearl, @Han_Schutten , @John_Williams, @joaoquintela, @David.Schaff, @Mark_Seaver, @Ed_McGuirk, @Kerry_Gordon, @Mario_Cornacchione for your thoughts.
As far as the branches in the URC, you all are right, there are some that need to do. I didn’t do a good job on the edge patrol. I also got rid of some more edge bits. I cloned out the two vertical branches in the URC, but not the curvy one because I like the way it mimics the other curvy branches. It’s like they are reaching back into the past. This is also why I didn’t consider a closer crop.
Interesting observation. I gave it a whirl, making the bluish area come done farther on the side (I don’t have any issues with “adjusting” stuff like this).
I posted a rework.
Yep. A really small thing that, for me at least, makes a big difference. Very nice.
I’m trying to decide why I find this so attractive, and I think it’s the diagonal trunk/branch. I think the light-colored leaves is also unusual and interesting, , but a strong diagonal, especially for a tree, make a strong impression.
Hi @Bonnie_Lampley, good shot in my opinion. I think the LLC the catches eye a little bit. I also like the crop suggested by Ed. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, @Tony_Kuyper. The light leaves and dark trunks are fairly common around here this time of year, and there are a lot of oaks that are angled out over a slope in these steep canyons.
