Trees
Dec 10, 2013 15:13:33 #
I have always had a thing for 'naked' trees - it's the only thing about Winter that I do like! The shapes just fascinate me.
I spent a few hours at the weekend indulging myself, so any comments would be appreciated. If anyone feels the need to edit, go ahead, knock yourself out!
I spent a few hours at the weekend indulging myself, so any comments would be appreciated. If anyone feels the need to edit, go ahead, knock yourself out!
Dec 10, 2013 15:32:43 #
Bloke wrote:
I have always had a thing for 'naked' trees - it's the only thing about Winter that I do like! The shapes just fascinate me.
I spent a few hours at the weekend indulging myself, so any comments would be appreciated. If anyone feels the need to edit, go ahead, knock yourself out!
I spent a few hours at the weekend indulging myself, so any comments would be appreciated. If anyone feels the need to edit, go ahead, knock yourself out!
Love your photo, Bloke. I too have a thing for bare trees. You are really doing the right thing by shooting them against sky so they stand out. This is a wonderful pastoral scene.
I upped the saturation to brighten colors, removed one man-made element from the right hand edge of the frame, and darkened the dead grass in the corner. I like the dead grass but found light color distracting over there, so I tamed it. I hope you like my small changes.
Dec 10, 2013 16:03:44 #
I would still like to see more oomph in the sky. I do like the composition very much.
Dec 10, 2013 16:15:28 #
Heirloom Tomato wrote:
Love your photo, Bloke. I too have a thing for bare trees. You are really doing the right thing by shooting them against sky so they stand out. This is a wonderful pastoral scene.
I upped the saturation to brighten colors, removed one man-made element from the right hand edge of the frame, and darkened the dead grass in the corner. I like the dead grass but found light color distracting over there, so I tamed it. I hope you like my small changes.
I upped the saturation to brighten colors, removed one man-made element from the right hand edge of the frame, and darkened the dead grass in the corner. I like the dead grass but found light color distracting over there, so I tamed it. I hope you like my small changes.
Thank you. It hasn't changed the 'character' of it, which was what I really liked. I have a bunch more trees, which I will post over time.
Dec 10, 2013 16:16:29 #
ebrunner wrote:
I would still like to see more oomph in the sky. I do like the composition very much.
Yeah, I know what you mean about the sky. I have a bunch that I took that day, and some of them have a more dramatic sky. This one just seemed 'calmer', somehow...
Dec 10, 2013 16:43:55 #
Bloke wrote:
Thank you. It hasn't changed the 'character' of it, which was what I really liked. I have a bunch more trees, which I will post over time.
I try to keep the original mood of people's photos. Usually just do small changes. It's a lovely scene as you shot it.
Dec 10, 2013 17:02:56 #
lighthouse
Loc: No Fixed Abode
Its a snapshot.
A scrubby group of trees with a boring but distracting background and a featureless sky.
And very similar to many I have taken in my life.
Everyone loves bare trees.
This shot is the sort that come about when you shoot for "subject".
A lot of people shoot like that, and get shots like this because of it.
I used to shoot for subject, then composition, then light.
As soon as I put them in a different order, my shots became better immediately.
Composition
Light
Subject.
Also have no problem with
Light
Composition
Subject.
A scrubby group of trees with a boring but distracting background and a featureless sky.
And very similar to many I have taken in my life.
Everyone loves bare trees.
This shot is the sort that come about when you shoot for "subject".
A lot of people shoot like that, and get shots like this because of it.
I used to shoot for subject, then composition, then light.
As soon as I put them in a different order, my shots became better immediately.
Composition
Light
Subject.
Also have no problem with
Light
Composition
Subject.
Dec 10, 2013 17:25:53 #
lighthouse wrote:
I used to shoot for subject, then composition, then light.
As soon as I put them in a different order, my shots became better immediately.
Composition
Light
Subject.
Also have no problem with
Light
Composition
Subject.
As soon as I put them in a different order, my shots became better immediately.
Composition
Light
Subject.
Also have no problem with
Light
Composition
Subject.
How about Light, Subject, Composition. One sees good light....finds a subject..and composes it! Any problem with that order? :mrgreen:
Dec 10, 2013 17:27:47 #
lighthouse
Loc: No Fixed Abode
Yes, I do.
Light and composition have to come before subject.
Light and composition have to come before subject.
Bmac wrote:
How about Light, Subject, Composition. One sees good light....finds a subject..and composes it! Any problem with that order? :mrgreen:
Dec 10, 2013 17:33:18 #
lighthouse wrote:
I used to shoot for subject, then composition, then light.
As soon as I put them in a different order, my shots became better immediately.
Composition
Light
Subject.
Also have no problem with
Light
Composition
Subject.
I used to shoot for subject, then composition, then light.
As soon as I put them in a different order, my shots became better immediately.
Composition
Light
Subject.
Also have no problem with
Light
Composition
Subject.
Bmac wrote:
How about Light, Subject, Composition. One sees good light....finds a subject..and composes it! Any problem with that order? :mrgreen:
lighthouse wrote:
Yes, I do.
Light and composition have to come before subject.
Light and composition have to come before subject.
Interesting, I wonder how one can compose without a subject. When you are composing where do you place the non-subject in the frame? Well, if it works for you more power to you. :D
Dec 10, 2013 17:47:43 #
lighthouse
Loc: No Fixed Abode
You know thats not what I am saying but go ahead, build your strawman anyway. Thats obviously what works for you.
I go places with an obvious subject in mind.
This does not place the subject at the top of the list in the picture taking process.
In the picture taking process, light and composition are the two most important factors.
Your subject can be a chair, a mountain, a tree, a bucket, a capsicum, a nude, a car, a rock, a dead flower etc. etc.
I have seen boring photos of all of the above.
I have also seen brilliant photos of all of the above.
What sets the good ones apart?
Its not the subject.
It's light and composition!
I go places with an obvious subject in mind.
This does not place the subject at the top of the list in the picture taking process.
In the picture taking process, light and composition are the two most important factors.
Your subject can be a chair, a mountain, a tree, a bucket, a capsicum, a nude, a car, a rock, a dead flower etc. etc.
I have seen boring photos of all of the above.
I have also seen brilliant photos of all of the above.
What sets the good ones apart?
Its not the subject.
It's light and composition!
Bmac wrote:
Interesting, I wonder how one can compose without a subject. When you are composing where do you place the non-subject in the frame? Well, if it works for you more power to you. :D
Dec 10, 2013 17:57:00 #
lighthouse wrote:
What sets the good ones apart? Its not the subject. It's light and composition!
Okay. But I would go with all of them, including the subject. All elements are important. I guess we simply disagree. :)
Dec 10, 2013 18:03:06 #
lighthouse wrote:
You know thats not what I am saying but go ahead, ... (show quote)
I know this is all going to get deleted because we are hijacking a thread. But I think this discussion is so interesting, I wish there were a spot for it within this forum. It seems that we could have room for a thread to discuss hints for taking better photos as well as sharing our photos and opinions of them. Anyway, I tend to agree that it's the light first. After light, I look for a possible subject, then a way to compose it. My water lily photos are a prime example. I could find nothing else to anchor that wonderful light, so I composed using what I could find. I have been known to take pictures of light. Some of them have been well received, others just junk.
Dec 10, 2013 18:13:47 #
Bloke wrote:
I have always had a thing for 'naked' trees - it's the only thing about Winter that I do like! The shapes just fascinate me.
I spent a few hours at the weekend indulging myself, so any comments would be appreciated. If anyone feels the need to edit, go ahead, knock yourself out!
I spent a few hours at the weekend indulging myself, so any comments would be appreciated. If anyone feels the need to edit, go ahead, knock yourself out!
Since I have taken part in a partial hijack of your thread I want to come back and respond to your actual photo. Though it has been pronounced snapshot by lighthouse (whose opinions I highly respect), I like it anyway. I have taken many snapshots and hoard thousands of them on my external drives. Some I have managed to polish into real photos.
I too like the bare trees 7 I like the cows wandering about on hillsides. You have nice clouds there, but I think you can get more mileage out of them by adding clarity to them and de-brightening the sky a little. I followed HT's lead in cropping the stuff on the right, also a sliver from the sky. Then, as I sometimes do, I got carried away and applied some NIK filters. It would look better if I'd had my desktop computer to work with instead of this crummy little laptop screen, but I'm posting my example. So, the composition may not be 5-star, but I think with a little tinkering you can have a nice keeper.
Dec 10, 2013 21:13:27 #
Heirloom Tomato wrote:
I try to keep the original mood of people's photos. Usually just do small changes. It's a lovely scene as you shot it.
I'm revisiting the scene more like Minniev did. I moved a cow, cropped some off the left side, and though there is more noise now, I took some highlights out to emphasize the clouds. I removed a building too.
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