Ephemeral Dogwood

Gallery: LandscapePosted February 10, 2011348 views11 comments

Thank you for all of the comments on my post last week.

This is an image from Great Smoky Mountains NP taken last spring. It was raining and late in the day when this scene caught my eye. I really liked the ephemeral appearance of the Dogwood blooms against the simplicity of misty green forest. I was inspired to post this by Nick Bristol's last post. The image is a blend of two exposures to achieve a better balance between the brightness of the dogwood blooms against the background of the forest, then I desaturated the greens a touch. Large file attached.

D200, 80-200 f/2.8 @ 80mm, f/8, ISO 100

Thanks for looking/commenting.

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Jason Kim on February 11, 2011 at 12:13 AM

Wow, this is gorgeous. I really like the subtle color and atmosphere in the forest, and the way the blossoms pop out from the scene. This is great the way it is, but I think it would also work well if you decreased the brightness of the flowers just a bit, so that there isn't quite as much contrast between them and the trees. Beautiful.

Registered on July 1, 2006, 60 Posts, 1233 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Smith on February 11, 2011 at 12:53 AM

Matthew, this excels in composition and tones...I like the subtle background and grey-greens. The dynamic range had to be difficult to reconcile. Nicely done!

Registered on September 5, 2008, 449 Posts, 2444 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on February 11, 2011 at 4:53 AM

Wonderful. Nicely done.

Registered on September 1, 2009, 588 Posts, 8184 Comments

Comment posted by Andreas Resch on February 11, 2011 at 6:57 AM

Nice layered composition and mood, Matthew. The colors feels a little cold and a bit on the blue side - I can imagine a slide movement towards yellow and red to work quite well too.

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

Comment posted by Mitch Erwin on February 11, 2011 at 9:35 AM

Matt,

A great composition here and those Dogwood blooms really pop out! I'd like to see the greens on the left and that flow up into the upper canopy pop more in this though! Not a deal breaker by any means though!

Registered on April 24, 2006, 98 Posts, 656 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on February 11, 2011 at 10:56 AM

This is very nice, Matthew. I really like how the Dogwood blooms stand out against the bg. This is very appealing to me. I enjoy your comp too. Well done, and thanks for the nice comment. I need to spend some time in the Smoky Mountains!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Mel Ladewig on February 11, 2011 at 2:34 PM

I'm always a fan of these scenes of dogwoods in the forest, and this is no exception. A fine image Matthew.

Registered on July 24, 2005, 114 Posts, 1205 Comments

Comment posted by Alex Mody on February 11, 2011 at 3:10 PM

Excellent vision of a scene I miss seeing so dearly!

Registered on December 25, 2007, 163 Posts, 1896 Comments

Comment posted by Vance Gese on February 11, 2011 at 11:39 PM

Love the composition, and you handled the whites of the blossoms very well. The touch of fog really adds to the mood of this beautiful image.

Registered on November 13, 2008, 298 Posts, 6629 Comments

Comment posted by Raymond D Smith on February 12, 2011 at 10:24 AM

Very well done and highly effective Mathew. I will go against Andreas in his colour critique(I have yet to disagree with his colour recommendations yet), I like the cold blue colours here. It feels like a spring morning in the woods. Cheers

Registered on January 22, 2009, 12 Posts, 479 Comments

Comment posted by Tyson Fisher on February 12, 2011 at 5:38 PM

Very nice, Matthew! I've always wanted to capture a dogwood shot like this. Looks like you handled the range of contrast pretty nicely. The dogwood flowers might be a tad bright, but I am looking at this on my laptop.

Registered on September 17, 2008, 44 Posts, 623 Comments