Another from the NENP meeting. Did so many tiny tweaks I couldn’t reproduce if I wanted to (and I’ve tried on the vertical version)
. Obvious one is soft focus. Think this is my favorite from the trip to NH.(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Wow, I love the shape of the limbs on that tree, it really has a lot of character. This looks like mid-day light, so I think taking this in the direction of painterly, soft-focus photo-art treatment is a good way to still get a nice image from these conditions.
On my monitor, this looks too bright, I would try reducing exposure in the mid-tones and highlights. I also think adding some vignetting to darken the edges would place more emphasis on the tree as well. This image might be a good candidate for applying a even stronger Orton Efect for even more soft focus glow. I use the Orton action in the TK Panel, but you can do it directly in Photoshop too. If you are not familiar with Orton, this is an example of what one can do with it (includes pulling back overall exposure too)
Patricia,
What a Grand old tree most certainly has character. And to find it among the field of lupine is just icing on the cake.
I would agree with Ed on the highlights as it’s a little bright to me as well. I think Orton works well, although my personal tastes, not as much as Ed applied. But his looks good too if you’re going for artsy.
Lon
I like this. Even though the light is harsh, it has a painterly look to it.
Patricia, I really like the shape of the tree and the lupines in front of it. For me, there’s a sense of a director leading the choir/band/etc. Burning-in the background trees (especially on the left) to let your main subject stand out more would be good. Given the character of the main tree, processing it for some extra contrast might also look good.
I would not even try to shoot this scene in that bright light, but you pulled it off, Patricia. This has a different feel to it that I like. As Mike mentioned this does have a painterly feel to it. I also like @Ed_McGuirk’s version with the tweaks. This might also make for a great photo art piece. Is this the tree up by the inn?
Ed. Same tree Michael just posted. The one near the golf course.
