I've been wanting to try the "in the round" technique again for a while now. It honestly seems harder to find trees that will work around here than you would think. I'm in the piedmont region of North Carolina. We have tons of trees. But they are mostly tall pines, oaks, small skinny trees, and trees that are just not very uniform.
Yesterday I was out hiking and thought I found a tree that would work. And with the fall season upon us, now seems like the perfect time to give this technique a try.
I think this one is better than my previous attempts but it's still not where I want it to be. I think on of the main issues is there's not enough contrast b/w the tree and the back ground. Too much green maybe. Alan, I know you're basically an expert in this, so I'd love to hear your thoughts. One of these days I'm going to find the perfect tree and get this right.
I think you're on the right track Kyle, and thanks for the kind words.
You are absolutely spot on with your observation on contrast - this is evident on the right side of the tree where the leaves and background merge together.
I'd also question the number of 'impactful' layers in use. If you are layering anything more than say 8 it could well be that the opacity of those at the top is set too high with the lower layers having zero impact. I typically check by switching layers on/off to gauge impact - the bottom layer is the most telling.
I think your subject would be fine if you could get the contrast issue worked out - perhaps by taking from the other side, or waiting for the background to be in shade (as on the left). It would be really nice if the foliage were to change color, but I wouldn't bank on that happening before the leaves at the top drop.
I'm sure with a bit of tweaking you'll get an image that you'll be happy with.
Just so you're aware I had a very similar issue this image and had to jump through hoops to try and separate it from the background. Even so it's still not great but did teach me a lesson.
Thanks Alan, I definitely had several layers that were doing nothing and ended up just deleting them. I think I may have used too many at the beginning as well. I started out with around 50 but ended up with probably 35-40. And some of them weren't doing much either.
I probably could've gotten away with just painting in the dark green from the left to the right as well. But I'd rather get it right in camera first!
I also just wanted to say I really appreciate the entries on your blog about this technique. It is really helpful! I look forward to trying this again.