Great light effect with the sun shining through the hazy fog. The road gives a nice leading line and the sunlight continues to carry the viewer through the image. Peaceful scene welcoming a new day.
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Thank you, Patricia for your nice comment.
Hey Ben, you’ve nicely captured a gorgeous scene with a lot of beautiful elements. If you’re unhappy with the image and are here for some critique though, I can share my thoughts.
There are a lot of great things that compete for my attention, and together they don’t seem to form a cohesive unit that support each other or a main subject. For me, these things are the middle tree with awesome light, the awesome light itself coming from the right, the road, the nice colors in the sky, and the nice textures on the ground.
To me, the standout element is the middle tree, which means that it is the star of the show and the other elements in the scene are to be the supporting cast that make the star look great. However, the supporting cast’s tones and their placement in the frame are creating more visual tension than support. The tree is mostly in the center which to me means it is ripe for leading lines and vignette-style tones across the frame (with the light in the middle and darker things around the edges). I think the dark bushes in the front block the visual flow toward the tree and don’t really form a path for the eye to follow. The road does create a path for the eye to follow, but the problem is it’s heading away from the tree rather than toward it which creates some visual tension rather than emphasis. Our eyes tends to be drawn toward bright things, so the bright trees on the left pull the eye away from the main tree as well. The trees on the far right are much larger and imposing, making the center tree small and less impactful. While the sky has nice colors and gradients, it doesn’t really support the tree either.
Perhaps you would rather a different element of the scene be the star of the show, and if so hopefully you can apply this line of thinking to that element as well. Regardless of what it is, everything needs to work together.
I’m not sure I can offer a lot of advice as far as fixing this particular frame. Without being there and actually knowing what the area looked and felt like, my thought is that I would use a midrange telephoto lens to zoom in on the center tree and its light, without having the sky, the bright trees on the left, or the road in the frame, ideally while finding some bushes that nicely frame the center tree.
Hope that rambling made some sense!
Ben,
I like this, although I suppose I can understand why you’re not happy, or unsure about this. Some excellent elements including the beam/streak of light illuminating the scene and especially the field and trees on the left.
So amazing how we each see and react differently. I personally have paid little attention to the main tree in the center, yet Brent sees it as a focal point. The great thing, there is no right or wrong here.
As far as the road goes, I agree to an extent it doesn’t really lead to anything and possibly leads you out of the frame. However, looking at it another way, the road kinda/sorta starts to curve back towards center and I like that it does lead to the cluster of trees AND the source of light. In other words, the eye gets led around the frame - following the road, then to the trees and following the beam of light across the scene.
If anything, the LL is the most empty, especially with the lack of detail in the bushes.
In the end, like with most images, it’s all about the light, and this one has plenty of it. I took the liberty of making my own adjustments. I first cropped some unnecessary clouds about which made this more towards panoramic, which in turn accentuates the long streak of light. I also used a Selective Color adj layer and tweaked the overall colors, away from blue. The road looks almost purple. Also in this layer I was able to rescue some detail in the very bright sky. Lastly a hue/sat layer reducing the blue/cyan. Of course now this is much, much warmer and perhaps not to your liking.
ps. the low jpg resolution isn’t great for color balancing and saturation, so my version won’t be the greatest in that regard. Things go wonky quickly
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A very evocative image. A road towards sunshine which is hidden by the tree. Will the traveler find what he’s looking for.
You seem to really like to have a major tree right on the edge of your frame. Why?
Ben, first I really am enjoying the colors and light in this scene and I think Lon’s edits are helpful. Regarding the composition; I am generally in agreement with Brent on this one. For me the road is a strong leading line but it takes me too far out of the scene. Along with the large tree on the right I find it difficult to get back to the really nice light, central tree and left side. Hopefully this is helpful.
Patricia, Brent, Lon, Igor, Alan,
There is a lot happening in my image.NowI know why I was not so happy with it. You all did make things a lot clearer to me. Especially what needs my attention. With all your extensive remarks I go back by the good light and will make a new composition at this beautiful place. I will post it for sure.
And hope then also for your very valued critiques. Regards Ben van der Sande
Patricia, Brent, Lon, Igor, Alan,
There is a lot happening in my image.NowI know why I was not so happy with it. You all did make things a lot clearer to me. Especially what needs my attention. With all your extensive remarks I go back by the good light and will make a new composition at this beautiful place. I will post it for sure.
And hope then also for your very valued critiques. Regards Ben van der Sande
Ben, I want to correct the impression that I was critical of this. I like it very much. Having the end of the road hidden is a positive from my point of view. The light is wonderful, as a the colors. You normally like a cooler WB and that’s fine as well.
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