Rework -1 Cropped a little off the L side to take out some of the yellow bushes, dropped the blues down a little and took some of the yellow out of the L side bushes and darkened them as suggested by @Kris_Smith & @David_Bostock
I like to take photos of Sycamore trees after they have lost their leaves. I like the contrast of the white bark against dark forests in the BG. I was driving home from Ithaca. I live in the back hills that surround this town. As I started to climb in elevation, I ran into these beautiful fog banks. Of course, I didn’t have my camera. Even though it was late afternoon and it gets dark just after 4, I grabbed my camera when I got home and went out scouting for shots. I’m posting one of the images I took.
Specific Feedback Requested
Is there enough contrast? I tried to add as much contrast as I could without losing the foggy kind of eerie atmosphere. Is there enough depth that you are drawn into the forest?
contrast looks about right to me although it looks a tad blue to me. I’m certainly drawn in. I’d love to go right under the bendy branch and see what waits. Have you experimented with cropping on the left? The green in the sapling adds a touch of vibrancy that I don’t think jibes with the rest of the shot. If you don’t want to crop, you could do a color clone to match the orange/brown in the other vegetation and its effect would be much less.
Oh this is so cool, Donna. What a find. Those branches just stand out and grab you. Love it. I do see a bit of blue cast that @Kris_Smith mentioned. But other than that, it’s an awesome image. Well seen and well processed.
@Kris_Smith@David_Bostock Thank you so much for your critiques. I posted a rework of your suggestions. Kris, I didn’t change the colors of the bushes to orange because there were so many shades of yellow I couldn’t get them to look good. I did take out a lot of the yellows, darkened them down and cloned some of the brighter leaves out. Since there wasn’t much light left when I took this photo, I wanted to make it look a little on the dark, eerie side. I think I went a little too far with the blues. Thank you both for picking that up.
Wonderful!! You found a very engaging scene and treated it so well! The edit is a subtle but good improvement, especially on the left. The hint of the sapling left there feels perfect!
You nailed the adjustments! Great job! Honestly I love how it is with contrast. It can be tempting to dial up contrast all the time, but sometimes you don’t have to, especially with fog.
Wow! This is really outstanding - especially the repost. The changes you made aren’t that big but I think they really improve the image. Fantastic job!
I love this image, Donna. It has a haunting look (you describe it as eerie). I also admire your enthusiasm in photography. I have to remind myself to try to be that way sometimes.
Oh, just beautiful! I love the blue tone in the original, although both are lovely. Really nice framing, with the triangular-shaped bush on the left and that triangle formed by the darker tree on the right.
Bonnie, I still kind of like the blue tone on the original too.
Igor, if we lived close, I would come pick you up and we could go out somewhere searching for beautiful compositions. It would be fun. You’ve been a photographer for a much longer time than I have. I’ve only had my camera for a couple of years. I’m sure I’ll have times too that I’ll have to remind myself to get out there and find the enthusiasm in photography again. I admire the stunning images you make.
Donna, you (and the others here who are new at this) are an inspiration to us older folks, who can too easily become jaded. Keep it up!! (I have the same problem with trees – they can be stubborn.)
This is such a beautiful image, Donna. I love the reworked version, although I must admit I am a bit partial to your original color. For me, the slightly bluer cast lends the image a “cleaner” look, if that makes sense. Nicely seen and captured.
Thanks Fritz. I’m not giving up on the bluer original. I’m thinking I might go with that one in the end. I’ll let both of them sit for a while. Usually when I come back to view them later, I can immediately make a decision.
Your nice critiques keep inspiring me to get out and do better. Thank you.