I took this image just yesterday. Perhaps I should wait and let it settle a bit before showing it. I really wasn’t sure how much I would like it when I took the image.
We had a thunderstorm with powerful hail yesterday afternoon. Violent weather often arouses my emotions and I become more aware. Perhaps I wouldn’t have even noticed this scene had it not been for the storm.
D810, Tamron 24-70@70mm (I really need to buy me that 70-200 lens)
Last thing first - no, I do not think it needs to be darker, it’s fine as is.
I love this image, Igor. Honestly, I don’t think it will have sales appeal, but it has great artistic appeal to other photographers and art lovers. I find myself wondering if the trees are too centered, and if I’m wondering that I guess I think they probably are. I’ll download and crop it and post and you be the judge. You have such a fantastic eye for detail and you’re such a perfectionist I love searching your images to see if I can catch even the slightest imperfection; it’s actually become a game with me! You should feel flattered because I don’t think I’m that picky with anyone else! I tried the crop, which also removed a couple of very tiny “imperfections”, I could only find two other very tiny ones, but they do catch my eye and will probably catch yours too as you review the image. I marked them in red - little things that stick out of the frame kinda drive me nuts, so I would clone them out but, again, VERY minor.
All in all, I think this is drop dead gorgeous and it has so much to see and explore. I love it!
NOTE - I actually caused the 3rd red mark with my crop.
Thank you for being brave enough to comment, Bill. I was afraid this would receive none. Usually if it’s liked the comments appear quickly.
I actually thought this need to be cropped from the left but with the llc branches the left side quickly becomes busy. I do appreciate your crop suggestion. The tree seems to have gotten bigger as well. I’ll put a copy of it up above for easier comparison.
The image prints pretty nicely in my opinion (see below). It prints darker than on screen and I like that darkness. The lodgepole on the right looked black with yellow lights all around. So something’s still not right, particularly on the monitor. This MacBook Pro is pretty bright though.
I am starting to agree that much of my work has little sales appeal. Although my friends seem to be interested in my prints. But you’re right, this is on the edge of what will appeal to the general viewer. At this point I’m still trying to decide if it appeals to me. Or why even.
It appeals to me and I like the title, (Lucifer and Christ might be pushing it though). The red tones of the Ponderosa Pine are very appealing and eye catching. I like the darker version only for the shadows and the Lodgepole but want to see the brighter reds on the finished image.
I was thinking of working a good vs evil them into this with dark and light processing of the image. I don’t know how well that will work. I need a bit more time.
Igor, it’s nice to see you giving that new P800 a good workout
I like this image a lot. You do have a great eye for extracting these scenes, and this image showcases your ability find strong compositions in complicated environments. What I especially love about this image is the warm, earth toned color palette, that yellow moss is absolutely killer, and the color and texture of the (Ponderosa?) tree is wonderful. Of course, the diagonal “embrace” is the cherry on top. All of these elements work beautifully together.
I think “parts” of the first image need to be darker. I do not like the overall darker version you posted because the moss loses some of it’s pop in that darker version. i did a rework starting from the second image (Bills crop), and burned down some of the shadow areas using a dark luminosity mask selection, and I burned the Ponderosa (?) slightly too. I also cloned a few bits at the top, similar to Bill. See what you think of this, though I admit the changes are subtle…
I agree that the global darkening was not appropriate with the theme. I like what you did. I’m going to go darker with everything other than the ponderosa. I’m not sure about Bill’s crop but there is really no really great composition here. The tree feels a bit tilted as well. Maybe a bit thicker above than below because I was shooting downwardly. That one bright twig that looks like a clothes pin just caught my eye. I should’ve spent more time on this before posting it I guess.
How does the saying go? Honesty is the best policy…? I now see the “embrace”, but only really because I was guided there. The “embrace” works if one imagines “stick people.” I apologize upfront because that’s probably the rudest comment I’ve ever made on NPN 1 or 2. I certainly don’t derive any satanic or religious inferences from this…
How about something more relatable to many… “Tree Hugger” A simple crop and hopefully the message remains; including the embrace or “hug”. I do see it now and for me, it has less to do with darkness or processing… it’s telling a story.
I like this crop as well. Why didn’t I see it. This one really does have sexual overtones. It’s fascinating the different directions you can take an image with modifications of the composition. Here you’ve removed the ‘arms’ and have placed emphasis on the bodies. Thank you for a different perspective.
Lots of interesting things going on in the shot Igor and I love the title. I think I would like a combination of the lighter and darker version with the tree trunks and moss remaining bright and the rest dark. Very cool shot as is though
