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Forgotten Oak
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Forgotten Oak

by Helio Cristovao

Gallery: LandscapePosted April 1, 2010232 views9 comments

Southeast Alentejo.
Near Vale do Guadiana Natural Park, Portugal


Last Monday I was so tired from the last trip to the south coastal limits of the country, I came back from a 24 hour journey, being awake (barely slept in the car for some few moments) for about 40 hours straight. I traveled by night from Cape St. Vincent to Lisbon on Sunday, arrived at 1:30 a.m. and slept a few hours, just before leaving on a two and half hour trip again at 6:30 a.m. to South Alentejo plains on work. Had to make 2 stops on the Highway...
At the end of the day, incoming storms from Southwest were taking place, and the high drama of the scenery just made me forget how much I needed to rest - well, just as if I could under these conditions :))
I grabbed the car and drove into some nice plains nearby. Got all wet on the field, the rain was becoming quite intense, got back to the car, found shelter on some trees... In an hour - during this stormy sunset - light, clouds, winds, all was changing in a matter of seconds - all the time, quite some colors and plains drama.

This rendition is one of my first attempts, I had to be allays very quick, quite some adrenaline back there, but as soon as the sun beams start to burst the clouds, I started shooting.

Technically this is hard stuff. Contrast was just too much, I made 3 shots and manually blended them, with the following exposures, taken in 15mm wide lens:

sky:
1/30s f/19 ISO200

Sun beams enhancement:
1/60s

field:
1/60s f/11 ISO1100


The strong wind and low light available in the wheat field "forced" me to expose as is to all lower portion of the scene. On larger version, some blur is visible, adding some more to the comp.

Processing took hours, as interpretation of the scene I kept in mind that I was working to have a natural feel and tones, and exhibit the overall light available.

Would like to know your thoughts, how does it look for you and are tones looking well in your opinion?
Thanks for reading and comments.

Comments

9 comments
Comment posted by Rui Vieira on April 1, 2010 at 9:22 AM
Great shot Hélio :toast: very dramatic and with lots of impact. The colors are great and very natural. The post processing seems right to me. IMO you can improve the top center of the tree because i think that there is (as seems to me) a flare that catch my attention, but its a small minor that can be improved in processing. Apart of that fantastic shot ;)
Registered on September 11, 2008, 39 Posts, 246 Comments
Comment posted by Nicolas Belokurov on April 1, 2010 at 9:40 AM
Looks good to me. I'm not sure about the centered horizon in this case, probably be tempted to crop a bit of the sky. Wonderful image however.
Registered on July 22, 2009, 41 Posts, 533 Comments
Comment posted by Zack Schnepf on April 1, 2010 at 10:56 AM
Beautiful shot! Processing looks spot on, I love the dramatic sky and the sun peeking through. I did notice the flare mentioned by Rui, it doesn't bother much and is not a difficult fix. Great image!
Registered on November 1, 2003, 403 Posts, 2528 Comments
Comment posted by Mat Malone on April 1, 2010 at 12:23 PM
Wow this is awesome! As dramatic as that sky is I would crop a little from the top, to put more focus on the tree and the sun. Well done!
Registered on December 15, 2008, 91 Posts, 882 Comments
Comment posted by Dean Sauskojus on April 1, 2010 at 3:20 PM
What a beauty! I would say it was very well worth the effort and time. Can't say enough.
Registered on September 29, 2009, 137 Posts, 2659 Comments
Comment posted by Daniel & Loana on April 1, 2010 at 4:32 PM
I like this very much. You managed the exposure very well.

Congrats

D&L
Registered on October 7, 2008, 166 Posts, 3044 Comments
Comment posted by Daniel Cartamil on April 1, 2010 at 8:44 PM
I love this, and thank you for the explanation. Very compelling and well-processed. For some reason it bugs me a bit that the tree shadow seems to be directly under the tree, while the sun is coming from the side - but thats just because I'm somewhat neurotic. Nice job...
Registered on November 15, 2007, 50 Posts, 601 Comments
Comment posted by Helio Cristovao on April 2, 2010 at 11:09 AM
Thanks for comments so far :)

@Rui, @Zack,
About the "flare", yes, noticed it, but IMO guess it even adds a nice touch ;)

@Daniel:
yep.. but the shadow is simply the light playing, nothing added or subtracted there...
Registered on September 15, 2009, 83 Posts, 434 Comments
Comment posted by Bill Chambers on April 3, 2010 at 10:37 PM
This is inspiring Helio! A beautiful scene. I'm really attracted to the gorgeously lit FG, and the beauty just keeps going all the way through the image.
Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments