High Sierra Timber: Traveling in the Sierras for a bit and came across some beauties on Rte 88. Since I do not have Elements on my IPad, I only changed the light a bit and did minor...

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

Traveling in the Sierras for a bit and came across some beauties on Rte 88. Since I do not have Elements on my IPad, I only changed the light a bit and did minor cropping. Would love to hear some feedback. These are at medium file size.
I will be looking for some more nice Aspen groves to shoot while here and I can always use shooting tips.
Autumn has fallen. Crisp nights and cool days are coming.
Pete

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Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

I find both to be beautiful (#2 must be downloaded!). The landscape has a very interesting tree to grab us in the foreground, then the middle section with lake, all leading to distant hills and pleasing wispy clouds. Really nice composition IMO.

The golden trees are well exposed, but perhaps not as sharply focused as you intended? The black rock (?) had me thinking bear 'til I looked more closely

Tips - early or late in day for most yummy light. Don't be afraid to try backlighting with close-ups. If in harsh mid-day light, you might enjoy best results with smaller sections of colored trees, especially against darker backgrounds or settings, such as #2 here.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

These scenics are excellent, especially the first one. The second is nice, too, but is it perhaps a bit fuzzy, or is it just me?

DaveC1 Loc: South East US

#1 does the trick for me! It has a great deal to say in both the colors and the composition. Excellent work.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

#1 is a good example of the sort of depth that #2 needs. As shown, #2 is a bit two-dimensional and needs at least some more foreground interest and preferably a bit more background interest to draw the eye into the shot. The softness that has been mentioned is because the detail (small foliage and grass) is just a bit too small for the sensor resolution to deal with.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

These are both beautiful.

philo Loc: philo, ca

I really like #2. I believe that one dark item is a rock and the second is a small tree.
However i think I would crop the foreground a bit.

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

Thank you all for the tips. Yes, I concur, it does look a bit soft in #2. I had thought perhaps it was because the Aspen leaves were fluttering in the breeze and the sensor never got a solid take on them. It also could be camera shake. I will go back with my tripod and see if I can get a better capture. I also think as RG mentioned that it could use a bit more depth. I think I need a slightly wider view to get that feel.
#1 Was my favorite of the two also. In some ways it reminded me of the famous Monterey Cedar. All I know for sure is when I saw it I was making notes to stop and explore sites as we drove to a late lunch and I raised hell till my Lady stopped and turned around. The light was just right and I did not want to lose it.
Pete

DaveC1 Loc: South East US

pmorin wrote:

Thank you all for the tips. Yes, I concur, it does... (show quote)

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

I went back to the Aspen grove today and had a few insights. First, the softness in the photo was the lens. The Tamron 18-400 I was using has great quality on the wide end - the cedar tree for example. But after 100mm it loses a lot. Even on manual focus it comes in soft. Guess the nephew gets this one to practice with. After setting up my Canon 100-400 II the softness just disappeared. It is still quite a distance and nothing comes out tack sharp with the glass I have with me, but this next photo is clear.
Lastly, the composition on the first was lacking. I think this has the depth it needed and brings more interest to the shot. I got caught up in the trees before and didn’t see the forest.
I welcome opinions on the cropping. Go ahead and post yours if you like.
Pete

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Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

pmorin wrote:

...I welcome opinions on the cropping. Go ahead and post yours if you like.
Pete

I like the layers! Perhaps an 8x10 would emphasize the depth even more? A bit of oomph added to color and levels:

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pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

Linda From Maine wrote:

I like the layers! Perhaps an 8x10 would emphasize the depth even more? A bit of oomph added to color and levels:

Linda, Hmmmm, I think you may be on to it.
OK, here is the SOOC shot with a couple more layers of tree line that were cropped out when set to 16x9 landscape setting.
As you can see, I added a bit of light and contrast to the re-post. This is a full file version jpeg.
When I cropped, I had done so thinking the sky was too distracting but I wanted to keep the foreground. I liked what’s there, but wasn’t sure of where to position it.

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Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

pmorin wrote:

Linda, Hmmmm, I think you may be on to it.
OK, here is the SOOC shot with a couple more layers of tree line that were cropped out when set to 16x9 landscape setting.
As you can see, I added a bit of light and contrast to the re-post. This is a full file version jpeg.
When I cropped, I had done so thinking the sky was too distracting but I wanted to keep the foreground. I liked what’s there, but wasn’t sure of where to position it.

I think you made the right choice removing the sky from this pic, since there's so little of it. I'm sure there are several appealing crops, just depends on your personal preference.

kenievans Loc: Dallas

I really like your reshoot. Much sharper. I think I would consider lighting up those small trees in the foreground. They look a little too dark to me eye.

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

kenievans wrote:

I really like your reshoot. Much sharper. I think I would consider lighting up those small trees in the foreground. They look a little too dark to me eye.

That will be one of the things on the list of post items. Right now I am just working off my iPad Pro. The light from the trees is what pulled me in originally. Yes, this is a lot clearer, but that could be because of the lens.