Critique Style Requested: Initial Reaction
Please share your immediate response to the image before reading the photographer’s intent (obscured text below) or other comments. The photographer seeks a genuinely unbiased first impression.
Questions to guide your feedback
There is a cemetery not far from my home in which grows some of the most remarkable trees I have had the privilege to know in my life. But, for me at least, this tree is the most captivating and I have come back on many occasions to photograph them. Encountered close up or from far away, it doesn’t seem to matter, the personality of this tree always speaks to me. I am interested if that personality comes through for you.
Other Information
Please leave your feedback before viewing the blurred information below, once you have replied, click to reveal the text and see if your assessment aligns with the photographer. Remember, this if for their benefit to learn what your unbiased reaction is.
Image Description
I am not one for anthropomorphizing, especially in photography as, in literalizing, it so often limits the reader’s creative experience and imagination. But this picture almost seems to call for it. That is why I titled it, “The Green Man”. For those not familiar, The Green Man is a pre-Christian mythological figure. He is the Wild Man, a nature spirit that speaks to the fertility of the great forests that covered the land. He is “ancient and strange” and represents not only what has been lost but what is ever to be found dwelling just below the surface veneer of our so called “civilized” world.
Technical Details
Specific Feedback
What works most for me in this picture is three-fold: first is the subtle, diffuse light, second are the incredible textures, and third is what I perceive as “gesture” - the way in which this tree seems to be presenting their self. I would like to get feedback around the extent to which this image evokes a feelings of “ancient and strange”.
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Wonderfully seen and photographed, Kerry. First impression is a monster of sorts. I’m seeing maybe a mixture of tree type monster characters. Maybe even clear back to the Fighting Tree in 1939 Wizard Of Oz.
In the end, for me, it’s the outstanding formation, extended limbs or arms, nodules or knobs, and the amazing bark texture overall… 
Aging. Old age comes to mind. It’s how my grandfather looked to me when I was a kid. It’s where I’m headed (if not there already). I can see why you were interested in this tree. It’s intriguing. There are so many parts to it. The upper area is different than the lower. It’s not very frightening though. There’s a happy expression on it’s face. It has a buffalo looking head.
Kerry,
That is one awesome tree! What character! And oh, the stories that this old tree could tell!
I think even without the title or reading anything, my reaction would still be the same - and most folks are likely to “anthropomorphize” this image… I know I did right away. I hesitate because sometimes when we mention something we see, then everyone else can’t “unsee” it. My first thought, reaction besides being a wonderful, expressive tree… was “The Creature from the Black Lagoon…” For those who remember all the “B” Science fiction movies of t he 50’s and earlier… should remember this one!
Clearly this tree has character and you’ve captured it wonderfully. And to your question, absolutely this tree speaks and has a personality!
Lon
For me, yes, ancient and strange – exactly. Makes me hope it isn’t coming after me! The topheavy look makes it feel like it is doing just that. I love the gentle forest setting with appropriately subdued colors! I can see why you keep coming back to this tree – whatever else it is, it is very special, and you have presented it very well!
@Paul_Breitkreuz , @Igor_Doncov, @Lon_Overacker , @Diane_Miller - thank you all for taking the time to look and comment. It is gratifying to hear that my intention and your reaction are consistent.
My first reaction is of an ancient being. I can even see a face in the uppermost part. The textures are amazing. There’s a bit of tension in the frame, though, because it feels top heavy, as if the tree might fall.
Reading your comments… Yes, I get the feeling of ancient and strange. The flat light adds to the sense of age, of that muting of sensation.
Full of character, ancient, wise, perhaps, and surreal. And I think you did a great job of composing overall, but I feel like it’s a bit ‘tight’ at the bottom - the balance is ‘heavy’ on the top of the tree - but then perhaps that is just the way the tree is, too!
@Bonnie_Lampley , @brenda_tharp - thank you both so much for your feedback. You both commented on the top-heavy feel of the image with Bonnie adding, “as if the tree might fall”. This was very much intentional on my part. I did want a sense of “crashing through” the forest - this entity not quite in “control”, which I’d hoped would add to the Wild Man reference.
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