I found these three trees sharing the same piece of real estate while shooting some early spring color in the rain last month. I know it is a bit busy, but I find the subdued color palette very pleasing and soothing. Anyway, I thought I would post it and see what you folks thought.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
All C&C welcome
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
All C&C welcome
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Nikon D800, Nikon 80-200 @ 125 mm, f 20 @ 1/13 sec, MLU, ISO 400, cable release & tripod
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Ed, I agree with @Eva_McDermott, this image has a very soft, painterly feeling to it. I also like how you got the Three Amigos aligned into the same plane, making it very clear what the subject of this image is. The colors of spring are very subtle, and I think you handled the yellow leaves very nicely here. One of the things that I like about these early spring colors is how they initially trick you into thinking it’s an autumn image, but when you look closer and see how small the leaves are you realize that it has to be from spring.
Two suggested tweaks, one for sure, and another that is more subjective and personal. First, I would clone away the fallen branch in the LRC, it’s a minor distraction. While I think you nailed the color of the yellow leaves here, the ones up top seem to blend into the background. I think it would be interesting to cool down the background, and let the yellow leaves stand out a bit more. I did a rework where I cooled the entire image on a separate adjustment layer, added a layer mask, and then painted the warm yellow tones back in using a TK Yellow/Red Color Mask selection. This cools the background and tree trunks, while retaining the original warm WB in your yellow tones, making them more pronounced.
This is quite lovely and beautiful as presented. I like the subdued - yet quite varied colors here and the contrast is just right to give it the painterly look that everyone is talking about.
I’m not even sure why I downloaded because any changes might just ruin this - or at best make it slightly different, not necessarily better.
I’m not shy about saying I’m not particularly fond of the digital format when in portrait. Much prefer something closer to 4:5 which is why I cropped a bit from the top. I’m not so much bothered by the fallen branch in the LRC - however, the brighter yellow leaves in the corner are a bit more distracting, so I cropped right as well.
Really didn’t intend on playing with colors and at this point it’s all subjective. I used TK’s v7 rapid masks with yellow-green and red-yellow colors to tweak saturation and brightness. As a result I think the colors and the cattails are separated a little bit? I thought the original colors, as you mention, subdued, but in this one I bumped them up a little.
Not necessarily better, but certainly different and just another interpretation. Oh, btw, this is not busy or chaotic to me. The cattails and the branch structure really help organize this one.
Ed, an amazing image again. Not only the way you use the colors but what I like most is the composition. The reworks from Ed and Lon are also nice and showing the possibilities in your image on a personal level. It let see the freedom there is in working on an image.
Really nice, Ed. All three versions work equally well for me, so take your pick. It does not look busy and I am good with or without the branch. It does not bother me at all.
This is a beauty Ed. I’d probably up the contrast especially in the mid ground so it doesn’t blend together as much and the bottom right corner is a little distracting but overall this is really nice.
Yes, indeed. Very painterly. This is an image that creeps up on you and deserves the time taken to appreciate its subtleties. All the versions shown work for me although I lean towards 4:5, which draws my eye into the high grasses a little more intently. Igor Doncov recently introduced me to the Russian painter Ivan Shishkin and your photograph is very reminiscent of some of his work.
I agree that this is very painterly with soft lighting throughout. I really like something different about each of the edits but I have to say that I prefer the crop on @Lon_Overacker redo and I think I would like the colors somewhere between @Ed_McGuirk’s redo and @Lon_Overacker redo. Depending on how you want to interpret this image I think the softer warmer color tones make it feel more painterly and the cooler color in Ed’s shot takes away the painterly feel just a little bit but I prefer that color variation. So many ways to interpret this. You can’t go wrong with any of them.
I like the painterly effect. The image looks kind of pictorialist. Picking out the three amigos is a wonderful job of seeing. I also like @Ed_McGuirk’s revision. Nice intimate landscape.
This is a very attractive image. I like the soft, even light and the wash of warm color. The different edits all look good, but I don’t think they improve substantially on your original, but they a testament, I think, to the original’s composition and light.
@Ed_McGuirk and @Lon_Overacker: I very much appreciate you guys taking the time to do a rework and I have to say that I love both versions! I was on the fence with the fallen limb in the LRC so I just went with leaving it in.
@Ed_McGuirk: I probably mentioned this before, but I just wanted to give you a shout out for inspiring me to get out and catch some early spring color after I viewed your article on the same.
I love the original processing, the colour and tones are perfect. Yo be really picky I’d like to see the height reduced but I’m still not sure if it can be done so probably run with the original being perfect!
Really sweet Ed. Great eye to pick this out of all the chaos that was present in this area. My only nit is one I’ve given you before. Your image is too small.
Hi Ed. This is the first I have seen of your work. The image has a fine misty quality to the colors and a rich set of textures. Very enjoyable.
After seeing a bunch of Guy Tals work and seeing how he brings out the amber colors in a lot of his underbrush, I saw a lot of red in your scene that could be treated more generously, albeit at a potential loss of the gentle feeling that you achieved in the original.
It does not look busy and I am good with or without the branch. It does not bother me at all.