Trunk Full of Aspen II

Gallery: LandscapePosted January 17, 2016363 views22 comments

Very curious as to your thoughts on this one. Although I'm always on the lookout, it's not often to be able to find a composition in order to stack aspen trunks all in one frame. I don't mean focus stack, I just mean filling the frame with aspen trunks. The bonus here is the lone leaf. But also, I shot through a few others - and so I'm wondering if the oof yellow is a plus or a distraction? Hopefully it's obvious enough, and the intent was to be a positive. But the jury hasn't rendered it's decision yet.

This was found/captured at the far end of Lundy Canyon in the Eastern Sierra where the dirt road ends and the trail begins. I found lot's of opportunity here, including the last image post

I would love to hear your opinions, critiques and suggestions on this one.

Nikon D700
Nikon 28-300mmVR @210mm
f/6.2, 2-image focus stack.

Thanks!

ps.Regarding the title, the "II" is because I had an image I named this from 1993 in 35mm

Comments

22 comments

Comment posted by gary phillips on January 17, 2016 at 10:37 PM

You know, Lon, I really like this. At first I thought, "what is he up to?", especially from the thumb. The 720 opened it up considerably and the large is really special. I would think that if there was only one OOF leaf, it would be a distraction, but there is enough yellow/gold permeating the frame to carry the image IMO. Very unique and very cool.

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

Comment posted by Dave Dillemuth on January 17, 2016 at 10:52 PM

Lon,
Excellent - I love the originality here. This is a strong image due to the unconventional perspective. Initial reaction was thinking that I wanted those OOF leaves in focus but as I look more, I actually prefer the yellow splotches of color created by the OOF leaves. This adds a bit of an abstract element and additional visual impact. Great work!

Registered on December 10, 2015, 104 Posts, 1112 Comments

Comment posted by Alberto Patiño on January 17, 2016 at 11:09 PM

The lone leaf really "makes" the picture for me, Lon, even more so than the stack, but of course you need the stack to get that effect from the leaf!! On the fence about the yellow patches. I think that I would prefer not to have them, but I can also talk my way into thinking "those close-by leaves really belong there". Whatever, I would NOT attempt to clone them out !!

Registered on December 2, 2014, 278 Posts, 1736 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Fach on January 17, 2016 at 11:11 PM

Lon: In Flora we call this a cram when you shoot through near foliage. Therefore this works really well for me. Really nice find and a fine capture. >=))>

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

Comment posted by Sairam Sundaresan on January 17, 2016 at 11:23 PM

Incredible, Lon! This is so simple and yet so beautiful! The out of focus leaves almost appear like they are falling down, giving a sense of the transient nature of these beautiful trees. No nits, just applause from me. :)

Registered on March 14, 2013, 100 Posts, 643 Comments

Comment posted by Ian Cameron on January 18, 2016 at 3:26 AM

Superb just the sort of image I really like. The yellow leafed out of focus confetti gives the subliminal message of autumn and the trees are beautifully crisp and clean in their overlapping form.

Registered on August 6, 2004, 1125 Posts, 3318 Comments

Comment posted by scott lanz on January 18, 2016 at 7:43 AM

Very nice, Lon. An artistic image of these aspens. I like the overlapping tree trunks and the oof leaves. Well done.

Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on January 18, 2016 at 10:39 AM

Awesome look at the Aspen trunks, Lon, especially set off by those diffuse golden glows from the oof leaves. Those add a fine sense of magic/mystery.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Roel Wijtmans on January 18, 2016 at 12:53 PM

Nice added detail with that pair of leaves peeking from behind the tree. Very creative keeping those oof leaves in the frame, they make you wonder what is going on, until you realize they are oof leaves. I like them!

Registered on September 30, 2012, 116 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by Gary McGhee on January 18, 2016 at 2:36 PM

The OOF yellow leaves definitely add a bit of magic to this Lon, they seperate it from other similar shots.

Gary.

Registered on April 15, 2010, 142 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Igor Hoveijn on January 18, 2016 at 2:53 PM

This is very nice imo. The tree trunks alone already are a fine combination and the yellow oof leaves are a bonus rather than a distraction. I like the contrast between the almost harsh graphical black and white of the trees and the soft forms and colours of the oofs. But even without leaves it would make a nice composition. Like it.

Registered on November 2, 2015, 18 Posts, 192 Comments

Comment posted by Chris Chamberlain on January 18, 2016 at 6:01 PM

Nice! Probably one of the coolest Aspen stacks I have seen.

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

Comment posted by Kathy Barnhart on January 18, 2016 at 6:56 PM

Unique take on a subject that has been photographed quite a few times. Love the blurred yellow leaves and the sharpness of the white trunks. Really appealing and creative.

Registered on November 11, 2011, 404 Posts, 1639 Comments

Comment posted by Marylynne Diggs on January 18, 2016 at 6:59 PM

I really like this, Lon. For me, the oof gold leaves are even more important than the lone leaf. No nits at all. Very artistic image.
ML

Registered on December 14, 2010, 122 Posts, 1034 Comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on January 18, 2016 at 8:36 PM

I'm still trying to visualize how you pulled this off with only 2 images stacked at f 6.2. The Aspen must have been very close together as they often are. Everyone seems to like it and I do too. The oof and the focused leaves are distributed in such a way that this works. There are a few places where the trunks seem to be double exposed but I am guessing that is just the bark.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by Albert Darmo on January 18, 2016 at 10:53 PM

HI Lon

This is so creative and inspiring, frown

that i must attempt to try to do something like this myself. agree with Dave that the splashes of yellow add to the fine abstract qualities of the image

Albert Darmo
Canada

Registered on November 25, 2008, 1386 Posts, 11978 Comments

Comment posted by Stuart Williams on January 19, 2016 at 1:53 AM

well seen lon. I find myself wishing for even more washes of that gorgeous yellow ...

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

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on January 19, 2016 at 11:53 AM

Beautiful Lon. I wish we had Aspens in the south! The yellowish, OOF leaves are a slight disturbance for me but nothing major.

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

Comment posted by Dietrich Gloger on January 19, 2016 at 12:49 PM

I think this is quite special. The out of focus leaves caught my immediate attention, in a positive way, as they add a lot of artistic merit and concept to the composition. Very creative and very well executed.

Registered on January 26, 2007, 360 Posts, 9876 Comments

Comment posted by Ryan Shain on January 19, 2016 at 8:22 PM

HI Lon,

This image works very well in my book. The aspen trunks are the main subject, and they clean clear, and crisply displayed. Then, you have the Yellow apparitions around the edges of the frame. There is the one branch of leaves that are still, while theothers seem to be falling to the ground.

For me, this adds to the story of autumn. I think it very artistic in how you see autumn and how the Aspen trees are a part of that vision.

Superb work Lon devil

Registered on February 20, 2007, 226 Posts, 4571 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on January 19, 2016 at 8:28 PM

I think the sharp leafs give a clue to the viewer what the OOF yellow areas are. So it works for me. Might have been interesting to see the image with varying amounts of focus and see what the result would have been. Nice tight comp. Looks like you came away with a lot of nice shots from that area of the Sierra.

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on January 19, 2016 at 8:40 PM

Thank you everyone for your comments, I truly appreciate it!

I wish I had experimented more. As far as a 2-image stitch, the master file isn't as impressive as the online presentation would lead you to believe. The front right trunk is soft, so that didn't make the focus stack, but some sharpening and contrast adjustments throughout helped mask things. That small lone leaf is in focus, but turns out it wasn't as important to many of you.

@David - there are some stacking anomalies as well as some crude cloning. There was/is a gap between a couple trees in the UR area where I did some cloning.

Definitely something I will keep in mind on future outings (next fall...)

Thanks again.

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