I’ve been wondering if I should put this up for a while now. I took it back in October and it was part of my idea to expand the types of fall photos I have been making. Plus it’s a bog. I’m a wetland lover and bogs and swamps are special places for me and always have been.
When I saw this little maple tree in the morning sun I just had to get off trail and see what I could do with it. This is the edge of the bog and the peat mat is quite delicate so I took my time and trod carefully, mostly balancing on a log in order to not squish the peat mat too much. I was already in a stand of saplings and couldn’t move the tripod to the left any more than I this because it would have been in a tree.
Specific Feedback Requested
Have at it. I’m interested in general impressions and ideas for how you may have approached and/or processed this scene. Would it even have appealed to you?
Technical Details
Tripod and CPL probably
Lr for work with white balance, calibration and HSL panels to dial in the mood I wanted. The usual S-curve to reduce highlights and blacks and raise whites and shadows. A tiny bit of texture and clarity since I wanted this to be soft. Transform to correct geometry a bit.
Ps to work with luminosity masking to emphasize that gorgeous morning light coming through.
I love the scene in general, and the light! The LYT feels a bit lost here, although you could argue that’s the story. Would be interesting if you could have gotten closer and shot a stack (or at least some selective focus) to make it stand out more. But it looks like there was some breeze moving the leaves on the left. Having it bigger in the frame might also allow more detail in the yellows.
Love your idea/concept, Kris. I agree with Diane’s thoughts also. Just wondering if you considered using a freehand vignette around the edges to enhance the little maple?? Wonderful lighting.
Hi Kris! I can definitely see what you saw in this scene in real life, but it does seem to not really stand out as already mentioned. Also the background trees (only because there’s too much showing of them) I feel take away from the little maple. It’s kind of one of those scenes that I see you comment on a lot about 'not knowing where to look and what is the main point of the scene ’ I wouldn’t have known if you hadn’t told us. But I do think a crop could definitely improve it! And it could make it look like you are more on the tree’s level. And I do like the light shining on it it just needs to be seen closer to appreciate. Nicely seen, scene!
I think the scene has some promise!
In general though there’s a lot going on here that keeps me from fully appreciating it.
The out of focus leaves that are slightly too bright would be my first target of shifting.
I find that there’s a lot of clutter in this scene that’s working against you and I’m having a hard time figuring out what the subject is here because of that. The bright light is rather patchy for me too, which is also causing my eye to jump around and not rest anywhere. I think if it were underexposed a bit you could do some burning and dodging to emphasize some areas and deemphasize other areas. Sorry I can’t be more helpful.
Thanks @linda_mellor, @Vanessa_Hill, @Diane_Miller & @Matt_Payne for your insights and impressions. I will go back to the files to see if any others may work better. Clearly my idea for this scene isn’t translating (can’t you read my mind, people?! ).
I’m not sure we always need a center of attention, but, lacking it, maybe something like a visually pleasing pattern works to give a path for attention. @Matt_Payne just inadvertently added to my lexicon in that regard. It’s a lovely foggy morning with my husband is still asleep, so I brewed a pot of dark roast and headed for the computer. Scanning quickly (and still a bit foggily) through Matt’s reply I read “target shifting”. I think that’s a good term – and not necessarily a bad response to an image.
This happens to me all the time. As I hike through the forest the beauty around me is overwhelming, but when I stop to photograph it I find it really hard to keep the beauty from dropping into “busy.” I think it has to do with the fact that in photography we lose the three-dimensional aspect that is so important to giving forests depth.
I do like the potential here, and you might play with selectively exaggerating the lighting that makes a pyramid in the image. Having the tree pop out a bit more could help with focus as well. I’m never sure if my language conveys ideas well, so here’s a rough go below (Also, the red channel has some blown highlights and the blue some plugged shadows; if those are available in the raw they might be worth trying to recover.)
Hi Kris, I have looked at this several times and have read all the comments. I like the scene overall. That sapling is a wonderful subject. But as you and others have said the overall scene is a bit busy. I personally think this is one of those times where a shallow DOF would benefit greatly. I think if you moved to the left, so the sapling was framed between the two trees on the left and one on the right, then opened up to your widest aperture (or play around with apertures so that the sapling is the only thing in focus), and let the rest of the image go out of focus, it would be a very strong image…anyway, my two cents (worth $.00000000002).
Hi Kristen. I get this image of yours completely…maybe it is something to do with our obsession with all things little (i.e. fungus, lichen, mosses), after all it is the little things that count isn’t it. Where would we be without them. I just really like this scene with all of the tree trunks and the obvious sphagnum moss, probably because I can certainly associate with it as, like you, I see it as a complete little ecosystem regardless of the clutter. The subtle tones and colours (apart from the sapling) are lovely, and whereas some tend to focus on needing a focal point and reducing clutter, my feeling is that this scene is not that kind of image…it is a wee ecosystem image. Nice. Cheers.
Thanks again to @Diane_Miller and to @David_Bostock, @John_Williams & @Phil_G - I meant to get to this image yesterday, but really didn’t have the heart. It’s not you it’s me. I am normally not so attached to my photos and can take the smooth with the rough as they say, but this one has a delicate balance that I couldn’t make myself disrupt as weird as that sounds. Sticking to my artistic guns I guess.
Phil gets it to some degree - it’s an ecosystem that I particularly love and that is not equally loved by all. So it doesn’t get photographed much. Bogs, who loves bogs? But I also think that we’ve become overly enamored of highly structured and simplified landscapes in our art. I get it and practice that, but when you don’t live with great mountains, iconic deserts or the ocean right next to you, it feels like you’re the only one who can see the beauty where you are because it’s unconventional and out of favor. Many of my images fall into that category and sometimes it is a point of pride (misplaced?) that I find beauty in places where others are blind. Sometimes it just makes me sad that maybe I don’t have a refined sense of what photography needs to be to be very good. Oh jeez that sounds like I’m desperate for compliments and that’s not it. I love my work and my sense of wonder and intrigue when I’m in nature. What I bring back is really for me and not for you, but I like this community and its love of the craft so yeah, my pride does get a tiny bit dented when others don’t immediately jump on my bandwagon.
Ah…I’m rambling. But it is nice and comfy up here.
Thanks, Kris, for putting into words how I feel so many times but cannot explain. I also do not live in a grandiose environment. . .no oceans, gorgeous mountains, lush foliage or exotic animals, but I absolutely love being out wandering around and discovering parts of my worlds that others don’t see. . . happiest of times for me.
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