Another from my archives - a favorite. I found this little group as is in the Henderson Swasey town forest in Exeter, NH. Because of the clouds and the intense wind in the trees, the light was very changeable, but when it lit them up from behind, it was magical.
Specific Feedback Requested
Thoughts, ideas or changes to the processing are welcome.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
A tripod or possibly a beanbag right on the ground and a polarizer
Initial processing in Lightroom for white balance and general exposure corrections. Texture +, Clarity -, a gradient filter in the fg to bring exposure down. Sharpening & nr. Refined in Photoshop to eliminate distractions I couldn’t remove in Lr. A light and dark TK mask to tame highlights and to deepen the shadows just a little. Did some Clarity painting in the foreground and finished it off with a little burning. Raised whites slightly in Lr at the very end.
Outstanding image, Kris. You’ve caught the “umbrellas” in perfect light. Only thought for an additional look would be to crop down to the top of the log. Regardless, just a thought for 2 looks out of one image…
Scouting party - I love it! That tall one is telling the other “all’s clear!” The bright greens in the background above the log compete with the scouts for my attention - maybe desaturating the greens a bit?
Thanks for taking the time @David_Bostock, @Paul_Breitkreuz & @Bonnie_Lampley - sometimes luck and preparation come together. I’ve added a second image with the background slightly desaturated.
I am even later, but just have to say that I like this one a lot. I also vote for to reduce the impact of the upper part, either to delete it or to tone it down even more. Maybe it could be almost gray-scale (or brownish as if more fallen leaves on the ground) instead of green/yellow?
Thanks again @Diane_Miller & @Ola_Jovall - you bring up an interesting idea for the background. Maybe I could paint the colors of the foreground on the background somehow. There’s probably a way, but I’m still pretty green when it comes to Photoshop and it hasn’t come to me right away.
I’d select that bright area and go to Selective Color and look at bending the yellows and greens to more brownish. Possibly Hue-Sat might even be enough. Let me get another cup of coffee and have a play.
Here’s a quick suggestion. I selected the BG with the Quick Selection brush and feathered it by 10 pixels and expanded it by 5. Then I did a masked Curves and pulled down the right end to reduce contrast. Then cloned over the one blown area. Then did a masked Selective Color and went to the Yellow channel and reduced the Cyan and Yellow sliders a little. There are no greens in this area – it’s all a range of yellows. I bent the yellows to be more analogous to the lovely golden browns in the main part of the image. Could have gone even further. Many options – the BG is lovely but competes with the subject. Maybe just lower exposure there and leave colors alone…
Then I did a quick mask and pulled up a gradient from the bottom to cover the OOF FG leaves and did another masked Curves and pulled down the right end a little, to reduce contrast on the bottom.
Oh that looks great, D! I will have to have a go myself, although I probably will leave the foreground brighter since it’s a continuation of the light coming through the leaves and the mushrooms.
