Last July when I moved out to Oregon, Bend was the last stop before 5 more hours to my new home. We took a hike up Bessie Butte where all the trees had been burned from a forest fire, I’m not sure what the cause of it was. But it was amazing all the new vegetation that was growing everywhere and all the insects enjoying the flowers. I thought this was a neat view of Mt Hood.
Specific Feedback Requested
I changed it to black and white because I thought it looked more dramatic that way and made the mountain and the trees framing it stand out more. What do you think? Anything else…
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Nikon D3400
70mm
1/400
f/10
ISO 100
Convert to black and white and in the color mixer I bumped up the red “luminance” to +17
Vanessa, I agree! I really like how you purposefully framed Mt. Hood with the snag left over from the fire. Good choice with the b&w as the mountain stands out nicely.
My suggestion is a bit extreme to the point that I don’t think it’s my place to alter it that drastically - so I’ll suggest without editing your image. For me anyway, the standard, wider landscape view I think takes away from that nice (and story-telling) framing you did. It’s almost as if the main snag is blocking the view, rather than improving the view - if that makes sense. My suggestion is to do a somewhat drastic vertical, pano crop; I’d include the distant snag to the immediate left of the main tree with enough room on the right for balance and include all the way bottom to top.
Maybe that doesn’t work for you, but for me it brings even closer the relationship between the forest and the mountain and the framing of Hood by the weeping branches looks even better.
Those are my thoughts. Thanks for sharing.
Hi @Lon_Overacker Lon! Yes! I think I know what you mean! I was trying a vertical crop but it didn’t look good because I was centering Mt Hood, but it looks so much better off center and with the other ‘distant snag’! Thanks! I hope I’m on your wavelength! If not, feel free to do whatever you want to it….
Thanks @Vanessa_Hill for taking the time to consider and repost your image. Yes, exactly what I was thinking of. And surprisingly for me, the landscape is not lost in this crop; the sparse forest at the bottom starts condensing and connects with the mountain in the background.
One other concept that comes to mind is how the horizontal vs. vertical format help emphasize certain characteristics of a scene. for example, in this case, the vertical crop emphasizes the tall snag. Where as the original horizontal emphasizes the pastoral landscape view - where IMHO, the vertical tree was more of a hindrance than a help.
Framing the mountain was nicely seen, and I agree with @Lon_Overacker about the crop. The second version feels a bit crowded, though. I think the expansiveness of the scene could support a slightly wider crop, perhaps even more on the right than the left.
The snag on the left was noise - hanging in midair - gone
The horizon is raised off of the center frame
Keeping the mountain off of center helps with tension I think
Thanks @Diane_Miller & @Dave for looking and your feedback! I do have to agree with @Lon_Overacker about his idea for a vertical crop, I like the pano that he suggested as well, but I see what you’re saying @Diane_Miller about it maybe being a bit crowded. I also understand what you’re doing @Dave , with a classic landscape you don’t want as much sky, but doing it that way goes back to de emphasizing the snag around the mountain and it really being in the way like @Lon_Overacker said, so I recropped it to 8.5 x 11 with keeping the whole snag, I’m interested in your thoughts…
I think Vanessa’s viewpoint here is a valid one, in keeping the entire vertical of the snag. It isn’t a traditional landscape take, but not everything needs to fit that. The extra breathing room of this last version works for me, and I think B/W works to move this image to a different genre.
I would consider a crop to remove the very small side branch right at the top edge.
Well, @Diane_Miller I think I like it with the whole snag as presented, but I also value others input and maybe how something makes them feel, because I would like it to have an impact. I kind of like this one as an environmental shot, like this wasn’t a view before the fire, which from my research was man made and could have been prevented.
Your vision for an image is what counts. Take suggestions as small learning opportunities – why did someone suggest something? People won’t always take the time to dissect their take, but it’s valuable for you to do so. It doesn’t help your learning if you just say oh, they didn’t like that one, I’ll try something different.
I didn’t take time to say that the tiny branch at the top of the snag can pull the viewer’s eye up to the top edge when you want them to be looking at the larger scene. But if it fits your vision better, the small distraction could be part of a larger story of ugliness and chaos resulting from the fire, and could be a meaningful part of the image.
I think the other suggestions here have been about emphasizing the artistic arrangement of the mountain in the snag. That is a stronger aspect of the image than the ravages of the fire are, so that’s where attention goes.
It is a quandary to know how the two aspects balance. For me, I don’t see the image as a strong story of the aftermath of a fire. The snags are certainly indication of a fire but the destruction in the rest of the landscape is almost too small to be easily seen, so my eye goes to the very nice arrangement of the mountain in the branches and I see an artistic image whose initial presentation had the flaws pointed out. I think if you had cropped the original more from the left, to get rid of the snag intruding on the left edge, then viewers’ eyes would have gone more easily past the mountain cradled in the branch and realized there was more to the image – but honestly, for me, the “more” isn’t enough.
I agree with @Diane_Miller. My crop was based on your intro and the discussion of the fire @Vanessa_Hill. I still feel there is still too much on top. If there isn’t anything below on the original, I guess you have an reason to visit Bend
Hi @Dave, Dave! Now I understand why you cropped the way you did. After @Diane_Miller impressions or I guess lack of impression that I was hoping for! Unfortunately the first image posted is the original as big as it gets. I would have to use a smaller lens to get more of the landscape. Thanks for your inputs, I appreciate it!
The second rework seems best to me. The mountain enclosed by the wood is the heart of the image and you’ve brought it to better attention in the rework. Diane’s comments are spot on that the devastation is not being emphasized pictorially.
Thanks @Igor_Doncov for looking and your feedback! I really appreciate it. Do you think it at least works artistically even though it’s not a shout out to prevent forest fires?
