I was on top of a cold windy hill where even the Whitebark Pines were having a hard time making a go of it.
Specific Feedback Requested
Any comments are appreciated.
Technical Details
Canon R5, 100mm macro with ring flash. f/20, 1/250 sec, ISO 400.
Hi Don – This is a fantastic subject! I love all the little details. I think the composition works overall but I think I prefer it flipped so the dark corners are at the bottom, anchoring the scene. I also see a lot of other tighter compositions that exclude the darker sections of bark (without the darker sections, the subject might feel a little less recognizable to many viewers).
It is also hard to tell if everything is in focus from the small web sized JPEG. It looks like a few bits might be soft. If so, I would consider doing a focus stack of this kind of scene in the future, which is quick with the focus bracketing feature of your camera.
In terms of the processing, you could consider brightening the scene quite a bit. I think some of the interesting details are getting lost in the deeper shadows. I could also consider evening out the tonality across the bottom edge (top edge in my alternative presentation). The darker sections are catching my eye and I think they make the composition feel a bit unbalanced. Some dodging could quickly eliminate this and make that edge feel more consistent in terms of tonality.
Thank you for you suggestions. I like the bark at the bottom and wondered about cropping it out altogether. I will play with it some more.
Don
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