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.
You did a really good job with this, Kyle. I like its boldness.
I do think you're right though about the contrast between the tree and the background, but I think the problem is only in the lower right corner of the tree; otherwise, the rest is fine. Not sure how much manipulating you like to do, but I wonder if you cut the tree in half to create a horizontally flipped mirror layer to place over the right side to force uniformity and background contrast?
Apart from that I think less cropping on top and bottom would be great to show the entire tree and its living space.
You're right about trying to find trees/background that work together with this process. I'm hoping to do some experimenting today thanks to your post and Alan's blog page!
Thanks Jennifer, I'm completely fine with manipulating! I do things that could be considered manipulating with my city and landscapes all the time. I didn't even think about doing it here. I really like what you've done with it, it looks great!
As far as the cropping. I didn't actually crop it. I was just careless with taking the photos and chopped off the top of the tree and didn't get all of the light at the bottom.
Good luck with your experimenting!