Nice capture Frank. I’m like you, I love to shoot in foggy conditions. But I rarely get those conditions where I live. As you know, post processing is a matter of personal taste. A little more pronounced vignette may help draw the viewers eye towards the center of the image and the colorful leaves, and away from the brownish vegetation. However, to my eye it appears the light source is from the upper right area. Maybe if you emphasized the highlights slightly in the upper right-hand side it would enhance the foggy conditions even more. Just my two cents worth. It is a beautiful image.
Very nice. Although the thin branches at the upper right are a bit messy, I don’t find them distracting. No need for more vignette, at least not for me.
I like the shape of the tree and the color of the leaves in the fog, that isolates this tree from the BG.
Thanks Steven, thanks for your feedback. I live in a place of minimal fog also, San Diego County. Although I do have access to a webcam atop Palomar Mountain, and when i see major fog, I make the 45 minute drive up there. No fog for several months, however. I hope that changes soon.
@frank1, this is a beautiful image! I love it as it is. @steven8’s suggestion to vignette doesn’t seem totally necessary, but you might try a very slight toning in the lower right and upper left areas.
Welcome to landscape Frank! What a treat to introduce yourself with here; that’s a wonderful image.
If you had me guess where this was taken, I would have been completely wrong; I just haven’t seen much like this from the San Diego area. You’ve captured soft, beautiful color, and the forms of the trunks (especially with those branches hanging down) are striking. The fog, of course, is the icing that’s so tempting to run your finger through and taste; it adds a lot to this scene.
I would, just slightly and only for that urc. It does seem to stand out just a little compared to the other three corners.
Lovely – fog is so amazing and you found a lovely tree to show off! I could go for a bit of vignette here just for added drama, but I’m greedy! I love the subtle colors!
hI John. This is on Palomar Mountain, specifically Palomar Mountain State Park. This is the only place in the entire county that’s reminiscent of my original home of Marin County, in northern California.
Welcome to the landscape forum Frank, and great post. I’ll say that I love this as is. I really like the delicate balance with the chaos of all the smaller branches and the beautiful placement of those small fall colored leaves. It’s very balanced. I like the crop you’ve chosen as well. The fog is obviously playing a major role in the ethereal nature of this shot and I too love to shoot in fog but I just get it often enough close to home. It really helps to soften the background and all of the branches.
As for the vignette, I really don’t think adding more of vignette on the right side of the image would help all much.
The upper right corner does grab attention but more because my eye sees that the tangled branches in that area have a red/orange tint to them.
Not sure if this makes a very big difference but I toned down the red/orange saturation inside the blue circle area of the repost below. Other than that one little nit I think you have a very nice image.
Welcome to NPN, @frank1! This is a heckuva great image for your introductory post. It has just the right amount of contrast and saturation, and the composition is quite lovely. I do think David’s re-worked version is a slight improvement and would lean toward it rather than a heavier vignette. I look forward to seeing more of your work!
Hi Frank,
First off welcome to the Landscape Critiques on NPN. This is a wonderful first post with some lovely atmospherics. The fog has created this peaceful vibe and simplified the BG beautifully, I too love to photograph in the fog so I can very much relate to how you felt when capturing this image. My only suggestion has been addressed by the rework by @David_Haynes. Very nicely done!
