I also burned in some hot spots in the leaves and burned in the upper right corner.
Better? Any other suggestions
Taken in late autumn, the third week of October in the Eastern Sierras. I saw this stand of aspens in the morning after my sunrise session and on my way to get some breakfast. This stand was to my east and the canyon wall behind this stand as well as the stand itself was still in the shadow of the canyon. I thought it would be great to just catch the tops of the tree in the sunlight as soon as the sun cleared that canyon wall. By the time I set up and started to compose, the sun had already lit up the trees and the foreground scrub. I intended a panoramic composition from the start, so I was not so concerned about the foreground scrub, nor the canyon wall.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
Does the color balance seem ok to all of you?
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
I was trying to catch and convey the end of autumn, and it going out in all its glory. Does that come across?
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Shen-Hao 4x5 on Fuji Provia 100f, Nikkor 150mm f64 at 2 seconds. No filters.
I actually did not have a watch or timer with me on this as I had to grab my bag from the truck and dash about 100 yards to set up for this before the sun came up, so I had to run the exposure TWICE on the same piece of film using the 1-second shutter on the lens. I was worried that I might move the lens or camera when setting the shutter for the second exposure. But the sharpness seems to have come out okay.
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Hi Youssef, what immediately caught my eye was the bright yellow leaves juxtaposed against the white leafless tress in the front of the stand. I think that this nicely conveys the end of Autumn and turn to Winter. To my eye, the color balance is good - it’s warm enough to bring out the aspen leaves but not so warm as to turn those front trees on the R center yellow. I think there’s a generally warm color cast to the vast majority of the trees. I suppose selectively cooling down some of the leafless trees might convey more winter but I don’t know if that is feasible with film. I’m just brainstorming - to me the color looks as you described with sunrise hitting that entire bank of trees. I’m enjoying this scene a lot and liked the story of how you achieved it!
Great capture of this stand of trees, Youssef. Like Daniel, I find the bare trees in the foreground really add a lot to this image. The top feels a little tight to me and I would be inclined to add a little bit of canvas up there, but it still looks really good as presented. Film, what is that?
I think you did full justice to the full glory of late autumn. The feathery shapes of the bare limbs are really beautiful, and tell a nice story about transition. I like where you cropped at the bottom edge, you get more of an abstract look by not showing the base of the trees. However, I agree with @Harley_Goldman about wanting slightly more breathing room at the top,
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I thought it would be great to just catch the tops of the tree in the sunlight as soon as the sun cleared that canyon wall. By the time I set up and started to compose, the sun had already lit up the trees and the foreground scrub.
Color and white balance are so subjective. I think the really warm yellows do convey a sense of first light hitting the trees. But if you want to roll the clock back 15 minutes in time, you might want to consider slightly cooling the base of the trees. Just to see how that looks here is a rework with slight cooling applied using a gradient on a mask. It creates a different mood, but maybe looks like what you might have got if you had shot earlier.
Thank You! Why did I not think of that edit. I felt like I wanted the trunks with a different tone than the overall tone that accentuated the leaves, and yes had I been there even 5 minutes earlier, I could have had that.
Glad to help. It’s probably worth experimenting with various degrees of cooling, and the shape of the gradient, but this at least throws the idea out there.
Thanks Harley for the feedback. I wanted more room above as well, but I am in the camp of keep to crop ratios, as it makes it easier for me when matting and framing as I can keep my framing inventory to as few variations as possible. So I kept this at a 3:1 ratio, if I had gone up any more, I would have lost more of the trunks.
I saw the repost and I prefer it more to Ed’s rendition, with the blues dialed back more than in your repost. But we are well into the personal preference area, so whatever works for you works best.
Thanks Harley. I am still undecided on how much blue I want there. What I just posted was my third variation with more blue. Let me post the second variation, the one I almost went with, which I think is closer to Ed’s rendition.
