Autumn 2010

#1 I've worked up a few more of my images and thought I'd post 'em for y'all to see. Like a lot of people, I got much more practice on intimates and no sky shots this year. Hope you like! Comments/critiques welcome. The first one is shot off of Last Dollar Rd. My first try at this type of shot. Not completely satisfied with the comp but I'll have more chances in years to come.

#2 One of the intimates I played around with while in an aspen grove. I think this is Queen Anne's Lace gone to seed.

#3 A closeup of some really large aspens trunks. I'd never seen such large ones!

#4 A section of Last Dollar minus the leaf covered road I sooooo wanted to get. I liked the way the trees leaned into the frame.

#5 I quite liked this one although it's not terribly original. The leaves danced behind the trees and were beautifully backlit.

#6 Another that's been done "more than once". It might be weird to do a B & W of Fall color but I kinda like the way this one looked. What I liked best was the interplay in the thin black branches.

It is NOT weird to do B&W of fall color at all! (Especially when you have some wonderful textures to work with as you did with these). It was certainly effective for Ansel, Weston and many others. #1 and #6 are my favorites of this group - both have perfect contrast and interesting lines. I also like #5. The curves of the trunks are elegant and the colorful backlight definitely adds to it. #2 has some unusual subject matter, some motion blur or perhaps lack of depth of field, preventing total sharpness but not a big problem.

Yea, Last Dollar didn't have many fallen leaves yet (at least in late Sept/Early Oct.) and the patchy color hurts #4 a bit but I liked the curve trunks. The only one that doesn't strike me at all is #3 - the edges seem distractingly bright. With some vignetting added it would put more emphasis on the trunks and could really pop.

GREAT collection of images, Pam! I love the starkness of that first one a lot. Did you "Ortonize" #3? As for leaves on the road, you just needed to give all those trees a good shake! Maybe a little more saturation on #5, or maybe just a white balance shift to warmer, Great grab on #6, and I love the b&w conversion. Good choice!

The B&Ws are AWESOME!

I also quite like #5. Not sure what's not original about it, as I'm positive that no one else has stood in that same spot and taken this image.
I also like the high key effect in #1, but wish that the brightest areas were just a tad darker.
#6 is just plain good! Good eye for seeing the interplay of branches, and including the sun. Choosing b&w added greatly to the starkness of the scene

Really like the first one, I say the contrast is just a little too high for my taste, but the comp is perfect.

All really nice, Pamela, way to work it when the sky isn't helping out. I especially like the B&Ws, including the high-key look of the first, and also #5. Sure, I've seen similar images to #5, but whenever I've tried something along those lines, it turns out to be much harder to compose than one might think. Well done!

I agree, the B&W shots are very nice. I kind of like the use of the high key effect on the first one.

Pam, #1 just blows me away! Awesome shot. I like the road too. Wonderful series of images.

#1, 2 & 6 are really nice IMO, especially the B&Ws.

#3 isn't doing much for me, the comp doesn't hold my attention, but that's just me.

Like all of them, Pam, but especially your treatment of #1...You go, girl
Joe Rogers

I like #6 the very best followed by #5 and #2 would be my 3rd favorite. Great work!

Michael

That is an excellent set of very diverse images! I also like the black and whites, and then #4. That is a great stretch of road I have spent time with also.

Really like the comp in #5!

I like the fact you're trying for diversity. Too many fall color images are so similar to one another.

A few comments: Because this was shot in mixed lighting, the highlights are oversaturated and show no detail. You might try backing off on the exposure or increasing the "recovery" slider (in Lightroom, not sure of PS). Otherwise I like the concept. #2 doesn't work due to the highly distracting background. For these intimate scenes and when I can't smooth out the background foliage, I hold up a Black, white, or colored background (Foam-Core) and sometimes use a reflector for bounce lighting. That will really make the subject pop nicely. #3 is OK, but mixed light is distracting. #4-5-6 are fine shots and I really like the B&W conversion on #6.

I agree with Ken Wyatt on #2. The background is busy with circles/rings in the highlights. In this situation I would use a portrait or telephoto lens wide open to totally blur the background. Better: the forest is large with many weeds to shoot, so I shop around for a background that suits the subject, either contrasting or complementary.

Very nice stuff Pam....my favos are #1 (perfect DOF for my taste on that type of shot) and then #4. I just find that comp interesting.

Great B&W processing on that first shot.