The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic + Technical
About This Image
It was a beautiful day in Acadia year ago. No sun and a slight breeze (hence the faster shutter speed), but the colors still sang. When I happened upon this scene, the vibrancy of these leaves against the bark and soft grasses really struck me. It made me think how fleeting this gorgeous color is and how much I look forward to it every year, no matter where I am:o)
Feedback Requested
I really like this image. I really wanted to bring out the reds and oranges of the singular tree and give it an artistic feel, So I brought down the dehaze to soften and lightened the background. The reds and oranges were enhanced and the saturation brought up. I removed several branches to make it less cluttered feeling. Wondering if the contrast and saturation works. As always, I would love thoughts on how to make it better.
Technical Details
Camera: NIKON Z 8
Lens: NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S
Focal length: 85mm
Shutter speed: 1/800s
Aperture: f/4
ISO: 3600
I spent this weekend with the PNW Regional group from NPN trying to do this kind of thing with oaks. It’s much harder than it looks. I love the composition. It works for me. I’m not entirely sure about the dehaze reduction. The foreground trunks, which should be roughly the same plane of focus as the leaves, feel a little soft. It could just be dof fall-off.
I’m not great at processing (more of a crop and comp kind of gal), so I’m hoping someone else chimes in with how this looks to them and any suggestions. I like the relative lack of contrast. It’s a nice change from the high contrast fall foliage scenes we often see.
Oh my!! This is lovely and different! I thought from the thumbnail it was a bit overdone but the larger version feels OK. I have almost never found negative Dehaze to be a good thing, but it feels OK here. I could be curious to compare a version with a tiny bit less of it, and perhaps a tiny bit less saturation, but you would have seen that as you arrived here so I will happily accept your version. I love the mysterious softness of the distant trees!
If this is a crop, I wouldn’t mind a bit more at the bottom, so that one tree had more separation at its base. But it is stunning in any case – excellent art!
