Hoh Rainforest

A small stream cuts through the rainforest foliage of Sword Ferns, Sitka Spruce and Maples draped in mosses. A soft light cast unto the scene briefly adding a little extra ambiance. The diffusion effect most apparent in the background was acheived by rubbing a damp cloth on the lens. I thought it added somewhat of a peaceful, magical feel to the image.

Thanks for commenting. This was taken in late May.

This does have a peaceful overall feel to it. I think the softness really works well here. I'm a little bummed the stream is cut off though.

I looked at this one for 4-5 minutes and really like it a lot Marx. .. a whole lot.
JG

Neat! I really like the fern action - and the diffusion gives me the feeling of actually being there to experience it..

Hmm... I admit, it has never occurred to me to PUT fog on my lens..! I can't say that I love the effect, Marc, but the comp is beautiful, and it does give a sense of being out there in the rain (as do the somewhat reflective fronds in the foreground). The only thing that is off for me is being slightly too far into the yellows. That bank of sword fern and what look to be Sitka spruce in the mid-ground is fantastic. You've got a terrific eye for spotting elements like that!

I love the effect, it gives that moody feel I often have in our forests, something I find hard to capture. I agree with Tom on the yellows; I think my eye always sees the greens as less yellow than the camera.

Yeah, I agree it's a bit too warm. I thought it might look more inviting that way, but now I'm not sure.

This seems different from many of your others. I like it. I think it was kind of creative to use the damp cloth in the way you did and the end result proves that.

Hey, great idea, Marc. Most of us are out there trying to keep our lenses dry! Who'd thunk?

The second image is much better, I think, with the greens. The creek is better too.

It's a good shot, but it looks HDR-like. My personal preference is for photos that look real.

I guess you just have to determine whether you want to capture what you saw or what you felt being there. I like to go with a little of both.

Amen to that, Marc. Color looks great on the second version, though still struggling with the "special effect". To me, it exaggerates the lightness of the upper right corner to look washed out, and the darkness of the lower left to look muddy. It's a great scene, though - truly captures the "rainforest" as such.

2nd version better but the greens are still a tad heavy in the yellow-ish direction. I've done the damp cloth approach before. I've seen photos taken where people up vasoline on the lens that were really out there (in a good way for me). I like the effect.

I recall you posting this about a month ago for a couple seconds; I have a surprisingly-quick-reaction time when Adamus appears on the screen. Glad to see it has returned from the photo grave.

Presumably, the main hump would be getting the softness evenly distributed with this technique. Not having went for this deliberately, moisture has only resulted in large-unappealing flares for me. How many attempts did you make before you got this effect?

Vasoline sounds like an interesting approach, John. Now explaining to the others why you are toting it around all the time may be even more interesting.

It must be difficult to find graceful comps like this in the deep forest. This looks really good to me and I like the mist-on-the-lens-effect. Speaking of lens misting techniques, in autumn of 1974 I breathed on the lens of my old Nikon for a shot of a backlit Vine Maple branch. It was morning and the cold lens took my breath like shower fog on a bathroom mirror. The shot came out pretty strange, not altogether bad. It's definitely a technique with promise if handled right (like Marc has here). If I can find that shot I'll post it.