I have written two articles for NPN, “The Colors of Spring - the Other Foliage Season”, and “Seasons on the Edge”, which discussed photographing the edges of seasons, such as early Spring. This shot allowed me to incorporate the essence of both of these articles into a single image.
This past Saturday, 4/18/20, in eastern Massachusetts where I live, we had an unusual mid-April snowstorm, and got about 3 inches of heavy wet snow. Even though most of the trees will not have buds and leaves until the beginning of May, I knew these conditions presented an unique opportunity. So I went out searching for isolated trees that had early buds or leaves, and I found a few. I shot for three hours on Saturday morning, and by mid-afternoon the snow had all melted away. But it was special while it lasted.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Any critique or comments are welcome.
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Canon 5D MKIV, Canon 70-200mm f4 lens, at 200mm. ISO 400, 1/50 sec at f11
Really nice capture, Ed. This image would fit perfectly into either article. The combination of freshly fallen snow compliments the spring buds beautifully. There is something about freshly fallen snow that I find so cleansing; like a rebirth. The larger version is spectacular as there is so many textures and details to enjoy and savor. My only suggestion would be a small crop from the left to get rid of those small areas in the corners. I hope you don’t mind, but here is a repost with my thoughts. This would make for an awesome puzzle. I don’t think we are going to get any snow here where I live in MD.
Ed,
You offer a great example and point of reference to your articles with this beautiful image.
I do agree that @Ed_Lowe suggestions are a minor tweak that improves this scene. Thanks for sharing something new during these challenging times.
Ed, what a great moment in time. And to be there in the right place. A bit busy to my double seeing eyes but wonderful in color.I am with Ed Lowe for the small crop.
This is such a beautiful portrait of this tree. I love that you captured the color of the buds/new leaves with the snow. I think the composition works well, especially with the crop suggested above. This is another photo that you could consider flipping. I think I might like it just a bit more if it flowed from left to right, with the dominant trunk on the left side of the frame. I also think you could brighten it just a bit and possibly even saturate the red buds/leaves just a tiny bit more to give it a bit of pop. Those are all tiny suggestions as I think it works quite well as presented. I love your quest to find expressive spring trees! And thinking of this as a puzzle makes me feel a little stressed!
Ed, when I downloaded this I became aware of how dark this image actually looked on, at least my monitor. You can probably do a better job than I but I felt that the 2nd level whites, not the brightest ones, could be raised a bit. I also added some texture to make this image more arresting. This may just be my monitor or maybe you like the more subtle look but here is another option. I like the comp as is.
Ed Lowe, you r crop is right on the money, it makes a big difference. And Igor, you are absolutely right, this does need a bump in the lighter tones, it adds more vibrancy. And Sarh Marino, your comments are very interesting and helpful as well. I’ve been going through a phase where I’ve been perhaps too conservative on saturation, but bumping the reds here also adds some vibrancy. And the idea to flip horizontal makes a very interesting difference too, it’s almost like it is a different tree. I do like it flipped both ways however. This has been an interesting discussion, and here are some reworks reflecting your comments, including the flip.
Cropped, increased luminosity of lighter tones, and increased red saturation
I like the re-edit as I think the light, vibrant feel gives the tree a little more personality and could go either way on the flip with this one, Ed. Really nice work.
Really really nice image. I also like the flip and the last crop. I like how the dark color of the trunk and some of the branches comes in and out of the image.
Count me in on the flip and lights 2 editing. Big difference. There is till a very small portion on the flipped in the LRC that draws the ey just a little bit. Maybe lighten that dark spot with no foliage or clone in some flowers to fill it in if you are not apposed to that kind of edit. Otherwise, you did well on your three hour neighborhood trip. Sounds like fun. I’m so bored.
