Some Montana aspen. Comments and critiques are always welcome.
And those are deep shadows in the back, no detail to share back there.
D810, 70-200mm
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Personally, I love the deep shadows in the back - it highlights the white aspen trunks and subtle yellows and greens of the leaves. But I’m finding the bottom of the image too light, it doesn’t feel quite grounded - almost like an unfinished painting, particularly lower mid to left. I’d be tempted to darken the bottom of the image and bring up the contrast.
Harley, the high contrast and the long bright legs of these Aspens look great. It’s good to see the young Aspen in the lrc.
Harley, I do not think I’ve ever seen a grove or stand of aspens such as this group being as skinny and as tall too. I mean these guys need some fattening up…
I think the dark BG works perfectly here as the main theme is up front.
Only thoughts for change might be to tone down the FG ground level highlights slightly, but a subjective idea in the end with no nits at all.
I like this Harley. I was going to say all the emphasis is on the right but this works as is. It’s not that clicheish either. It may not make sense but I like that empty patch in the lower left. It adds a level of complexity to the image. Nice work.
Harley,
The dark bg works very well in letting the “skinny” aspens shine. I particularly like the fading light on the boles; darker to lighter left to right. I think the interest in the image also increases left to right, where the little saplings come in to play.
For me, the image loses its luster in the chaos of the undergrowth. Yeah, all nat-ur-all… but aesthetically just not helping with the overall impact of the scene. Can’t see cropping off the bottom either as that would leave things cut off. I’m thinking of a near square crop of about the right 3/5th’s or so could work.
Lon
The long, bare repeating trunks work well. I assume you must have tried a BW conversion but this seems like a great candidate to me. In any event, I would burn down those grasses in the lower left.
I love those trees. I looked at some crops, but I prefer this the way it is. I do think a slight burn of the grass along the bottom going from center to the far left would be a good thing. The light on the aspens is excellent.
-P
1 Like
Harley, no need for the preemptive strike on the shadow detail, this image really works because of those deep shadows, which makes the trunks and leaves pop from the background. your processing of the contrast is spot on to me. I agree with Lon, I think a square-ish crop using the right side would create a more balanced composition. The lack small trees in the left part of the foregound creates an unbalanced look to my eye. But the contrast and color here are very striking, nicely done.