Went out into the Chequemegon Nicolet National Forest to walk one of the more celebrated segments of the Ice Age Trail - the Jerry Lake Segment. The lake itself wasn’t too accessible being surrounded by muddy quagmires, but the trails were wonderful. This is a view from the top of an esker, a geological formation left behind by the Wisconsin glacier. They are narrow strips of earth that rise steeply and suddenly from the surrounding land - say 10-20 feet high. I love finding them when I least expect it (although the place is basically dirty with them).
I decided to do this one as a B&W because of the atmosphere and the dominance of the trees (mostly hemlock and yellow birch). The path is wide enough to get an ATV down, but quickly narrows once you descend to the lower forest floor. The area is deeply shaded due to the hemlock canopy and I did my best to convey that contradictory sense of unease and curiosity.
Lr processed for the B&W conversion a crop and judicious use of filters - radial & gradient in combination with luminosity masking. I also used the Transform panel to change the geometry slightly, giving the flanking trees better balance.
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Nice image and great post processing, Kris. I love these types of images where there’s a lot of nature’s chaos, but a sense of order pervades as well. Nice.
I agree with @David_Bostock on this. These chaotic scenes are very tough to pull of in a dense forest setting but you have a nice leading line right through the scene and I must say that the little tree on the left adds immensely to this image. The two downed logs keep the viewers eye going through the scene as well. I might crop that small tree on the very right edge but maybe not. I can’t decide. Well processed Kristen.
Thanks guys. I have a shot further back that doesn’t work as well so I decided to move closer to that cut log to use as an anchor. Over the years I’ve found that you need one in a trail shot - whether it’s something like a root or rock in the trail, or an element just outside it, they’re important to provide a through-line into the scene.
Glad you like the little tree @David_Haynes - I noticed it while standing there and hoped it wouldn’t get lost.
Kris, these woodland chaos scenes can be tough, but this one work works very well for me due to its having a strong composition. I think the key to this type of shot is having a strong entry point to the image, and you do have that here. The little tree on the left, and the V-shaped tree(s) on the right really grab your attention, in addiition to nicely balancing the composition. The fallen trees also reinforce the leading line by pointing down the road. And B&W helps simplify the chaos here too, allowing the viewer to concentrate on the shapes and lines. Overall this works very well for me.
Thanks @Ed_McGuirk - It’s a privilege to have these forests available and protected from development if not logging (pretty much all forests in Wisconsin are treated like crops because they basically are).
