My brother Mike was kind enough to show me the location of this lovely silver birch tree; with it’s moss covered roots; while we were hiking one of the many trails in Blackwater Falls SP, WV. I found the moss covered roots to be quite fascinating and thought they would be perfect for directing the viewer towards the beautiful birch. The soft overcast light was perfect for reveling all the wonderful details in this small clearing.
Feedback Requests
Do the ferns in the LLC work for you? Anything else you notice please feel free to mention it.
Pertinent Technical Details
Nikon D800, Nikon 17-35 @ 20 mm, f 16 @ 0.6 sec, ISO 200, CPL, cable release & tripod.
Ed: I knew this was yours from the thumbnail. Kudos to you and Mike for the find. I like the comp and I think the ferns are in a good spot to fill that part of the frame with some interest. This does look a little warm to me, especially since this was taken in shade. I find it the most noticeable on the tunk and root. I may have gone too far with cooling this down but back to you for your thoughts. >=))>
Hi Bill,
Thanks for taking the time to do a rework with your suggestion. It looks great. I did not even notice the overall warmth of the image until you pointed it out. I have always tended to process on the warm side; hard habit to break.
Ed, the long line of the moss covered root does a fine job of pulling my eyes to the tree at the back. I too like the placement of the ferns. They do a good job of anchoring the bottom and left of the frame. To my eyes, both your version and Bill’s version are acceptable color wise, with the green moss having a nice touch of glow.
Ed, I can truly say I’ve never encountered anything like this scene before. The root system and vast amount of moss is amazing. Very interesting to see so much root structure above ground. Leaving thoughts of wondering if it grew like that or erosion exposed as a result of excessive rain and snow at work. Regardless, well worth the time and effort to capture the uniqueness overall.
Great little scene - very evocative - I can practically feel the soft give of the pine needles underfoot. Root systems are very hard to highlight without a lot of extraneous material so congratulations on finding and rendering this landscape so effectively. I like the counterpoint of the ferns below. Was it on a little ledge and leaning like that or is it the effect of a wide lens? Possibly some work with Transform might adjust this without losing the overall feel. Really beautiful.
So gorgeous!! It makes me greedy for a little wider view, but maybe this is best. Wider might allow for some perspective correction of the trees leaning to the right, though.
I love the warmth of the OP. I wonder if some sort of nefarious split-toning could work here, with the moss warm and the rest a little cooler. Maybe could be done with some masking… I love ferns anywhere and these are a lovely little touch in a very nice spot.
Wow, a beautifully captured scene here Ed, very rain-foresty like. I do like Bill’s enhancement too. Excellent composition also, the portrait orientation was a good choice and the inclusion of ferns adds interest to whole scene. Great lighting too.
Gorgeous. Those mossy roots really draw you into the scene. Great pic for the WC theme. The vertical comp really suits the scene. A small nit. You know I’m gonna zing you for what I feel is a little too warm white balance.
Maybe somewhere in between yours and @Bill_Fach
Thanks everyone @Mark_Seaver, @Paul_Breitkreuz, @Kris_Smith, @Diane_Miller, @Jim_Lockhart, @Ed_Williams and @Michael_Lowe for your thoughts on this image; always appreciated. It is a wonderful little spot, but unfortunately people have started tramping through this area and knocked a lot of the moss from the roots. The strange part about it is that there is nothing here and no reason for them to be tearing up the area with foot traffic. My brother has a gorgeous wider view of this; on his Flickr page; with the roots from a couple of trees covered with the moss. I used to have some wider views, but I haven’t been able to locate them.
@Kris_Smith : There is a bit of a ground falloff behind the birch tree. I will see what I can do with transform.
