I pass this sumac tree everyday on my morning walks and have seen it during all of its glorious phases. A few days ago it just grab my attention, sort of reaching out and saying “look at me!” So of course I had to capture it.
Specific Feedback Requested:
Does the square crop work? Vignetting too heavy, does the Sumac lose it sense of place?
Any other thoughts and comments are welcome.
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Cropped 1:1, LR: radial filter on background to reduce exposure, clarity, texture and sharpness. Also added a medium vignetting. PS; content aware/cloning to fill in small portion on the bottom edge as dried grass was there.
Nikon D7200, f/10, 1/80sec., iso 250 28-300mm @44mm, tripod and cable release.
Linda, this is great image. The square crop works very well. It is matter of taste, but I think that the most black parts in the areas along the edges could locally be made a little bit brighter.
I can see what caught your eye on this tree. The branches are so intriguing.
The square format works great IMO, it centralizes the subject. I would reduce the vignette and the “blurry” effect of the radial filter, its a bit heavy to me, but it can make the image pop, no doubt about it.
I may be mistaken but the bottom part seems to have some artefact due to the cloning process, not a big issue, a bit more polishing and it would be spot on.
The light on the tree is making it stand out from the even, almost pattern like background, its a gorgeous make natural vignette on its own. Very well captured.
Thanks for sharing.
Linda, this tree and it’s surroundings fit a square crop well. If the vignette is what’s causing the darkening of the outer sumac branches, then I think it’s too heavy. While I doubt that those outer branches should be as white as the main branches, I think that dodging them would be good. This looks like a view from the sky of this tree.
repost
Thanks @Ola_Jovall, @João_Ferrão and @Mark_Seaver for your suggestions. I’ve re-worked the image without the vignetting and blurry background. I do believe the radial filter I was using in LR did affected the edges of the tree. The re-post is only the crop, content aware and a small amount of dodging to the outer limbs of the tree. I agree, I think this version works much better. Thanks again for your input.
I like the repost a lot, Linda. The heavy blurring around the perimeter in the original just looked too unnatural. It’s really cool that the trail lets you get in a place to look down on this tree-it took me awhile to figure out that was the point of view (and that’s a good thing).
Really well done. I will be the outlier, as I much prefer the original post. The trees stands out much better for me with the vignette. I will take that with the sharper background. The best of both to my eye.
I just want to clear up the perspective of this image. I should have been more specific when I originally posted. I was kneeling directly across the street from this tree. My camera/tripod were about 24" above the ground. This isn’t an aerial, drone or any other type of “looking down” perspective. This is part of what attracted me to it to begin with. How the tree is just reaching out and begging to be noticed!. Thank you again, @Dennis_Plank, @Harley_Goldman, @Mark_Seaver, @Ola_Jovall and @João_Ferrão. I appreciate all of your thoughts and suggestions.
Wow, this is a really cool looking tree, it has an almost primordial look to it. The radiating pattern of the tree almost seems to bursting out of the image in an explosion. I like this image very much, it has tremendous impact from it’s graphic shapes. I prefer the rework, for it’s cooler colors and less blurred edges. But I would suggest maybe going with a little more vignette on the rework.
Thanks Ed. This was one of those photos every time I walked by I thought, I’ve got to photograph it. And yes, I would agree about something between a light and medium vignette. Thanks again.
