The Angeles

I've hardly spent any time in the Angeles National Forest, despite it being just up the road from home. It's just not that awe inspiring of a landscape... I'd rather drive another 2 hours and be in the Eastern Sierra of Death Valley! Anyways, I took a quick drive along the Crest highway, and these trees made me pull over. What do you think? Worth hanging on to? Honest opinions please, thanks!

I cloned out a distracting branch in the middle.

Floris, in seeing so much of your truly amazing work here, this one IMO does not meet your excellent standards. I'm not sure if you could improve on the scene in better light, if that is possible, or if it does not get better light then this.
As far as the drives, I know only too well what you mean. My wife and I have the discussion every day on what there is not in Corona to shoot, and how it takes so long to get out of So Cal urban area to really work in positive photographic locations.

Yea.. I didn't think it was anything special. Thanks for the confirmation. I just needed to get out, and thought I'd share what little I could find I get to go to the Sierras today though!

Floris, again I agree. I find that often just being out there, anywhere, is much of the enjoyable part of our photographic experiences. Although film and processing is much more expensive to work with, I find myself at times shooting just for the sake of needing the "jolt" so to speak. Obviously there is no harm, no foul, in us trying to make something work.
I know you will enjoy your trip to the Sierras and we already know there are probable keepers from that area if the conditions are favorable.

Floris, have you tried this one in B&W? Hard to say, but it could get interesting. It would take advantage of the brooding and ominous feeling.

Floris,

Certainly worth hanging on to, but then again I'm used to hanging on to pieces of film too. :-)

I do like the silvery-blue texture of the trunks and the extreme slope makes for an interesting perspective - or did you rotate this? Hard to tell - keeps me guessing.

Hope you have/had a good trip to the Sierra. I'm itchin' myself to get out too.

Lon

Thanks folks.

Harley, the blues are what caught my eye, so I don't really want to lose them to B&W, but may give it a shot.

Lon, well, yea.. it's silly to delete digital files There was a bit of a slope and the trees were angled kind of oddly. I actually broke out the level to get this one straight! Just had a great night among the bristlecones, hoping to do my first backpack in the sierra of the season in a few days! Meanwhile I'm helping set up some high speed video rigs to film hummingbirds in mammoth, can't complain

It is a little bit of a spooky mood with these trunks. The yellow flowers do help out the scene but one thing I'm wondering is, is that a shadow or a grad line there? It kind of shifts color to purple? There is one things about those mountains I do find odd, is that there is only one natural lake up there.

I didn't use any grads, and other than removing a branch, very little processing.. the light and shadows were pretty weird/spooky. So far I haven't found much of interest up there

Interesting. The first look is somewhat striking, in part because of the light, the correct position of the trunks yet the very slanted grounds than makes you feel unstable.

Then on second look it feels much more plain, aka it grows old on you.
Maybe darken by a stop, enhance the blue/silver light.

So if I were you I'd show it to noobs, and ask them for what they feel when they see it.