An April evening from that meadow as you leave the park - very wet year made for some nice reflections. Loved this tree in the distance with the side light and dark granite. Keep going back and forth on cropping out right side bright granite. I burned those highlights slightly.
Appreciate any/all comments especially on processing and comp.
Cheers
Canon 5D II ISO 160 70mm f8 1/25sec
Hi @Ynez_Slaymaker very nice scene.
I love the way the water reflats the tree but still as some “energy” in it. Absolutely adore those colours, those various shades of green are just gorgeous.
I assume (maybe wrongly) that you used 1/25s to freeze the leaves movement right? If there were no wind I would, maybe, try to lower the ISO and pop in a ND filter to slow the shutter and give the water that dreamy effect and compare it to this Image.
Maybe you could under expose that left tree a bit, it’s a eye graber to me and push the shadows a bit on the main tree.
On composition (and please correct if I’m wrong) the ground appears titled to the right and it may be interesting to center the main tree a bit more (it would hide that left tree a bit too)
Nice image, very interesting site. Thank you very much for sharing.
Cheers
Edit:
Here’s your image with some of the processing done as above. Also burned that bright reflection on the LRC and added the vignette to center the eyes. Hope you like it.
Real nice Yosemite scene. I might give it a little CCW rotation to level the back of the meadow, but otherwise, it looks real nice to my eye.
I love the light Ynez. The tree looks very majestic.
Hi Ynez,
Beautiful light on the tree, I can see why you were drawn to this. I can see where your conflict was coming from regarding the crop.
I look at scenes and images in a very organic way, I believe content has a feel to it, that is a function of its Luminosity, Contrast, Atmosphere geometry and Colour. The dynamics within the frame are driven by that rather than the actual subject matter.
In your scene the luminosity, colour, contrast and atmosphere of the tree/cliffs is driving a really powerful message. The geometry however disrupts that flow and creates a block. The horizontal earth barrier half way kind of creates a static central portion that will ultimately reduce the dynamics of the scene. This is unavoidable in many ways.
In my 2 minute workout of it, I cropped it a 4x5 which has a more solid feel than the native crop. It’s also got rid of some of the more distracting elements, scrappy bushes, bank etc. I’ve added a vignette to further emphasis the central portion and the glowing tree. Looks like an awesome place to engage though. I’ve only been there once and that was in 2005, so a return is long overdue.
Ynez,
What a beautiful image from the valley! You’ve captures so much of what’s beautiful there - they majestic black oak, the meadow, the river, reflection, the late light and of course the grandeur of the valley walls. This is wonderful, love it.
I think João’s edits pretty much address all the suggestions. I too was a bit bothered by the debris/extra stuff along the bottom edge. this crop mitigates most of it. And while Alister’s version completely cleans that up, I think the natural vignette is lost. Speaking of which, I love the vignette, not overbearing and even enhanced by the light and glow in the tree and meadow. the only thing to suggest there would be to burn down the URC a bit more to fit more with the darker corners.
This makes me very excited for my next trip to the valley, which will be very soon!
Great work!
Lon
@JoĂŁo_FerrĂŁo @Harley_Goldman @Eva_McDermott @Alister_Benn @Lon_Overacker Very much appreciate your comments 
Thank you.
Your taking the time to provide some detail/explaination is a great learning tool for me. I’m always amazed at how much an image can change/improve with a few tweaks. I like both the edits posted. I think I’ll let your suggestions sink in a bit then I’ll apply with fresh eyes.
Cheers
I think this is drop dead gorgeous and I prefer your very first version as presented it looks the best colour balance to me and I prefer to see the reflection of the tree in its entirety.
Beautiful light and color–it’s quite luminous. I also prefer the original post. for the reasons Ian stated.
-P
Thank you Ian - I’m considering a bit from all comments. Although I am leaning towards keeping the reflection. Appreciae your feedback.
Cheers
Ynez,
Its like I’m looking out a window. This photo is so clear and crisp. The light is just perfect and you captured it so well. If i was to do anything to the photo to try to improve it, I might try to clone out the stray branches at the very bottom of the frame. Otherwise, I can’t see anything at all for improvement.
Thank you Youssef. Greatly appreciate your comments.
