Something a little different from me. Since i busted my wide-angle lens and ballhead last week, it was a good opportunity to try and look at stuff with fresh eyes, and experiment a bit. Its so easy to get caught up in the technicals of gear, and pixel peeping and what not that I decided to do a 180, and simplify for the weekend.
Where do you go when you have no wide lens and a busted tripod? Into the woods! Right?
So here is what I came up with. Taken with my good ol' rebel XT and a forked stick i used for a bi-pod! I said I was going to simplify...
Anywho, despite the urge to try and zoom out, and I couldn't anyway, I tried to focus more on the details and luminous light breaking through the morning fog. This has been worked in PS more than I usually would to try and emphasize the foggy backlight situation.
Let me know your honest opinions please. There has been a lot of healthy discusion around here lately regarding out of the "comfort-zone" type shots, and I enjoy everyone's perspectives.
I'm sorry to hear about your smashed up gear. That's tough. OTOH-- my goodness! This is wonderfully soft and dreamy. And it still has good detail and lots to look at as well as to feel the towering strength of the trees. Very cool!!
Not that I recommend breaking gear, but great going to open fresh eyes onto a familiar subject.
Posted by David Cobb on November 23, 2008 at 10:05 AM
Glad to see you experimenting Aaron. Forest images are difficult and you did well here, my only nit is the detail of the seedling gets a bit lost in the center brightness, otherwise this is a wonderful forest image.
David M. Cobb
Posted by Marc Adamus on November 23, 2008 at 12:11 PM
I really like this one, Aaron. My only nit would be the aforementioned brightness in the center, which slightly diminishes the impact of the bush between the trees. Not sure there's much that can be done to lessen that, however. I'd have to say, it definitely still works for me regardless.
This works for me.Nicely composed with atmosphere. I might reprocess the raw and tone down the central highlight, as it draws the eye away from the study of the forest details.
Posted by Paul DeCesare on November 23, 2008 at 1:50 PM
That IS a shame about your gear. However, "making due" turned out a great image! It is a bit bright up top, but nonetheless it invoked a WOW as soon as it appeared on my monitor. I really like this one!
Thanks for the comments. I actually let the highlights go on purpose, to try and convey the radiance of the sun that was starting to make its way down into the depths of the canyon. In the origial file the highlights are well in check. I migh try dialing them down a little and see if i like it. This was kind of a mad concoction of PS work done on the fly, so I hope I haven't covered my tracks to bad so I can still get at those highlight details.
Posted by Roman Johnston on November 24, 2008 at 10:08 AM
Making Due = Innovation......at least in this case. Very well done shot with a TON of atmosphere. Fresh perspectives and new eyes usually result in great images.
Normally I would agree with the others and console you about your gear, but if this is the result....your not gonna get a lot of sympathy from me...LOL!!! Somtimes our tough time push us outside of our envelopes...and I for one have learned to embrace them....it seems you have too.
Heres a version with the highlights a little more controlled. The white areas that still remain aren't blown out, they just don't have much detail. It was incredibly foggy that morning.
Posted by Joseph Campisi on November 24, 2008 at 8:34 PM
Wonderfully atmospheric, and very evocative. Looks almost IR. Love the beautiful backlighting, this positively glows. Where was this taken, Aaron?
Posted by Mark Hudon on November 24, 2008 at 8:47 PM
This is pretty friken nice, to be subtle about it.
Joseph, this is in a patch of old growth forest in Eastern Coos County, in Southern Oregon. It is in a canyon that is very well sheltered from the elements. As far as I know this area has been spared from any forest fire for at least 800 years, and has never been logged. Some of these trees are documented in the 600-900 year old range, and 250 to 300+ feet tall.
As beautiful as it is, it is incredibly hard to take a photo that even comes close to doing any sort of justice to the overwhelming scale of the forest. Every time I come back, I am still as amazed as I was the very first time.
Discussion
11 repliesWhere do you go when you have no wide lens and a busted tripod? Into the woods! Right?
So here is what I came up with. Taken with my good ol' rebel XT and a forked stick i used for a bi-pod! I said I was going to simplify...
Anywho, despite the urge to try and zoom out, and I couldn't anyway, I tried to focus more on the details and luminous light breaking through the morning fog. This has been worked in PS more than I usually would to try and emphasize the foggy backlight situation.
Let me know your honest opinions please. There has been a lot of healthy discusion around here lately regarding out of the "comfort-zone" type shots, and I enjoy everyone's perspectives.
Not that I recommend breaking gear, but great going to open fresh eyes onto a familiar subject.
David M. Cobb
Normally I would agree with the others and console you about your gear, but if this is the result....your not gonna get a lot of sympathy from me...LOL!!! Somtimes our tough time push us outside of our envelopes...and I for one have learned to embrace them....it seems you have too.
Roman
As beautiful as it is, it is incredibly hard to take a photo that even comes close to doing any sort of justice to the overwhelming scale of the forest. Every time I come back, I am still as amazed as I was the very first time.