Autumn Aspens

Gallery: LandscapePosted March 13, 20141,722 views15 comments

Realizing that this is somewhat out of season, I thought I would get your thoughts on an image made one autumn a number of years ago in the Matanuska River Valley of Alaska. I had visited this grove of aspens several times over the years but finally came upon this composition that seemed to work. Just got around to scanning this last week.
4x5, 120mm, Velvia, warm polarizer. Microtek M1 flatbed scan, Tony Kuyper's always remarkable masks and others.

Please take a gander at the larger image.

Thanks for all the great comments on the last image and thank you in advance for any suggestions and ideas on this one.

Comments

15 comments

Comment posted by Paul Breitkreuz on March 13, 2014 at 7:56 PM

Matanuska River Valley of Alaska.

Vance, I recall this area very well. This is excellent all the way around......gorgeous work with the 4x5 and Velvia. Obviously, no issues with the M1 here either.......

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

Comment posted by Daniel Finchum on March 13, 2014 at 9:01 PM

The comp definitely caught my eye. It has a marvelous display of colors and they complement the white barked trees wonderfully. Beautiful work Vance.

Registered on September 8, 2013, 43 Posts, 222 Comments

Comment posted by Tareq Alhamrani on March 13, 2014 at 9:16 PM

Wonderful shot, nice to see more of large format images, i hope one day i can shoot more with large format or at least getting to blow the dust of my un-used large format, truly it can produce amazing results as you did.

Registered on October 17, 2013, 7 Posts, 41 Comments

Comment posted by Vance Gese on March 13, 2014 at 9:39 PM

Paul, Daniel, and Tareq, thank you for your nice comments. Really appreciate it.

Paul, meant to thank you for your suggestions and relating your experiences with Microtek scanners that you provided with my previous post. I came across the method of cleaning the M1 a couple years ago but still seem to have problems with some images, especially images with lots of sky. The scanner seemed to do fine with this 4x5 though.
Thanks again for your help.

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

Comment posted by Dan Kearl on March 13, 2014 at 11:44 PM

Excellent composition, the forest carpet floor set this apart from many similar aspen photos.

Registered on September 2, 2013, 209 Posts, 1514 Comments

Comment posted by gary phillips on March 14, 2014 at 1:34 AM

Vance, I would hang this anywhere in my house. As much as I enjoyed your last post, I might actually like this better, if that's possible. Outstanding in it's vibrancy, clarity, and composition. Magnificent work.

Registered on October 24, 2013, 185 Posts, 4136 Comments

Comment posted by Jared Warren on March 14, 2014 at 2:26 AM

This is wonderful, Vance. Gorgeous color and a unique, engaging composition. The color in the ground cover is particularly nice.

Registered on May 11, 2012, 84 Posts, 931 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on March 14, 2014 at 11:00 AM

Gorgeous Vance. Beautiful throughout!

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on March 14, 2014 at 11:54 AM

Beautiful, Vance. Great colors and excellent scene.

Maybe someday after I retire I will wander up to Alaska. Never been up there.

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

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on March 14, 2014 at 3:58 PM

This is a beautiful image, Vance. Great subject, wonderful comp, light and color. I really enjoy looking at this! The large version feels like I could walk right in to the scene.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

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

Comment posted by Thomas Miller on March 14, 2014 at 4:55 PM

Wonderful capture!

Registered on March 10, 2011, 56 Posts, 56 Comments

Comment posted by Nathan Apodaca on March 14, 2014 at 5:37 PM

The colors are so vibrant, and the trunks contrasting enough with the forest floor, it makes it a very unique image...

Registered on November 16, 2011, 67 Posts, 1127 Comments

Comment posted by Genny K. on March 14, 2014 at 9:32 PM

I really like this, Vance. The centered comp is unusual, and really catches my eye. It's so different from the usual "leading you in" comp. It almost makes me want to stop before I walk into that first tree!
You caught the colors at the perfect time. Sweet, absolutely sweet.

Registered on June 5, 2006, 132 Posts, 2001 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Reid on March 15, 2014 at 11:35 AM

Wonderful colors, textures and detail in this Vance. It just pops off the screen. Super job on this.

Registered on January 27, 2013, 65 Posts, 2460 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on March 15, 2014 at 5:44 PM

Beautiful image Vance. I really like the comp and certainly the detail and clarity. Gorgeous color too.

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