Thank you Ed. This does look better. I felt that the twigs got a bit too bright in my rework and this seems to bring them back down again. I have noticed that warming an image makes it brighter and cooling does the opposite. So perhaps that’s why they got dimmer.
I have to admit that I’m starting to overdose on this image. Yes, the work is paying off but there are limits. Maybe they’ll be a round 2.
BTW, iyou may recall our interchange about fractals. This, it seems to me, has the qualities of a fractal.
Then it’s a good thing I kept that file. I think the newer versions have introduced a level of chaos that wasn’t there. I still need to address that somehow. To reduce the flat light without increasing the chaos due to greater contrast.
That is something that sometimes get lost in the shuffle here at NPN, many originally posted images are perfectly fine. But if somebody posts an image for critique the people critiquing assume they must come up with some comments, or all we are doing is handing out “attaboys”. Sometimes the collective “hive mind” of NPN adds some value, and sometimes not. But often, comments made on images that don’t make a big difference do get me thinking about how that comment might apply to another image of mine where it might make a difference. There is still some value to the exercise. And when you get to the level of accomplishment of somebody like Igor, we are often only talking about making subtle or subjective tweaks anyways, given the strength of the starting point.
Ed, point well taken. No disrespect intended…I get a tremendous amount out of comments/suggestions from you. Igor and others, this thread is no exception. I think it is important to see reworks from the original author as well as others.
@Ed_McGuirk and @Mario_Cornacchione . The comments have been extremely helpful on this thread. I was just think the other day. We see images the way we want them to be rather than the way they are. I don’t know why. I have had this issue for my entire life in photography. I didn’t see how flat (‘dead’) the light was in this image. Or it didn’t bother me. How I passed up on that is remarkable. I’m still not happy with this image but I’m tired of working on it. So I’m particularly grateful for the comments on this post.
I am wondering how you endured the absolute horror of “spooky pine trees”. I would suggest that you steer clear of trees to protect your mental health.
Firstly, they’re not as spooky as I made them look. The dead curved branch looked menacing so I went with that idea and made a composition to include other elements.
Secondly’ I like to explore all human emotions in my landscapes not just the upbeat ones. I like to use landscapes to express the human condition rather than an objective witness of what they are. My images span the whole range of human emotions. That’s just my approach to landscape photography that I had long before posting at NPN. Subjects that invoke an emotional response are the ones I choose to capture. That’s why fractals are, in my opinion, second tier images. And near/far compositions are below them.