I love this photo. I love the muted green hues of the background in contrast to the more vibrant green hue of the subject tree. The slight rise of the hill and angle of the tree provide a leading line across the frame I also like.
My only consider is I find the Branches spiderwebbing at the top of the frame slightly distracting . Wish the tree ended in strong branches… butttttt Its the wild forest what are you going to do…
Looking forward to seeing more of your work!
A fine image the soft tones throughout are very inviting. Wonder how the pile got there. The light keeps my eyes on the forest floor. Originally thought that low thick branches are too bold and heavy for the image but I stayed and looked at the floor. Composition is to my taste and I like the natural skylight. Those sweeping branches certainly do a nice swirly spring dance. The crop has a good balance. I thought the image could rotate a couple ticks to the right to straighten some trunks on the left. A real engaging image. Welcome to NPN
First off, welcome to NPN Mats! Forests by nature are chaotic, but you have managed all that beautifully with this woodland scene. The soft light is exquisite as are the spring greens of the beech tree and the details in the large version are quite the treat. I don’t know if you are so inclined, but I would clone a few leaves into that bright section of sky peeping through as it does catch my eye a little.
I took a peek at your website and you have some wonderful woodland images which capture the character and essence of the trees which inhabit them.
Looking forward to more of your work and I hope you comment on others as well.
Hi Mats,
Welcome on NPN and thanks for your post!
I enjoy your image a lot, especially your careful teratment of colors and the composition based on diagonals and a firm focal point given by the bright foliage.
My only suggestion would be to get rid of the bright area in the upper right part, as it distracts my attention a bit too much.
Otherwise it is a wonderful work too my eyes, full of dynamics and subtle details as well.
Looking forward to see more of your work!
Thank you Freddie. for your kind words. Yes, the branches at the top edge are a little bit distracting but as you say not so much to do
Kind Regards
Mats
Hi Peter
Thanks for your kind words. Yes I was thinking of get rid of the bright area.
I was about 50:50 to darken it. Probably you are right
Kind Regards
Mats
Thank you Ed for your comments.
I will make a larger print of this photo for a coming exhibition so I will follow your advice and clone out the bright area. I had in mind to do it earlier but hesitated.
I look forward to spend some time on this community.
Best Regards
Mats
Thank you Stephen for your kind words.
I will make a larger print of this image for a coming exhibition. I will take a look on your advice to enhance the photo
Thank you
Mats
Hi and welcome to NPN - glad you decided to join us and I look forward to your participation on the site. The give and take of critique is what makes this a distinctive place for photography. We truly all love nature, being out in it and looking for ways to improve our images.
Site Tip - you can reply to multiple people in one post by highlighting any text in their reply and using the Quote function. Another way is to use the @ symbol and choose the person in the list that comes up. Use the tab key to automatically select and fill the name in your reply. This helps keeps threads from becoming too long with so many posts saying much the same thing to each individual. Hope that made sense!
Welcome to NPN! This is a lovely scene. I’ve come across scenes like this in the woods and almost always try to come up with a composition. The added feature to this that stands out is the light at the bottom outlining the ground. I think that adds considerably to this composition of dark verticals with a sweeping diagonal.
What a wonderful portrait of that beech tree. Reminds me of the work by Christopher Burkett. I can’t really think of doing anything to improve this photo of that Beech. The bright spot poking through in the URC could be burned down a bit so as not to drag the eye away from the tree.
Wecome Matts. All is already said I add only my appretiation for this photo that in the caos of a big wood succeded to make the small leaves dominate the scene. I love the photo as it is.
Emotional Impact and Mood: Powerful quietness in the forest. I find the image inviting.
Composition: Contrast between diagonal line (from left top corner to right bottom corner) and vertical trunks creates a dynamic image.
Balance and Visual Weight: To me, the visual weight is where we find the largest concentration of light green leaves with great luminosity, placed on top of a small hill (ant hill?). I ask myself, however, how this visual weight relates to the contrasting diagonals?
Processing: I wondered if it would benefit your image if the lightening in the top right corner was muted? It draws my attention away from the visual weight. Another suggestion: Would it benefit your image if it were cropped one third from the left (to the left side of the small hill) and one fifth from the right (to the right side of the small hill)? It would change the format into a vertical format, reinforcing the lines of the tree trunks in the background.
This is a wonderfully moody image. Love the soft, slightly obscure background, which is probably good enough by itself! I agree with the comments about the lighter branches. I like to use a radial filter in Lightroom on scenes like this to create a soft vignette. I might have made an oval that is tilted from top left to bottom right and darkened the edges ever so slightly. Maybe subtract from the filter across the bottom so as to not darken that too much. Its a love shot and well seen!
Thank you Youssef!
I have taken your advice from this critic thread and burned/cloned the light in the upper right corner.
Actually sold a print of this photo on a current exhibition here in Sweden.
Kind Regards
Mats
