I’m just back from my fall colors trip. I always go to Zion but this year my schedule didn’t allow for me to be in Zion during the time frame of peak colors so I decided to head farther north in Utah. I didn’t have much in the way of plans which turned out great. I did a lot of driving and scouting and internet searching and had a fun trip.
This shot was taken on a short hike without a trail. I pulled off the side of the road and simply walked out into the aspen forests and down a hill when I came across this old aspen that had fallen, shattering the branches and wrapping it’s trunk around several of the remaining upright aspen trees. There was another aspen that had fallen a few feet behind this old tree that never made it to the ground. It’s hung up on trees in the background.
When I set out to capture fall colors I certainly didn’t have this type of shot in mind but I’m glad I stumbled across this. I hope you like it.
Specific Feedback Requested
Nothing in particular. I certainly always appreciate any and all comments and suggestions though. Thanks for taking a look.
Technical Details
Z7ii, 24-70mm lens @ 70mm, ISO 125, f/14 @ 1/15th, hand held, single image.
I really like this shot David. It drew me in as soon as I saw it and made me feel as though I was there. Lovely.
The colours, textures, central interest of the fallen tree ‘capturing’ another aspen, the interesting dead branches in the foreground separated from the living aspens in the background…great.
I guess the only thing that gets in the way of the overall scene for me is the smaller fallen trunk on the left…but such is the nature of this sort of travelling photography. Cheers.
This a lovely scene David, with a beautiful light.
I love the fallen tree "hugging " the others.
There are two aspects that I would have done it differently; all the dead wood on the floor compete with main central point of the photo; and I would have “fix” the blue sky spot on the upper right hand corner.
I always find these kinds of scenes really hard to photograph. You’ve created an image that is excellent from this scene. The story with the old dead tree hugging the standing tree is great. I like the inclusion of the dead branches in the foreground as it helps complete the story. Very nice image.
Hey David, great photo as always, I really love your work. I think one of the things that you’ve done really well. Here is create contrast and direction of flow with the vertical trees going up, and then the horizontal trees on the bottom of the frame. For composition, one of the best things you can do is always remove as much distraction as possible. My eye keeps going to more of the trees that are fallen in the foreground, and I almost think there would be a different crop to remove a little bit more of those in post production to only have some of the trees going horizontal so that my focus would stay on the vertical aspen trees again love your work love your photos!
Wow, David. This is excellent. The juxtaposition of the fallen trees with the standing ones is perfect–calm against tension. Great find, excellent comp, and terrific processing.
I will try and work up a version with less debris in the foreground although that’s why I took this image in the first place. I can see ho there may be too much though. I will also remove the blue spot in the URC. I also captured this scene to include the partially fallen tree in the left portion of the frame although I can see how it can be distracting.
Thanks so much for the suggestions. They are always a huge help. I will post a revision if I have time in the next couple of days with all of he suggestions. Thanks again everyone.
I decided to post my portrait version instead of redoing the landscape version since the portrait seems to take care of most of the issues that were brought up. Thoughts?
Hmmm… interesting. I had to look twice at the portrait version to compare to the horizontal to see which part of the image the portrait included / excluded from the horizontal.
I much prefer the horizontal. A completely different mood and story. The vertical just doesn’t have the same impact for me with the fallen tree hugging the vertical aspen. It almost feels more like a fence in ill repair behind the aspens in the vertical.
@Keith_Bauer, I couldn’t agree more. As I’ve said, I included all the debris at the bottom on purpose to sort of tell a story. I also framed this up to include the fallen tree on the left that never made it to the ground. I guess I’m trying to take into consideration all of the comments and come up with something a little bit different but at the end of the day, I much prefer the original post too. Thanks for chiming in and letting me know your thoughts again, Keith.
Interesting split of opinions on your edit David. Just to keep it even, I strongly agree with @Igor_Doncov for the reasons he mentions. Regardless, lovely grove and I enjoyed both.
Thanks @Igor_Doncov, @Mario_Cornacchione, @John_Williams . Yep, this one is definitely a split with opinions. They have a very different feel to me. I share the opinion of @Keith_Bauer on this one almost exactly. My wife however, loves the simplicity of the portrait. I do too, but I also think it looks like a fence in disrepair. I appreciate your input on this. Thanks for taking the time.
