Spring

Gallery: LandscapePosted May 28, 20092,141 views52 comments

I shared this in flora, and after their encouraging words, I worked on the one aspect that had me second guessing the image. I thought I'd share it here too, since now that I've fixed it up it could quite likely be my favorite from the trip. There were some brushy twigs in the background, but with some clever curves work and masks I was able to largely hide them from view, cleaning up the image quite a bit. You can see the original in flora if you'd like. Fortunately, because they were out of focus and my method of processing, it looks great at full rez too. I've found these trees really look their best with a bit of light on them - that orange is true to nature (note the green leaves as a reference point).

Comments

52 comments

Comment posted by Giovanni Russello on May 28, 2009 at 4:16 AM

Man that's it: you wanna kill me!
This is really beautiful Floris. The light and the contrasting colours (between the red of the blurred trunks and the bluish of the dogwood) makes this sing.

well done,
gio

Registered on January 21, 2007, 95 Posts, 1617 Comments

Comment posted by Paulo A.Lopes on May 28, 2009 at 5:12 AM

Great image Floris! Top one

Registered on October 14, 2008, 122 Posts, 836 Comments

Comment posted by Youssef Ismail on May 28, 2009 at 5:35 AM

Floris,

An excellent composition. But even though the color on those trees is real, I still think they are a little oversaturated as compared with the dogwood. I think I would selectively reduce the saturation on the trunks a bit. Its strange to say it but sometimes reality is just to unreal.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 474 Posts, 5555 Comments

Comment posted by Stuart Williams on May 28, 2009 at 5:55 AM

that's outstanding floris. the light, colours and details are perfect. it is also a very effective use of selective focus/short DOF. the only very minor comment i might have is i wish you had stepped either to the right of left, only slightly, to ensure the main dogwood branch didn't merge with the edge of the redwood on the right (if you see what i mean). otherwise really lovely.

Registered on December 7, 2007, 247 Posts, 4792 Comments

Comment posted by Verena & Georg Pop on May 28, 2009 at 6:00 AM

instead of being overwhelmed by the large trunks you used them as backdrop - even in such nice light and gave not only perspective to the scene but included a whole lot of feeling and let viewers participate in what surely was a great experience. one can't do much better then this, when portraying an intimate landscape!
georg

Registered on July 5, 2006, 272 Posts, 2823 Comments

Comment posted by Eric Vaughan on May 28, 2009 at 7:11 AM

I love it, great image Floris. I really like the soft out of focus background that makes the dogwoods really stand out and adds contrast to the image, well done as usual. The soft light on the redwoods is beautiful.

Registered on April 29, 2009, 57 Posts, 670 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Anderson on May 28, 2009 at 7:28 AM

Floris this is gorgeous ! Well seen and beautiful colors !

Registered on September 6, 2007, 346 Posts, 2696 Comments

Comment posted by Martin Stankiewicz on May 28, 2009 at 7:36 AM

I love it. This is beautiful image Floris.

Registered on October 26, 2008, 52 Posts, 462 Comments

Comment posted by Kevin Trinkner on May 28, 2009 at 7:51 AM

Awesome Floris, what a beautiful woodland scene. Love the selective focus, and the glow on the trees fills the bg in perfectly. Well scene and executed, this is one of my favs on here for a while.

Congrats!

Registered on June 30, 2008, 203 Posts, 2641 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Tal on May 28, 2009 at 8:06 AM

Great use of selective focus and I especially like how well the white flowers stand out against the deep shadows. Superb image, Floris.

Guy

Registered on November 1, 2003, 566 Posts, 15507 Comments

Comment posted by Paul Wegemann on May 28, 2009 at 8:22 AM

Great work, Floris. Forcing the background out of focus really brings the flowering tree forward. I love the colors and comp too.

Registered on December 14, 2006, 58 Posts, 1888 Comments

Comment posted by Andreas Resch on May 28, 2009 at 8:57 AM

Now that a great one, Floris. Love it much better than you recent post. The simplicity here makes this one sing for me and it's got a wonderful composition.

Registered on November 14, 2007, 322 Posts, 6101 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Dayton on May 28, 2009 at 9:00 AM

Beautiful, Floris! By using a shallower DOF, you've made the Dogwood
stand out. Lovely colors and great compositon.

Registered on November 11, 2008, 281 Posts, 3958 Comments

Comment posted by Keith A Anderson on May 28, 2009 at 9:05 AM

Wow!! Outstanding image. Your processing has really put this over the top.

Registered on February 13, 2006, 166 Posts, 1818 Comments

Comment posted by Gabi Lach on May 28, 2009 at 9:33 AM

Very lovely, Floris. White little flowers are very refreshing here. Great shot.

Registered on May 1, 2007, 101 Posts, 3187 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Dawson on May 28, 2009 at 9:42 AM

This is just sublime, fantastic vision and processing of simple beauty

Registered on February 4, 2006, 364 Posts, 8872 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Baumbach on May 28, 2009 at 10:11 AM

Beautiful. Nice work.

- Dan.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 473 Posts, 7980 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on May 28, 2009 at 10:14 AM

Beautiful image! Love the light on the trees. Nice selective focus too. Excellent!

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Anish Desai on May 28, 2009 at 10:36 AM

I like this one a lot more than your previous post. Not that the other wasn't a nice image, but this one is a lot more original in terms of composition and DOF. I think this is processed beautifully. Had you used a smaller aperture, the background highlights would've been overwhelming. Here they perfectly compliment the foreground flowers. Well done, Floris.

Anish

Registered on May 23, 2009, 49 Posts, 410 Comments

Comment posted by Paul Breitkreuz on May 28, 2009 at 10:39 AM

This one really is excellent, Floris. I feel the BG tree color and DOF sets this scene up perfectly.

Registered on February 25, 2006, 525 Posts, 8448 Comments

Comment posted by Stan Rose on May 28, 2009 at 10:50 AM

Very purty! I like the select focus.

Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments

Comment posted by Chris Chamberlain on May 28, 2009 at 10:54 AM

Beautiful colors, and elegant composition. This really is one of the most elegant, and beautiful combinations in nature, I think. It isn't always easy to show that in a comp, but you have done that to perfection here. I have not seen the soft focus on the background trees done too much before. For that reason, I think it will take some getting used to for me. But I do find that I like it more and more each time I come back to it.

Chris

Registered on March 13, 2007, 500 Posts, 8365 Comments

Comment posted by Paul Marcellini on May 28, 2009 at 11:14 AM

Much better now Floris.

Registered on November 27, 2007, 250 Posts, 2468 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Lawson on May 28, 2009 at 11:55 AM

I like the dogwood filling the frame and using the sequoias as a background. Love the light on the sequoias and the choice to have them slightly out of focus. Good job cleaning up those twigs too, just checked the one you posted in flora. Very well done. Quite original too.

Registered on March 3, 2008, 29 Posts, 337 Comments

Comment posted by Jimmy Gekas on May 28, 2009 at 12:57 PM

Awesome! Great comp and use of shallow dof. I really think the light on the trunks is perfect.

Registered on July 26, 2007, 244 Posts, 2807 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on May 28, 2009 at 12:59 PM

I love how those dogwoods just pop off the screen Floris. Excellent perspective and processing.

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by Danny Laureys on May 28, 2009 at 1:18 PM

This is beautiful, love the light and colors

Registered on January 5, 2008, 590 Posts, 1261 Comments

Comment posted by Greg Cope on May 28, 2009 at 1:38 PM

Excellent image Floris. I really like the dof, and the light is just outstanding and really accentuates everything else in this.

Registered on January 22, 2007, 212 Posts, 2737 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on May 28, 2009 at 1:53 PM

Floris,

I try and refrain from making statements like this... but I can't help it. This has got to be one of the best dogwood/redwood images I've seen. this is exceptional! The light on the sequoias is gorgeous, yet doesn't overpower the scene and take away from the dogwood blossoms.

You did a great job in taking away background brush and that made a considerable difference in the final image.

I knew from the thumbnail this was going to be special and I wasn't dissappointed. Wow.

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Joel Hazelton on May 28, 2009 at 2:35 PM

I like everything about it

Registered on August 6, 2008, 194 Posts, 1315 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Lundh on May 28, 2009 at 2:54 PM

Love it! the DOF is perfect here...

Registered on April 28, 2004, 774 Posts, 4351 Comments

Comment posted by Carlos Molina on May 28, 2009 at 2:55 PM

Floris,

Absolutley beautiful. It is truly enticing to the eye.

Registered on March 17, 2009, 40 Posts, 393 Comments

Comment posted by Aaron Burdick on May 28, 2009 at 4:19 PM

Really really sweet! I would clone the green leaves from the LLC though.

Registered on May 1, 2009, 31 Posts, 197 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on May 28, 2009 at 7:38 PM

Yep, just as good here as over on the Flora gallery. Wonderful work.

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments

Comment posted by Rodney Dugmore on May 28, 2009 at 9:20 PM

Magic Flois
Words fail me
Fantastic

Registered on January 3, 2004, 76 Posts, 1028 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on May 28, 2009 at 10:07 PM

The cleanup has done an excellent job of removing distractions and creating a laser focus on the flower and trunks. Very, very well done.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Zack Schnepf on May 28, 2009 at 11:28 PM

This is a real winner! Well seen and photographed.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 403 Posts, 2528 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Pelton on May 28, 2009 at 11:34 PM

Fabulous image, Floris. Great concept; just beautiful.

Registered on November 25, 2003, 380 Posts, 4647 Comments

Comment posted by Adrian Klein on May 28, 2009 at 11:49 PM

Superb Floris, nothing left to say!

Registered on June 10, 2007, 112 Posts, 1506 Comments

Comment posted by Balakumar Kaushik on May 29, 2009 at 8:06 AM

Floris, I saw the original on flora section. This is much better improvement. Love the contrast in terms of colour & luminosity this image offers. Simply love this image from you. Well seen.
The PP u've done on this one as compared to the original is phenomenal. Am very curious to know about the curves adjustment that you mentioned - if you do mind sharing.

Registered on January 4, 2008, 98 Posts, 1403 Comments

Comment posted by Floris van Breugel on May 29, 2009 at 12:40 PM

Thanks Balakumar, as far as the curves.. I basically just played around with the curve, essentially just making the part of the curve that contained the twigs a lot darker while gently letting the curve go to 'normal' outside that region. Then I hand painted my mask. Having used the curves as I described it mean that the masking was easier to do as the curve doesn't have much effect on the dogwood flowers.

Registered on December 19, 2008, 306 Posts, 4840 Comments

Comment posted by Anil Rao on May 29, 2009 at 9:55 PM

This is beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous in every sense.

Registered on November 15, 2003, 234 Posts, 4923 Comments

Comment posted by Kent Mearig on May 30, 2009 at 12:47 PM

Love it, everything about it!

Registered on September 4, 2006, 237 Posts, 4748 Comments

Comment posted by Jay Patel on June 1, 2009 at 4:32 PM

Beautiful light and fantastic colors in the image. The reds in the redwood looks a bit too red to me, but I was not at the scene to know the light conditions under which this image was created. Excellent work.

-Jay

Registered on August 28, 2008, 87 Posts, 566 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Fach on June 1, 2009 at 10:03 PM

Floris: I'm delighted that this got the EP here in ES&S. I had it as a finalist in Flora as well. Just a marvelous scene superbly captured and rendered.>=))>

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments

Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on June 2, 2009 at 3:29 AM

Oh yeah! Just great you received the EP for this stunning image, Floris! One of my all time favorite shots featured in the NPN galleries.

Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments

Comment posted by Roger Rouch on June 2, 2009 at 9:05 PM

Seems like I can check into the forums most every day and still miss something, as I originally miss this one. It is outstanding! The processing and use of DOF are creative and make the image. Congrats on EP!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 159 Posts, 1014 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on June 2, 2009 at 9:49 PM

Congrats on the double EP! Great work.

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments

Comment posted by Floris van Breugel on June 4, 2009 at 12:48 AM

Thanks everyone for the incredibly kind words, and the honor of EP(s)!

Registered on December 19, 2008, 306 Posts, 4840 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Bullard on June 15, 2009 at 6:47 PM

Awesome. I love it.

Registered on February 4, 2009, 30 Posts, 128 Comments

Comment posted by Marc Ward on July 9, 2009 at 8:46 PM

Floris,
I've been busy and somehow missed this. What a great image!... so glad I went to the Editors Pick section. Well seen and captured. The DOF is perfect.

Registered on February 26, 2009, 304 Posts, 1365 Comments

Comment posted by Navin Sarma on January 24, 2014 at 4:48 PM

Registered on July 17, 2011, 233 Posts, 1373 Comments