A Tree

[msvadi]

I posted a similar picture to the Share forum a few month ago. After that I made several attemps to calibrate my monitor and discovered that 90% of the pictures I processed in PS looked oversaturaed, oversharpened and too bright and too contrast. I'm not sure yet if my monitor displays colors right, but I really hope it's better now. I would really appreciate your comments.
thanks

http://www.bytephoto.com/photopost/data/500/302031014_035.jpg?3520

[Leighow]

Well I do vaguely recall the earlier image.

At first I loved this rendition. Lovely Spring colors. However, the light is strong but flat and seems to have left you with pastel shades. That plus the small image post size buries the leaves while (if you look closely)the tones of tree trunk and shore rock look natural. That said nothing jumps out, it all says "relax".

I think that it is fine.

But I would taKe a look at more contrast and less brightness to draw out the tree trunk. Let the leaves fall where they may.

[msvadi]

Thanks, Howie.

I really hope that you mean "Fall" colors and not "Spring". Because if it does look like a springtime picture then my monitor and my calibration skills suck ;)

You probably right about flat look. But I'm really trying to slow down with photoshop adjustments. I want to avoid that "overdone" look that I was getting with most of my pictures.

[stopbath]

Hmm...

I like the contrast between the near white branches and the black shadows on the trunk. I really like the pattern the reflection gives (a double ended Y.)

I think the photo could work even better as a landscape style to emphasize patterns in the trunk, (real and reflected) and the ripples. I think the top or bottom of the photo sort of dilute the impact of the pattern in the reflections.

[msvadi]

Thanks, stopbath.
I agree that the landscape mode in general is better for pictures like this. I took several shots of that tree in landscape. The problem was that the lighting conditions were difficult and the sky turned out overexposed. I also think that portrait orientation shows the shape of that tree better.

[stopbath]

Thanks, stopbath.
I agree that the landscape mode in general is better for pictures like this. I took several shots of that tree in landscape. The problem was that the lighting conditions were difficult and the sky turned out overexposed. I also think that portrait orientation shows the shape of that tree better.
How about this? I cropped the photo as I enivisioned it:
<<Sample image removed.>>
No sky, less water, less tree. More trunk and reflections of it.

(Since it's not my image, I'll delete the sample after a few days.)

[Leighow]

Yup I meant "Fall" !

I agree with Stopbath, and I had so reworked the image in landscape. But in adition, I had gone to LAB & altered the brightness and sharpness however. It took away from trunk detail, but the added darkness seemed to make it stand out. Funny, when it is not "your own" image its a slam dunk (am I sounding American?). Like in the end it is the tree trunk -- like an aging senator, that carries the day.

I understand your concerns about PS. I am seeing a pretty fair rendition of things with my Viewsonic Pro _95f+ ( when I don't forget to turn up the brightness!). Even so, many of my G2 images are shot at full zoom and I have become a crop duster (now I am starting to sound like Carl Sandburg !).

[msvadi]

Thanks stopbath and Howie,

The lanscape version with more "zoom" looks much better indeed. the composition is more complete and "focused". I just did not see that. I guess I have to wait another year to re-shoot the scene.

I went quickly through my "archives" and found that many my images were in portrait orientation for no reason. That's bad. I have to pay more attention to this in the future.

[Leighow]

Hey ... woah .... my lad ! You have a lovely image in portrait.

There is nothing wrong with portrait (even if TV has habituated all of us to this format).

Portrait seems like an obvious choice, thanks in large part to your great reflections of branches are there to capture the full tree. Even so, Stopbath's crop seems (and maybe its the mind's pre-conditioning) to lead to a more powerful focus on the tree's trunk. This trunk, because of its darkness seems to hold our attention.

A compromise in selected situations might be to shoot both formats. Either way its a great image.