Rainforest Layers

From the bank of a wilderness section of Washington's Quinault rainforest in a steady rain.

Thanks for comments.

This is "nice" but it's not typical Marc Adamus quality.

I figured you would like it if anyone would, Mark. It's so subtle. It's not my usual style, but it really captured the essence of the area I thought. I may have other compositions from the background forest that work better.

I like it, Marc - and disagree that it's a departure from your more dramatic compositions. The muted colors are subtle, but the sweep of the clouds pressing through the old growth forest in the background is very dramatic. It does a beautiful job of capturing "ecosystem" -- your title is perfect. I like the framing of the red alder trunks in the foreground against a grove of cottonwood, with the old growth conifers in the background, in particular. Very nice display of succession. You could probably bump up the saturation of the alders to make this more dramatic, and still keep it within the bounds of natural greens - but I like it a lot!

Tom

Thanks, Tom...I should have explained and said the LIGHT was not as dramatic, as found in my usual preferences for sunrise/sunset stuff - very soft here.

Well, you'll need a few of these images for the pages between the spectacular sunrise/sunset images in your coffe table book, Marc..!

Tom

Here's another version. I think this shows that the Alder layers - trunks specificly, add quite a bit to the first image, allthough I do like this more intimate perspective as well.

Yes, I like them both, Marc, for different reasons for each. The first image depicts the rain forest environment here in PNW so well. The second image is more about pattern and the layering of the mist among the trees, at least to me.

Having spent much time in conditions like these, I can certainly appreciate these offerings.With an area that flirts with 200 inches of rain a year, these certainly depict the area in its most common state. A forest hike while sodden carries its own level of unique enjoyment. If you are looking for a critique, I'd crop out the bush in LLC in #1.


How many days were you in onp, and what else do you have to share with us?

Oh, I have plenty else to share. Annie and I were there for 6 days. The highlight of the trip was getting a great, up close look at an unusually tame Barred Owl in the Hoh. We also learned a lot about edible mushrooms in the area thanks to a guide book we picked up at the Forks ranger station. I rained every day we were there, fortunately, because it's just not the Olympics without the rain! We covered about 50 miles of rainforest and half that on the coast, hiking almost all of the time we weren't driving or sleeping. My only regret was there wasn't time to get out to Enchanted Valley, one of my favorite places anywhere.

Despite the rain, it appears you got at least one stellar sunset. I have never experienced any favorable conditions in the latter section of a rainy day there.Complete gray is typical. I hope you had better luck than I in regards to nice sunsets for the rest of your beach adventures.

Forks is full of all sorts of useful information and mexican restaurants designed from old gas stations. They could patent an olympic mushroom pizza of somesort if they truly wanted to.

Personally I like these types of images. To me its all about showing emotion, particularly the emotion the artist felt while viewing the scene. Working with subtle colors and a muted scene is sometimes more difficult and can create a real challenge. You don't have that dramatic light to carry the image. The drama must come from other elements which are much less in your face.

Both are good, but not great. That said, I wouldn't mind the first as wall paper in one of those meeting rooms at work I tend to spending at lot of time lately

I really like both images Marc! I'm a sucker for atmospherics like this, beautiful!

First one looks like a snapshot, second one looks like it's got more mood. Doesn't hit the 100% mark for this form of image, but I know that it would look better in a frame (like all or our work). It's nice, and I can certinly see it in a book that depicts the climate of the Olympics.

2nd one I find more interesting because the shapes are more clearly defined and the mood is thick in the trees. I see what you were going after in the 1st one, the layer after layer is beautiful and not easy to find up there from my very limited time spent there so far.

Considering I haven't seem many images like this from up there, I'd say these are speical in a different way compared to the "oh my God" shots