Poppy Tree

When I first say these poppies and the tree close by I said honey wait Stop the Van! This image was one I saw in my minds eye but was harder to pull off compositionally. The reason was there was a barbwire fence sitting right between the flowers and the tree. So this took more PS work than I normally like to do to clone out the fence. And a bit of the right of the tree is cut off due to the rusty steel post. But I think at least the idea comes through of what this scene was like prior to fences and the hand of man.

Here is the original fence and all:
http://landandseaphoto.smugmug.com/Landscapes/Forum-2010/10861681_qP6dD#806657097_9Mias-XL-LB

I was also shooting on angle between rusty steel posts.

Derek

Nice shot, Derek and good PS work. I'd like to see the poppies with a little more light, the colors of the poppies are certainly dominant but the much lighter bg distracts my eye. But, ya gotta shoot what's there, good job.

Thanks for sharing, Derek. I'm always on the lookout for scenics like this.
I like the composition and the colors are great. The orange in the Poppies
is nicely complemented by the blue in the sky.

Thanks guys,

I actually took another one in which the poppies and the tree are both in full sunlight. However the lighting was more harsh. So I'm a bit partial to the lower contrast version which the shade provided. But take a look and tell me which you prefer:
http://landandseaphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/11188550_FuRhA#812361778_yu7r2-XL-LB

I also tried an update on the original above lighting the flowers a bit while darkening the BG a tad. I always want to be careful with shade though and keep it real:
http://landandseaphoto.smugmug.com/Landscapes/Forum-2010/10861681_qP6dD#812368303_bdKn8-XL-LB

And because some may wonder what technique I used for removing the bardwire, it was just old fashioned cloning and healing brush in PS. A lot of painstaking work basically. I don't know if any new magical tool cold remove someting like this. I had barbs going through tree branches and flowers. That would be very difficult for any tool to auto repair.

Derek

Hi Derek,

If you shot at least one image of the set in the sunlight, I'm not sure why it needed to be processed so dark as though the usually wonderful spring green grass was not an interesting element in the frame nor the oak except as a graphic silouette. As though the dark background that makes the poppies pop more is a more pleasant result than complementing orange with green. Of course there are others on this board with similar styles. Not that your interpretation isn't a worthwhile type of result but from your comments I tend to get the feeling anything in the sun is "harsh" an inappropriate term I've debated a few on this board about in the past thus unpleasant.

To show examples of my own preference, below are two 4x5 image links exposed and processed versus the transparency neutrally from Provia. The first is at Coyote Hills along the SF Bay that has three simple color elements, orange, green, and blue. Some will immediately blurt nonsense about such an image being harsh simply because there is sunlight on it. That is ridiculous of course because if you put non-photographers here other than Count Dracula to judge when the scene looked most beautiful they would obviously choose this lighting situation and not some dim flat cloudy early light situation.

http://www.davidsenesac.com/Gallery_B/07-H1-2.jpg

This image is more like your subject, rolling hilly green grasslands, tree, sky with a few clouds. The big Lightjet print looks very pleasant and is what people experience and very much enjoy when they visit such places.

http://www.davidsenesac.com/images/print_06-l1-3.html

David,

Thanks for the input and thoughts well taken. The "harsh" lighting I was referring to was literally noon-day bright sunlight. I typically prefer more golden hour side lighting which provides more appealing and softer tones, highlights, etc... or broken light provided by clouds. But that said I have images which I have taken mid-day in bright sunlight which I do like. And your examples I think are good representations of these sorts of images. So I think the answer really is 'it depends.'

Yes, it also boils down to personal styles and preferences. For me much depends on the light on a particular day on a particular subject. In this case if you look at the version in full sunlight you will notice that the tree is suffering from something, possibly sudden oak death, with mostly brown leaves. So that coupled with the tendency of poppies to blow out in bright sunlight lent itself to being more complimentary in shaded conditions at least to my eye. In that case the poppies color really are more predominant as the primary subject, with less attention to the tree's color, etc... Hence my preference in this case.

But again I like to hear what other's interpretations are when looking at the same scene from different exposures.

Thanks again for your input and nice shots also BTW. You bring up some interesting style perspective questions which I like, especially during this Spring season when poppies normally only open in brighter sunlight. In the case of poppies in particular I found the sunlight be very benficial but the flowers themselves easily overexposed - a fine balance to be sure.

Derek