The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
We don’t have a large variety of oaks in our area – mostly Blue Oaks, Black Oaks and Oregon White Oaks, and a couple of Live Oaks. But this one is my very own private protected seedling (maybe 10 years old now) that I call a Magenta Oak. It does this every year, and I’m sure you have seen it before, but I can never resist it.
Specific Feedback
All comments always welcome!
Technical Details
Focus stack of 40. Shadows pulled up in LR, and Highlights down a tad before sending it to Zerene. Back into PS for a slight crop. Morning sun with some very thin high clouds. I swear I didn’t mess with the colors or contrast – daylight WB and Adobe Color profile.
What a little beauty! I read somewhere that many trees put out new leaves in red to deter insect feeding. It also may help with heat exchange/retention. The color here is off the hook! The stack looks pretty darn perfect, too. I will have to spend some time with new leaves when we get some.
That’s a beautiful study in light/shade, and colour, Diane. Picture perfect. I’m curious why you adjusted for Shadows and Highlights before sending all the shots to Zerene. I haven’t tried this; I just make these adjustments after stacking, so what am I missing?
Thanks, @Kris_Smith and @Mike_Friel. Kris, I have seen other new leaves take on a reddish color, but this one tree is the prettiest I’ve seen. I think it is a Black Oak, but I’ll pay more attention when the leaves mature. The new leaves for the other Blacks here have some slight reddish tint but nothing like this one. But these leaves will be regulation green soon. We had a Concord grapevine that did the same thing, while several other varieties didn’t. And the tiny sprouting Poison Oak I found myself standing on yesterday was also a nice red.
Mike, I pulled the Shadows a little lighter to give a softer look, as this was in pretty bright sun. That always seems to add some nice color to the shadows, too. And the highlights were just a tad hot. Zerene returns a TIFF, and the tonalities are cemented in so I like to do what I can with the extra tonal overhead of a raw file before sending them over. LR makes it so easy to adjust one and Sync the batch.
This is exquisite, Dianne! The color palette is simply gorgeous I love all of the tiny details in the large version. The focus stack is perfect; the leaves are tack sharp and the BG is nicely OOF. I can only image how long my computer would take to stack 40 images. I can see why this caught your eye before the redbud.
