Shades of Walnut Trees

Image Critiques Weekly Challenge
1

UndertheWalnutCanopy.jpg
UndertheWalnutCanopy.jpg2000×1323 1.01 MB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

In my previous life, I traveled extensively throughout California in agricultural production areas. I always took my camera with me. I loved the deep green reflections I was getting under the canopy of this mature walnut orchard as it was being irrigated. I like the sunny patches and the texture of the earth that shows through the clear water. I think the angles of the rows are also interesting to follow from tree to tree.

Specific Feedback

Is the composition too evenly split between the top canopy, and the bottom irrigation water? Or, do the trunks provide a enough of a spacer in between? Are the bright spots on the horizon too bright and distracting? Thanks for looking and for your suggested edits.

Technical Details

Canon 60D, f18, 1/6s, iso 400, -0.7EV, 24-105 lens at 28 mm, flash compulsory mode.

Critique Template

Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.

  • Vision and Purpose:
  • Conceptual:
  • Emotional Impact and Mood:
  • Composition:
  • Balance and Visual Weight:
  • Depth and Dimension:
  • Color:
  • Lighting:
  • Processing:
  • Technical:
3

This is predominantly green, so I will leave it up to others to decide if it is green enough. I found many interesting points to enjoy. I do think that the balance between the canopy of green and the reflection works. There is a wealth of detail that I found a bit overwhelming. It seems to me that simplifying the scene might make it more powerful, so I took the liberty of downloading it. Please know that this is a radical change from your vision and is just another suggestion for a very interesting scene. I picked the left half featuring the largest walnut tree as the most interesting and then used the remove tool in PS to tame many of the bright spots that were so apparent. Then I burned the bright patch of soil at the base of the composition. Just an idea to take with a grain of salt.

UndertheWalnutCanopy
UndertheWalnutCanopy756×1058 425 KB

1 Like
4

Nice. I like your edition too @Barbara_Djordjevic. Thank you.

5

You are welcome. It is pretty radical.

6

Barbara, i think I took a few with portrait orientation at the time I originally found this in 2012 too. Just can’t lay hands on the originals right now.

7

Ed, that is a dilemma that I understand all too well.