Almost Summer II

Found this grove of aspens in a field while working in Issaquah today. Thought the buttercups added some nice color.
I posted a similar comp over at ESS, thought I'd post this one here.
Thanks for looking!
Joe

I like both photos, Joe. This one more so than the ESS version because the darker BG keeps my eye in the frame. It looks like you have used some type of orton or diffusion effect here? If so, I'd dial it back a touch on the tree trunks. They seem to have less density in the blacks than the rest of the image, and it comes across as a bit unnatural to me. Otherwise, this is a very nice shot. The color palette is subtle but interesting.

No Orton effect Aaron, just some local contrast and brightness adjustments on the trunks to bring out a little more detail. They looked a little flat and blown out at first. Does it look unnatural? I didn't think so , but I'll take another look at it when I get home tonight.

It just seems that the trunks have had some selective adjustments made that don't quite match the rest of the scene. The grasses have some deep, detailed shadows, and in comparison the trunks look washed out- especially in the areas where there are knots on the bark.

I did a screen grab and a quick edit on the trunks. If you want, I'll post it. If not, that's cool. don't want to overstep my bounds.

Not a problem Aaron, please do. Always helps to see things through different eyes!
I only have an old version of Elements to edit with right now, hopefully my busy, busy friend in CA will get around to sending the copy of CS4 he promised me!

Here's my try with selective contrast adjustments to the trunks only. Nothin' fancy. Real quick and dirty.

Thanks Aaron. What you did looks subtle, but the slight increase in contrast seems to lend a little more 3 dimensionality to the trunks. Sometimes small changes make a big difference. Much appreciated!