Three Burning Fires

[Jimmy_Arcade]

My wife and I recently had a baby placed in our care, for our foster-to-adopt journey. While it has been a joy, it has also been a whirlwind! As a sort of last hurrah, I did a one-day strike mission to the Eastern Sierra, to try to capture some of the fall goodness. It was a 12-hr roundtrip drive and the entire trip started at 3:30 a.m. on a Saturday and ended at 11 p.m. on the same Saturday, with a sunrise at Red Rock Canyon, a 4-mile hike at Lundy Lake, and many photo comps in-between.

On the way up, there were signs of damage from the devastating wildfires and the atmosphere was thick with smoke from the nearby fires. This image from Lee Vining really stood out to me, as the vibrant yellow, red, and orange tones from the trees, at the bottom of the frame, resembled 3 burning fires, as they contrasted the different shades of green in the tree lines leading up the frame. I also like the pattern of 3’s, with the conifers (spruce trees?) standing above the more vibrant aspen and other colorful trees.

Even though the image reminds me of fires about to consume, I am reminded that death and destruction do not have the final say. Beauty will come from the ashes of the wildfires and there will be rebirth and growth. This is the positive message I hope my image conveys.

Note: It was very windy and I should have used a faster shutter speed. There is some slight motion blur, but hopefully that doesn’t detract from the image too much.

What technical feedback would you like if any?

How do the tones and color separation work for this image? Any suggestions for improvement?

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Any and all feedback welcome

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@jimmyarcade

Exif Data:
Camera: Canon 6D
Lens: Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
Focal Length: 200mm
Shutter Speed: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/11
ISO: 200

[Ed_McGuirk]

I find this to be a very interesting study in colors, lines and textures. It’s a great extraction of a scene from the overall landscape. A lot folks here at NPN (but not me) seem to favor a 5:7 aspect ratio over 3:2 for vertical compositions. But with these strong vertical lines, to me this scene was made for using 3:2.

What I also like a lot about this image is how you were able to include so many wonderful hues and shades of yellow and green, the variety of colors creates a strong visual interest beyond the lines and textures. The variety of yellows in particular is very nice from orange/yellow to yellow/green, and almost every hue of yellow in-between.

I wouldn’t change anything about this image, I like it very much as presented !!!

[Craig_Moreau]

I like that you caught so many varieties of trees in various stages of life and death in one frame. I also like the positioning of the three most colorful trees along the bottom. Really well done.

[Kerry_Gordon]

I like this a lot. Very well seen and executed in post. You have definitely been able to find the right amount of order amidst the chaos through colour, texture and line. I am one of those converts that Ed has alluded to who no longer much favours 3:2 in the portrait format. As much as I love this one, I think it would work better slightly cropped from the top (5:7). A matter of taste, I guess.

[Stephen_Stanton]

Very nice image, Jimmy. The colors, structures and textures of the dead trees in the background are strong and very appealing. I actually see and additional two images. A crop cutting out the "three fires " leaving the top two thirds as a stand alone woodland print. And a second crop with them making them more of the image with the cut line above the center pine. I didn’t pick up any wind blur while viewing.

[Jimmy_Arcade]

@Ed_McGuirk @Craig_Moreau @Kerry_Gordon @Stephen_Stanton Thank you all, for your taking the time to review my image and offer up encouraging and helpful feedback. I’m grateful for your comments and suggestions!

Ed, thank you for pointing out the “wonderful hues and shades of yellow and green”. That was something I spent some time working on. I did Calibration and HSL adjustments in LR and then made further adjustments with both the Color Balance and Selective Color adjustment layers, in PS. They all contributed to getting those lovely colors, but the Color Balance adjustment layer was the star of the show for me. I also found it very helpful to get some fall color adjustment pointers from Blake Rudis, of f64 Academy, through his youtube channel.

Ed and Kerry, I could really see the crop going either way. I tried a 5:7 crop and it actually looks pretty nice. The downside is, if I crop from the top, I crop out the apex of the beautiful, tall trees, in the upper part of the frame. I could crop some of the top and some of the bottom, but then I lose out on the nice formation of the central tree trunk. I ultimately decided to go with 3:2 because it allows me to keep the elements I had originally intended and elongates the tall trees. I do, however, like the general feel of a 5:x7 crop better. I just don’t think it works for this image, without compromising the best parts of the frame, IMHO.

Craig, I agree about the varieties of trees, in various stages of life. I did notice that, but you highlighting the fact gave me a greater appreciation for those details. I also appreciate you confirming you like the positioning of the most colorful trees. Thank you!

Stephen, thank you for pointing out the strength and appeal of the dead trees. While I noticed that, I didn’t think many people would find that interesting, so I’m happy to hear you found the beauty in that. Concerning the crop, I agree and found most of the images I took around that area could be cropped in a number of ways. Funny enough, I actually have a full frame image of those 3 colorful trees, as I was drawn to them. So, I wouldn’t even need to crop and lose the pixels. I may try some different crops for the top portion, as you suggested. Cheers!

[Jimmy_Arcade]

@Ed_McGuirk @Kerry_Gordon Here’s a 5:7 crop example, to provide a visual, in case anyone wants to further discuss the crop factor: