Solitary

[Geoff M]

I have driven along past this tree many times over the past couple of years and have envisaged the image in my mind. On previosus occasions I have not been in a position to stop and take time to make a shot for various reasons, such as no camera, no interest in the sky etc. etc; but on this occasion I was able to stop and take a few snaps.

I am not entirely sure if it has worked or not! The image shown here is an HDR, of three frames, 1 correctly exposed and 1 each a stop over/under. Tonemapped in Photomatix and then further processed in LR2.

I am a little put off by the burn out in the cloud of the 'pano' crop but feel the composition works better than the square crop which I tried in order to remove the burnt out area. Perhaps a tighter 'pano' crop would work removing some from the top? I think a higher vantage point would also have been better to increase the height of the trunk, (the tree is rooted over the brough of the hill) but alas this was not possible.

Your feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[surenj]

I have always wanted to do a shot like this! Here is an idea Geoff. One is left looking perhaps for one more element to make this photo complete....

I don't like the halos caused by the HDR however.

[colin_12]

I think crop top and bottom off both #1 and #2 would work a little better.

[gstark]

Geoff,

This is very nice, and your pano crop isn't too bad at all.

I would like to see more of the ground removed from this image though ... Look at the rh side of the image, and you will see that the ground trails away downhill .... Use the bottom of that hill (or perhaps a section just below it) as your bottom boundary ... place that at the bottom rh corner of the image, cropping everything below that line out of the image, and thus increasing the pano proportions just a little.

Leave everything else as is ... and see how that looks.

As a further suggestion, reshoot this tree, from the same location and with the same crop, but with different sky conditions, and then create a series or perhaps a triptych (or however many images you can shoot) with the different variations but the same content.

Could be a fun, and rewarding, exercise for you.

[Geoff M]

Thanks all for your feed back.

I don't like the halos caused by the HDR however

Me neither....the question I need to ask is how do you reduce or eliminate this problem?

I would like to see more of the ground removed from this image though ... Look at the rh side of the image, and you will see that the ground trails away downhill .... Use the bottom of that hill (or perhaps a section just below it) as your bottom boundary ... place that at the bottom rh corner of the image, cropping everything below that line out of the image, and thus increasing the pano proportions just a little.

like this?? I did try to have the fall of the hill right in the corner but the balance did not look right so went half way between the two.

Leave everything else as is ...

Could'nt help my self.....I cloned out the hot spot.

[gstark]

like this??

Exactly.

I think that works ... by my thoughts are unimportant. It's your image ....

I think that, with the lesser amount of ground and greater apparent negative space in the sky, this better symbolises (for me) the concept of solitary.

Leave everything else as is ...

Could'nt help my self.....I cloned out the hot spot.

I don't have an issue with this.

Now go forth and make the other images I suggested.

[biggerry]

I like the final crop version the best, however I think the inclusion of Suren's sun rays would give the image a bit more balance..

As a further suggestion, reshoot this tree, from the same location and with the same crop, but with different sky conditions, and then create a series or perhaps a triptych

[Geoff M]

Thanks again for the feedback, I do agree the crop looks better and gives the image more impact.

I am not so sure about the fake sun rays, but happy for you to leave the posted image here.

Now go forth and make the other images I suggested.

Yes boss

[surenj]

Removing the hotspot removes one element from the image. IMHO this makes it weaker. Crop has made it better though.

Me neither....the question I need to ask is how do you reduce or eliminate this problem?

The removal of the hot spot removes one element from the image.
Reduce local contrast enhancement. You will just need to play with the sliders a bit in Photomatix.

fake sun rays

I am certain there were some sun rays there. You and the camera must have missed it....

[Big V]

I like the third version of this. Now that you have photographed it and seen what sort of look you are trying to achieve, when you get a chance to photograph it again you will have a bank of ideas to select from. This sounds like the perfect project for you and it is good to re-visit a scene and try again and again till you get that which you have imagined. Good luck for the future.