I'd like some quick feedback on this image. Once received I'll provide a little background.
All sincere feedback welcomed!
Update 6/30
Now I have received helpful feedback I'll provide some background. This was taken during a hike during a prolonged rainstorm. Although providing a wonderful backdrop the flat lighting did little to bring out the character of the tree.
My dilemma was whether to maintain mood and hold back the contrast of the tree, or to make the tree pop at the expense of mood.
I was also interested in whether quality came into question. This was actually taken on my iPhone - I was hiking with my wife and knowing that we faced 2 hours of rain I left my camera at home (I plan to revisit and reshoot).
The image may not support enlargement but I'm happy with the result. Thanks for all those who helped with comments.
Update 6/30-2
Following suggestions from others I have added updated images below. I think we can all agree that peer input can be extremely helpful and prod us in directions we may not take otherwise.
Closing Update 7/8
As I revisited the site in more favorable weather I thought others may benefit to seeing how the (unedited) scene appears under normal conditions. As can be seen the rain in the original really helped in isolating the background.
It just goes to prove that environmental conditions can make or break the shot
The misty water evokes just the right mood.
I also liked the blue hues in the rocks as well.
Thanks for your feedback David
Hey Alan, Interesting. My curiosity is tickled. Great find for a subject. Tree, cliff, water is very appealing. You asked for quick though so... I don't think this a your strongest work. My first reaction is that it is drab and that the perspective on the tree flattens it a bit. You have some amazing high contrast work. I think if you went black and white and high contrast this might sing! I think it is almost there as I do feel a tug of response but the hook isn't set yet. Hope this helps. Best intentions Alan!
Thanks Ruth. I agree with the 'drabness'. A lack of pop was a concern - the truth is this was taken during a rainstorm, which provided a great backdrop but makes the image very flat.
I struggled with the decision over mood vs contrast, looks like mood is on a losing streak.....
Very oriental feel for me, Alan. So much so that I'd be very much inclined to do a non-realist, abstracted, high-key image fading to white at the edges with high contrast & low saturation. Interested in your thoughts and the background to which you refer.
Couldn't resist... especially after reading Ruth's post while I was fiddling away.
Nice! As often happens, you and i are on the same page Chris.
Count me in!
Now this is getting weird Chris. Your reference to the Orient and a vignette (or similar) to white is something I had actually considered.
I really like your edits and may have to take you up on both.
BTW - I was expecting a comment on breathing space to the left. I was aware of this when shooting but there was too much distraction.
One immediate impression I omitted sharing is that the composition is excellent, Alan. Perhaps ideally I'd like a little more "breathing space" between the left of the tree and the frame edge, I realise that that may not have been possible. It matters less with my stylised edit.
And finally... what a beautiful tree! So obvious, it didn't occur to me to mention this.
I don't think modest resolution will matter much, if at all Alan, on this image if it's processed in a stylised manner.
You must show us your renditions if you go down this track. Maybe some "content-aware fill" on the left along the way?
Hey Chris, see the added edits. I added space to the left and a little above. I didn't push as far as your suggestions, but may try further after sitting on it for a day to let stew.
Nice to se this image 'grow' and I think proves the benefit of the critique process.
I like them, Alan! The extra room does help, too. Your edits show your characteristic restraint.
I think your image called to mind images of hinoki, Japanese cypress, often portrayed with a fairly dramatic form, like "your" tree, whose profile, on a rock, also evokes bonsai for me.
Nice find with regard to this location, Alan. I often experience the way iPhones can give an image almost a painterly feel as it did with this shot.
After reviewing all of your edits, I actually prefer the original. For me, the original tells / allows me to form the most complete story. The scene fading to white on its own without additional processing, gives the environment that much more mystery.
Ultimately, the shot gives you a great base from which to experiment.
Thanks Robert, as previously indicated I initially struggled with direction for this. I am now drawing the conclusion that both variations have their own merits, and there's no one-size-fits-all 'solution'.
I don't think this is a bad thing, it's interesting/good to discover differing tastes and options.
Hi Alan, i have to agree with Robert that the original is my favorite. I dont like the vignette treatment in the others (or anything to this degree) so this is just personal preference. I just think the original needed some brightening. Im in the woods on my phone so if the image uploaded is bad, all I did that here with a gradient mask to increase the exposure from top down.
Thanks Ruth, this is definitely something I can play with more.
I still like the option of the oriental-type vignette - as with Chris I see this tree as having the shape and elements of Bonsai.
I have to say that I'm looking at my updates on another (inferior) monitor and they look appalling. I may have to consider this and perhaps work around it.
Gotcha. So, with that is mind, I think you could still get that without the roundness of the vignette. So ... since everyone else is playing with the image.... The editing here is horrible because I tried add space to the right and my software doesn't do this, this is just for the idea. Just did black and white because I thought it looked like a pencil drawing.
It may sound like splitting hairs, Ruth, but although it is in effect a vignette, what I was thinking of was a sort of "frameless" image, with no distinct border, and no ovoid or rectangular outline, that could almost be placed anywhere on the page, like the scroll paintings, etc, that have floating subjects with no overall "western" perspective. So, if I were printing this as my own image, I imagine a wide border of blank paper, where the edge of the image proper is impossible to pin down. Maybe printed way off centre. I'm thinking here too of some of your images of water which fade off into white and remind me of watercolour or pen & wash - again, techniques similar to Asian brush painting on paper.
Just add crane (avian, not construction).
If I saw this for sale I would but it in a split second. I love it. Like I said before, it is just to roundness of the vignette that I don't like and that is just personal preference. This last composition is absolutely my favorite - but again - this is my tastes all the way! :)
We can do a deal. Depending on Alan's royalties.
;)
Ha Ruth - I'll send you a final copy once I complete to satisfaction..
Wow - that would be so generous!
So PM me an email address and I'll stick it in the post....
Does this make Alan and me like Gilbert & George?
Is that like Gilbert & Sullivan? I'm unsure who George is......
Err... not quite...
Hey Ruth, check out the latest version and let me know what you think. No vignette, just a number if grad filters fading to white.
I think it is beautiful. I mean REALLY beautiful!
Hmm.... that's more or less the look I was going for Chris but it didn't turn out that way (especially when viewed on a cheaper monitor).
You've got me on your edit - what did you use? (LR Grad/radial filters fading contrast/exposure whites?
I use ACDSee, just because I learnt on it & have stuck with it
Can't retrace all the steps exactly Alan. I think I made my first colour edit above using curves/contrast/saturation/prob. lightening shadows, & added a narrow white vignette to remove the hard edge completely, followed by much dodging of the edges.
I then made a mono conversion using RGB channels which fortuitously made most of the water disappear, except at lower right.
Then I added two widest-possible white borders successively, did more dodging (including shadows in the trunk & some branches), & then cropped to get the final composition.
Thanks Chris. I actually worked on this last night in Lightroom, using a range of grad filters and have just posted the results (this even passes the crappy monitor test..... ).
I really like this now... if only I could find that crane in Vermont :-)
The image has evolved a long way from the original now, Alan! It doesn't just evoke paintings now, it looks like watercolour or pen & wash in an Asian-influenced style. I much prefer your processed ones, especially the last, to the original. Rendering the bark with almost no colour now makes it look at first glance like a painting done using only a black, green and blue-green pigments, heightening the effect of something created from scratch, line by line, rather than edited from a photo.
There goes my sale to Ruth! I WOULD'VE paid your royalties, Gilbert.
Yours,
George.
Ha thanks George! Now I know who you are referring to I'm unsure if I should be flattered or concerned...
I am fine splitting royalties as this has truly been a collaborative affair (we'll just charge Ruth twice as much....)
Gilbert
Concerned, I think, Gil.
I'm sure Ruth will happily cough up.
Oh, NO! TMI, TMI. You've killed the image of that tree forever for me, Alan! Some things are best left unseen. ;-)
Yeah, I understand that Chris. My one concern was that by removing the mystery it might ruin the story for some.
However, being that it is a community discussion I felt obliged to let others know that such shots may be found in their own backyards, and that the message is to keep looking for opportunity.
So sorry the story for you has resulted in such a tragic conclusion......