The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Springtime in Montana… I took this picture just a couple weeks ago while skiing along the Continental Divide west of Helena. Based on this tree’s size, shape, and location, I’m pretty sure it’s a whitebark pine, although it might also be a limber pine. They can look pretty similar, and without any needles or cones, it’s difficult to tell the difference. I’ll have to make a trip back in the summer to try to make a better identification.
In any case, I happened to catch it in the midst of a spring storm with thick clouds, fog, and low visibility. I really love being outside in conditions like this, whether photographing or not. I like how this tree has a ghostlike appearance, with the snow on the branches becoming almost indistinguishable from the sky.
Technical Details
Sony a6000, Tamron 17-70 mm lens, shot at 25 mm, ISO 100, f/9, 1/160 sec. In Lightroom, I cropped some of the edges to position the tree closer to the middle of the frame, converted it to monochrome, reduced the highlights, increased the contrast a bit, and adjusted the point curve. I used a radial gradient to add a subtle vignette around the tree. Any feedback and suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you!
You had quite some room in your histogram, so used the Curve to brighten the image.
I simply dragged the handle in the upper right corner to the left. I learned this technique recently here at NPN.
Maybe this adjustment works against the dull mood you were after but in my opinion, emphasizes the high-key look.
I used the brush tool and painted over the background trees. My mask looks like this:
I bumped up the blacks (+100) and the shadows (+64). Additionally, I removed some clarity (-73) and dehaze (-24). With this adjustment, the main tree stands out a little bit more.
I dragged the black slider to the left (-17) on the Basic panel to emphasize the main tree even more.
Your image is beautiful as it is. I just wanted to give you some idea of what you could do with your image.
I can’t wait to see more stuff from the Springtime in Montana.
Welcome, John! Apologies I missed your introduction. You have posted two wonderful images and I hope you’ll find this a great place to hang out.
I think this one is exceptional – an amazing tree so artistically draped in snow, with a wonderful setting! You have framed/cropped it very well. There are endless tonal possibilities for a scene like this, from peaceful to dramatic.
One thought I always have with snow scenes is to experiment with a subtle darker gradient at the base. But that’s not a criticism – just an idea. I love it as it!! Hope to see more from you!
Thank you, @Jens_Ober and @Diane_Miller, for the feedback and suggestions! Jens, I really like your suggestion to drag the point curve to the left. I was feeling like the image was a little duller than I wanted, but I wasn’t quite sure how to address that. I’ve played around with that edit a bit and like the results. I definitely appreciate the other suggestions, too, and will have to spend a bit more time experimenting with them. Thank you both!
Hi @John_Kilgour , this is a really nicely captured scene! I really like the high key exposure and going for monochrome.
I also took the liberty of downloading your image and also messed with it a little. As you pointed out, the whites are a little dull, and I was trying to get the main tree to stand out a little more against the trees in the background. I created a mask on the background trees using a brush in ACR, very similar to the mask that @Jens_Ober made, and then duplicated and inverted this mask. On this second mask, I increased the contrast to 40, whites to +15, clarity to +30, and decreased the shadows to -30 and blacks to -15. The net result was to darken and increased the contrast on the main tree, and brighten up the whites overall.
Also, I think there is too much dead space at the top of the frame, so I cropped it down to 10 x 8 aspect ratio.
Hi @Patrick_Campbell, thank you for the editing suggestions! Your edits really help the main tree stand out and give me a lot of ideas to think about. I do think something with a little less contrast is more in line with what I was going for. I’m hoping to present the tree more as receding into the fog, rather than than standing out from it, if that makes sense. As you say, though, there are a lot of possibilities for editing this image. I’ll take a shot at replicating the edits you described and see what I come up with. Thank you!
Welcome John. I too like the high key, low contrast look of the image. The tree is a real character in its perfect position in the composition. I like the image just as you have it here. I look forward to seeing more from you.
