The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This image was taken two minutes before the misty one I posted last week. It was a great spot for tree photography! I was in a quirky mood that day, so I picked up on the quirky aspects of the trees. In this image, the vines forming the circles are what got my attention.
Specific Feedback
I’m not thrilled with the aspect ratio. It feels a little heavy. I tried some slight modifications but decided to leave it alone until I’ve received feedback. What do you think? Also, do you have any thoughts on the exposure or emphasis of the different image areas via exposure?
Technical Details
Here is a screenshot of the data. Note that this image was taken with my iPhone 13 ProMax. PS I’ve since upgraded to the 16 Pro Max. I don’t see a lot of difference between the two, but haven’t done a lot of photography with it yet.
@Susanna_Euston , I like this a lot. The crop looks fine to me, and I especially like the hint of color. I might try to bring out a bit more detail in the bright area at the far back.
I’m curious about your conversion for these. As I noted in the first one, there is an infrared feel to them, and the slight coloration of the tree trunks is interesting here.
I don’t mind the aspect ratio; to my eye it looks fine. I like the near right to distant left flow that you have going; it adds to the mystery.
Wow! I LOVE this!! The composition is so engaging and the subtle coloration is wonderful! It does have an IR vibe. You have the most wonderful hardwood forests there.
My attention is drawn a bit too much (I think) to the bright area at the top. I wonder about toning it down a little, along with maybe a slight punch of brightness and contrast for the area to the right of that lovely tree on the right.
Hi @Susanna_Euston, You have shared with us another view of this fascinating woodland. The dark snaking turns of the vines are balanced by the upright straightness of the lighter trees and the illuminated leaves reaching for the light. I really like the tonalities you have brought out here and how they heighten the interplay. The framing you have chosen is working well. Wonderfully well seen and processed.
Hi Susanna, I like your B&W treatment here…very appropriate and sets a mood. I like to look for lines in landscape images and there are plenty here for my eye to follow, especially the “quirky” vines, which serve to counter the vertical tree lines.
To answer questions/points: John, I used NIK Silver Efex initially, then Color Efex Glamour Glow and adjustment layers. I have a new version that I’m posting below in which I used NIK Color Efex Classic portrait (don’t ask me why it worked, but my goal was to bring down that tree trunk on the right) and created a Contrast/Brightness adjustment layer to deal with the background, as well as a dodge/burn layer. Whew!
Diane, thanks. We do have amazing forests. Or did, before Helene struck. The Biltmore Estate lost over 1,000 trees; my neighborhood lost many, as well as many other areas, etc. We will have a new forest landscape this year. About this image, I reworked it per the previous paragraph. Part of that effort was to actually lighten the left and right sides of the top areas. It started bothering me that those areas felt more opaque and not balanced with the center.
Igor, I think that I fixed that tree! Let me know. Thanks.
Several years ago we were visiting friends near Asheville and they took us on a trail through one of the wonderful forests. We met a guy they knew who was coming out and their conversation was about bear hunting. I asked how on earth you found a bear in the dense woods, much less managed to shoot it. The one-word answer was, “Dawgs.”
@Diane Miller, I’m glad it’s working with the new edits! Thanks. I’m happier with it now. (Does the @ protocol work with email replies??)
And, yes, they use “dawgs” to hunt bears around here. We encountered bear hunters on one of our small excursions last fall. It was after Helene, and these guys were out with their pick-ups, guns, and gear. The dogs wear transmitters around their necks so the hunters can track them. They corner the bear(s) until the hunters can get to them. I think it’s a little disgusting, not very sportsman-like. But who am I to criticize.
| Diane Miller Nightscape & Astro Moderator January 13 |
| - |
Wow! Yes! This version is even more wonderful!!
Several years ago we were visiting friends near Asheville and they took us on a trail through one of the wonderful forests. We met a guy they knew who was coming out and their conversation was about bear hunting. I asked how on earth you found a bear in the dense woods, much less managed to shoot it. The one-word answer was, “Dawgs.”
Hi Susanna,
This scene has a wonderful light airy feel to it which makes me feel as though I am strolling through an enchanted forest. I love all the vertical lines as well as the snaking vines. IMO you nailed it with the tweaks in the rework and I this would make the perfect companion piece to your prior post. BTW, the B&W conversion looks great.
Another fantastic forest scene and I love just about everything about this one. In the original, it felt like and black and white with a hint of color in just a couple of the foreground trunks. My favorite part of the image is the dark, alien like tendril branches wrapping around the center tree trunk in that bright ethereal light from the top. Your rework is better as far as the two foreground trunks go. The aspect ration doesn’t bother me at all and I tend not to like tall portraits but this works great. I think it’s all the vertical lines that make it work so well. Super image again.
@David_Haynes, @Ed_Lowe and @Diane_Miller, thanks for the feedback on the rework! I may still do some more work on the background (picky, picky!), but it’s pretty much where I want it to be.
This is a wonderful image, Susan. I tried cropping it a bit to try for a stronger composition but some of the spirit of the forest was lost. It became more artsy but that actually hurt it. I thought it was a bit too bottom heavy with that much darkness. But it’s the dark rising to light that captures some of the spirit of the scene. Love it.
PS. The narrow frame elongates this feeling of rising brightness and works really well with the message.
PPS. A friend of mine told me he just came back from a bear trip and now has the stuffed head on the wall in his bedroom. Eewwwe!
Thanks, @Igor_Doncov! I’m glad the image works for you. And, yes, I looked at different aspect ratios and decided it worked best this way. Our woods are so beautiful here — at least, they were before Helene. Amazingly, one of my favorite areas (Pisgah National Forest out of Brevard) was minimally damaged. I’ll explore that this year!
| 