dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Yes, very good and correct reply even if Trump and the Borg would say "assimilate -- resistance is futile." ** Some photos go from tall to small as in vanishing point photos. I will try to correct my narrow view... hard to do. I fear a Nun in heaven will crack me across the knuckles if I do accept your advice ... They too would say assimilate !! Worry not, I will resist dogmatic approaches ... [I am serious about accepting your comments]
**https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZEJ4OJTgg8

The psyche of photo composition is well discussed in the free and extensive text with photo examples:
http://truecenterpublishing.com/photopsy/article_index.htm

photogeneralist Loc: Lopez Island Washington State

When I first saw this photo I was conflicted. Was the "hero" intended to be the tree or the headstones? The boldness of the phallic tree in the photo made that the hero visually but I felt the human story was in the headstones. Also, at least on my monitor, there was a very short range of luminosity values and the whole thing was a little muddy due to being too dark.
I first ran it through Photolemur 3 which brought up the overall luminosity but was still unsatisfied. The increased texture and detail in the tree made that scream look at me, but the headstones seemed to be lost in the area that is almost unseen because the strong visual of the tree blocked my eye from going into the picture. SOOO! On to Photos crop mode where the image was flipped to put the tree on the right side. Closer but still no cigar!
The headstones still were visually under represented. Using Intensify app ( a Mac only app) I created a very soft brush and masked out the place where I wanted to add emphasis. Into the masked area I used slight adjustments of exposure and contrast as well as minuscule adjustments of structure, color contrast, vibrance, sharpness and detail. Then in an iterative process, I went back and touched up all the sliders until I got the effect where I was the least displeased with my efforts. I still have a nagging feeling that something is still not quite right with the photo but for the moment cannot think what to do about it. Perhaps a slight crop from the new left edge would give mare visual weight to the tombstones by placing them closer to the edge resulting in a more balanced image. I'll leave it for you to explore that concept.
Please be aware that all the above is one persons' OPINION. The bottom line is that it's your photo, your previsualization and your craftsmanship. You are the one that should be pleased with the image and my efforts are not worth squat if they don't help you toward YOUR satisfaction with YOUR image. Keep at it. As you gain ever more experience and think about ways to enhance our efforts (self critique) You will come to realize how much progress you have made. It's like the hour hand of an analog clock, you never see it move but when you look up at it again later you suddenly realize that it has made substanial progress in it's pathway around the clock face

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wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

[quote=kcooke]

I think you should continue on with your vision and see if some of our thoughts help. I had a similar situation but I was unable to get the image to my vision before the scene changed too much forever. I want you to succeed in producing that image that you envision were I failed. I like idea of the the tree, or the remains of it, and think it should be included as you develop your new vision of the scene. Be sure to share with us as you go.

kcooke Loc: Alabama

[quote=photogeneralist]When I first saw this photo I was conflicted. Was the "hero" intended to be the tree or the headstones? The boldness of the phallic tree in the photo made that the hero visually but I felt the human story was in the headstones. Also, at least on my monitor, there was a very short range of luminosity values and the whole thing was a little muddy due to being too dark.

Thanks for your work on this. I’ll continue with this in future shooting. In addition to this scene, I need the clouds to be dramatic in my opinion. Also I don’t like the flipping of the tree because it’s not the scene I was shooting. But, I may be able to shoot from a different angle to put it in the right portion of the image.

kcooke Loc: Alabama

I intend to do just that. Thanks for everyone’s input on this.

Nightski

What is your subject? What was it that drew you to take this photograph? I honestly do not know by looking at your photograph. I will tell you how I think an ultra wide angle lens should be used. It is my opinion that the ultra wide was created to make your subject bigger than life .. and in fact it makes it bigger than it really is in real life. A flower shot with an ultra wide looks bigger than the mountain in it's background. A seashell on the beach becomes the subject of a seascape. A dog's nose is suddenly the subject instead of the whole dog. I don't think the dead tree is an interesting enough subject to pull this off. Even if it was an interesting dead tree, the grass in the foreground distracts from it. So what is interesting about this area? A gravestone perhaps? Could you make that your foreground subject with those gorgeous white fluffy clouds as your backdrop? Whatever you choose, you need to get as close as you can to your subject while maintaining the focus on it. That is how you use a wide angle lens. It's not easy. Some people make it look that way. There is definitely an art to it. Keep working on it and please post again. Ultra wide lenses are my favorite.

kcooke Loc: Alabama

[quote=Nightski]What is your subject? What was it that drew you to take this photograph? I honestly do not know by looking at your photograph. I will tell you how I think an ultra wide angle lens should be used.

Thanks for your thoughts and ideas. Im going to keep working with this and possibly retake the scene when the time of day and cloud structure are right. Ill probably try it omitting the tree and getting up really close to a prominent headstone (although most of them are rather small being a rural Alabama cemetery from before the Civil War). To me the tree draws you in for a closer look and it was my subject. It’s a sentinel. overlooking the dead folks in this tiny cemetery. The backstory is that this tree was the only tree left in the cemetery after an EF4 tornado went through here in April 2011.

10MPlayer Loc: California

I kind of like the idea of shooting from a higher angle. Also, it might be better to shoot from an angle such that you see the faces or backs of the tombstones rather than the sides. At first glance I thought they were posts or bollards. I think the clouds are fine. They make for a pleasing background. More drama such as a storm would be even better and of course if you would shoot during the low sun angle hours in early morning or just before sundown it would add some interest. I don't think the weeds in the foreground are helping. Shooting from a higher perch, as mentioned, would alleviate that. I'll be interested to see some more shots and follow how this comes out.

10MPlayer Loc: California

I thought we weren't supposed to edit other people's work in this section. Just a question. I haven't' followed this section in a while and maybe things have changed. That being said, I like photogeneralist's take better. For some reason flipping the image helped. I also thought the original was a little dark but didn't say anything in my critique because I was more interested in the composition.

Nightski

Just to clarify, edits are not supposed to be posted. There is a section where you can get help with edits. We didn't want this section to turn into that.

Nightski

[quote=kcooke]

Only you can decide what you're subject is, but let me ask you this. How does the viewer know that the tree is special to you because it still stands after a tornado? To me, when you create an image you are trying to convey an idea to the viewer. How does this photo convey the vision you have in your head to the viewer? The sentiments you have in your heart are extremely difficult to convey in one image. The ultra wide lens isn't really the tool to accomplish it . You need a lens to compress the scene so that the tree does in fact seem to be looking over the gravestones. The ultra wide diminishes the background. In this case it doesn't work because the gravestones are important and should not be diminished.

In your original post you did say that you are learning to use an ultra wide lens. It's very important to use the right tool for the job. I think I would try my 100mm on this scene, although a 50mm might do quite nicely. I do know what you're going for. I have a sentinel tree on a hilltop that has snow angels on it in the winter. I took my ultra wide out there and either the sentinel or the angels were lost in the background. Then snowmobiles came and wrecked it. I'm going to try again this winter with a longer lens. It's a tough shot.