Wintert bristlecone

I applaud your determination to get this image. I do find the bright center to be distracting, the highlights seem blown out. It might be just me. I also think this is an image that needs a larger size than possible here to get the full inpact. Thanks very much for sharing.

Beautiful image, and I can live with that highlight with no problem. The tree gesture is very pleasant.

Excellent comp. I like the light, but think you might run this through ACR/lens corrections and reverse the vignette to balance the light a little more. I realize this is a personal preference, but feel it's a tad too strong here giving this a spotlight appearance.

Highlights not a big problem for me either. I don't think they are quite blown so you could probably bring them down a tad. It's a unique comp - I like it. Maybe a slight crop on the left.

Beautiful photo. Nice arrangement of trees. Is this Provia?

- Dan.

Beautiful, blue light on a wonderful subject. I would try to take the highlights down a little.

I like this a lot, well done!

Kudos to you for making the trip out there, that is no easy task. It's nice to see these ancient trees in winter conditions, and this comp tells a story of their struggle against the elements. If this were mine, I would probably tone down the cyan in the snow and sky, and do some selective burning/mask work to darken the stormy skies and increase the moodiness here.

Rob,

First of all, welcome to NPN and the Landscape gallery! Great to have yet another fellow LF shooter here!

Wow, 65mm and you still barely got this beautiful specimen in the frame. Personally, I think I like the brightness in the center and behind the tree. It kinda gives it a divine glow or something like that. I suspect though, no center filter on the Schneider?

And even considering the vertical subject, I like your horizontal framing too, especially since you're including the other trees in background. Although you could perhaps pull back on the blue, I think this looks good. I like this a lot.

Welcome aboard and we look forward to your images and participation.

Lon

Only one picture in 4 days. Now that's dedication This quite lovely. I like the halo of light in the center of the frame around the bristle cone.

Many thanks for all comments - much appreciated. The film was Velvia, but it was late in the day, which could contribute to a blue cast. When I get a chance I'll rework those highlights and resubmit.

Thankyou also for the welcome!

At that rate it works out to 91 worthwhile photos a year. I think that's better than my rate of success! This is great! I haven't seen these trees done like this. I might bring the BG brightness down just a bit.

I wonder how the BW version look.

Really nice shot you've got here. I agree about trying to bring down the bright sky, but I can see it being difficult to select given the snow on the tree is so bright. Those Bristlecones are so amazing. Nice job.

Your composition is superb, Rob, with the horizontal framing, the lean of the trees, and including the background trees really gives one a sense of the severe winds that these trees must endure. Tremendously dynamic in my opinion. Love the warm tones and color in the trees. While I might try and bring done some of the brightness in the sky, as has been mentioned, it works quite well as presented. Beautiful image, and welcome to NPN. Hope to see more of your LF work.

I think most photographers struggle to capture a realistic feel to photographs, you certainly did that here and I like the moody blue tones, they just seem to fit the day.

Wonderful image! These powerful subjects are very well composed. I do think it's too tight though. I would definitely prefer more space between the subjects and the frame especially below and above. Love the blue cast by the way. Nice work.

Well, re-cropped and de-vignetted, a different image, I think a better one. What do others think?

Even better with the fixed center hilight issue! I liked the vignetting and colors of the snow in the first version. The blue tones in the snow were had a continuous tone that blended in with each other but now it's more noticeable with the extra added cyan in the second version. The vignetting helped draw the eyes to the bristlecones. I would just fix the sky and only the snow on the tree where needed since the tree has more pop in the first version. That's my suggestions, either way this a great view and I'd love to have something like this in my portfolio Rob!!

I really like the spacing of elements in this image, and the halo effect of the bright portion of the sky behind the main tree, helping to lead the eye. Nicely done!

Rob,
Loved the tree here. Absolutelly wonderful. The light - to me - seems also a bit burned up, but still a wonderful image anyway.

Beautiful image Rob. The second has much better balance in light values causing the viewer to focus more on the tree without the blinding highlights. This as a large print, absolutely fabulous! I love it.

Rob,

Ooooh, love the repost. Maybe a little less cyan in the snow as Steve is mentioning, but this is getting real close. But I really like the tree and the "center filter" effect is still present with the sky in the repost and I like the results here.

thanks for taking the time to rework.

Lon

I think that the reworking is also not quite there. It was not a fantastic original scan of the trannie - a new scan is probably the next step.