Vernal Jubilee

Over the years I’ve taken many photos of tree bark, but this is still my favorite. I found it in southern NH in 2011. To me it looks joyous and vital. The tree is splitting its bark as it grows and flourishes. Birch trees are photogenic in so many ways.

I have some others, but I like this one for its softness. Your eyes fill in what isn’t crisply in focus and the forest in the distance is barely there. The light was soft and cloud-filtered, but not overcast. There are small shadows, but not too harsh.

Specific Feedback Requested

Is the area of focus too narrow? Any other comments are welcome.

Technical Details

Is this a composite: No
Olympus E-30
Zuiko D 12-60mm @ 39mm (78mm equiv.)
f/4.5 | 1/500 | ISO 200
Handheld

Lr processed for white balance, a bit of a crop and the usual adjustments. Flipped horizontally & brought into Ps for some clone stamping, content aware fill & healing brush work.

@the.wire.smith

Kris, the orange color and all of the curly cues do create a feeling of fun being had. Birch bark can be quite photogenic. It would be very “unnatural”, but I also wonder how this would look rotated so the bark strips are vertical.

Really interesting and intriguing image. Depth of field is about right I think with good background falloff and a not too distracting foreground bark. Love the curls in this. Birch trees definitely have an interesting pattern to their bark but this is something I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.