one tree hill

[noah]

im after a bit of a critique on this one please guys. im not sure what it is about it but i like this image. it seems a bit boring, but i like the simple and cold feel to it. i was wondering what your thoughts were and what i can do to improve it as an image.

thanks

 

[GfK]

Have you posted this picture before - black and white version?? It looks very familiar.

I like it anyway - perhaps a little over-sharpened but I like the composition.

I'd like to see the same shot with a higher viewpoint cos its got me wondering what's on the other side of the hill. :thumb:

 

[dazzajl]

Hi Noah,

is this a location that you could go and have another play with?

If so I think you could find some more impact from just changing the camera position a little. If you were a bit lower then you could prevent the lower branch from overlapping with the top of the hill and have more forground leading to the subject. Also, the tree is slightly clipped on the right edge and would stand out more with a little space there.

All very small points I know but I think finding the best in shots like that one is always in the last few percent.

D

 

[Garnock]

Noah, mostly what has been said before plus this shot is screaming out for a B&W conversion.
If the original has clipped the branches of the tree and you can't reshoot then some easy cloning will help.

It's a nice angle and compo. I had a play in B&W and I think it works well.

As for sharpening the fact that it's such a small image and depending on how and when you sharpened will all factor.

Cameron

 

[Arkady]

Great location there and ditto what they said ^^...

Reminds me of the opening credits from "6 feet under". Try a longer shot with the tree more centred. Good colour - maybe a blue tinted duotone perhaps - think film processing on movies like Underworld: really go over the top and make it dark and moody?

 

[Matt]

not much more to add, i would like to see a deeper bluein the sky, so if you didnt use one, a Poloriser would help bring the colour up!

 

[noah]

Have you posted this picture before - black and white version?? It looks very familiar.

I like it anyway - perhaps a little over-sharpened but I like the composition.

I'd like to see the same shot with a higher viewpoint cos its got me wondering what's on the other side of the hill. :thumb:

yeah, i did in the sharing forum, but when i went back through them on sunday i thought id have a play and reprocesed it. the previous black and white one i wasnt really happy with, it just didnt have any snap to it. i agree tho i have oversharpened it, i think it was reducing it to 600 pix then again to 500 pix for my website that did it.

as to the higher viewpoint, thats not really possible im afraid as id need to get to the next valley, and im not sure how, but the top of the hill isnt very exciting, just a thin old road.

is this a location that you could go and have another play with?

yes it is, i think i'll return the next time we get such nice clear winter weather. ithink you're right about the lower viewpoint and being carefull of clipping the tree, maybe cloning out a couple of branches would help the existing shot?

All very small points I know but I think finding the best in shots like that one is always in the last few percent.

spot on, thats what im after.

this shot is screaming out for a B&W conversion.

agreed, but i seem to be getting a lot of noise in the sky when i use the channel mixer to do it, maybe i need to do it then run it through noiseware.

Good colour - maybe a blue tinted duotone perhaps - think film processing on movies like Underworld: really go over the top and make it dark and moody?

good plan, ive not done many duotones before, so i'll have a go, the blue should help keep the cold feel.

i would like to see a deeper bluein the sky, so if you didnt use one, a Poloriser would help bring the colour up!

infact i did use my polariser on this one, but due to possibly the stragest post-processing ive every done it ended up like this. i started off trying to convert it to IR for fun, then overlayed the colour layer again and this came out, the original had a much deeper blue, i'll see what i can do.

time to crack out the photoshop book and have a play.

thanks for all the comments :thumb:

 

[dazzajl]

maybe cloning out a couple of branches would help the existing shot?

Without doubt, although obviously it won't do anything for the forground. If that was something you wanted to change?

Which brings us to a very individual choice. If the end result is the ultimate goal then potatochop away. If you're like me (you know, slightly more than a little deranged ) then getting it the way you want in the camera may have just as high a value to you as the resulting image. In which case, it's back to freeze your knackers on the hill again.

 

[noah]

here's a go at a duotone with a couple of branches cloned out.

edit: i lie, its a tritone, oops

 

[MattEg]

I like both versions of this noah.
But I think it would look slightly better if the left side of the tree wasn't touching the floor.