The Band Leader

Harley,

You sure have a knack and keen eye in composing these grand landscapes.  Love this one. While this one doesn't contain any sky or clouds, it certainly fits in the wide-open spaces theme.  No nits at all.  An observation would be the front lighting, which renders the far aspens a little flat. Fortunately the larger view looks more vibrant.  The processing is spot on, especially considering the light is coming up over your shoulder. Excellent job waiting for the right moment - I'm glad you kept, included the shadow at the bottom.  Well done!

Lon

Very nice, expansive forest scene. The tension between the lone tree and the background hillside works well. I think I might play with taking a slice off the bottom to reduce the foreground that is in deep shadow as I'm not sure it adds much. Also, I would raise the white point/increase vibrance of the yellows of the trees in the upper left as they look a bit muddy.

Fine late season fall image, Harley. Aspens have such great form. The use of the lone tree is effective as are the zig-zagging tree lines. 

Great title, Harley, and it fits perfectly. The large version is a must-see, for sure since it does appear more vibrant. I agree with Lon's comment about the contrast of the far aspens.

At least to me, the dark area at the bottom is a tad too deep in tonality. I am unsure if you could pull more detail there, but it would be worth looking into, as this is a very nice image.
--P

Harley, The larger version is certainly a must look I think. I like this comp and the lone tree in the foreground. I'm also fine with the shadow across the bottom as it just seems to add something extra to the image. The cow story was fun and that is quite the hidden talent you have. Your talent also shows up with the camera! 

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI.

I can certainly attest to chill in the air that morning. As to your cow talking abilities, I'll leave that to the bovine communication authorities.  Nice image Harley,  I like the dark shadow line, I only wish the sun had arrived a little sooner cause it was damned cold.

A couple of comments, Harley. I feel that the point of focus, the tree, is not prominent enough and the shadow is too pominent. I would lighten up the shadow a bit and add contrast so that the bushes can be seen more clearly in that darkness. I'm not sure how to draw more attention to the tree than you have already done. Perhaps a crop off the top lets you play the tree off the row behind it. That would give a layered comp with shadow, sagebrush, and tree stand forming layers and the round tree would offset the pattern. 

That isolated tree with the sweeping tree covered slopes behind creates some fine tension, Harley.  The added brightness (and color) in the larger view improve this view considerably.  I find the darkest strip along the bottom a bit heavy.

Nice ` catch ', Harley - that lone tree makes the image for me ( even without the cow )  The sombre yellow, brown and green tones make for a very pleasing palette.

That's cold! Kudos for braving it, and the cow, I really like that lone guy! A shot zoomed in to catch that tree with just the the bottom shadow and the brush covered background would be cool too, but you would have had to have had more lens