What to do with green?

drsilver

drsilver

Messages
353
Name
Ken
Edit My Images
No
web-3184.jpg
This is where I live. It all looks like this. It's overwhelmingly green. I spend a lot of time in this environment, and in its way it's spectacular. I love walking in these woods.

But photographically, I don't know what to do with it.

web_collage-005.jpg
There's light to work with if you look for it. Texture and shadow. A little moisture would have helped and that's usually the default around here, but today was dry.

web--2.jpg
I walked up a nearby trail about a mile into the woods and back. There are 12 pictures in this post, all done in probably 2 hours. Near water and away from it. Through different kinds of light and terrain. And a million different varieties of green. But in the end, it all comes out green.

web_collage-001.jpg
I can put water into play. There's every kind of moving water coming off these mountains. From glacial melt and rivulets through creeks and streams into substantial rivers that cascade over big waterfalls. I didn't shoot any of that today because I was shooting to make a point. But even that's green. The water is green. The reflections off the water are green. Water helps break things up a little bit, but not much.

web-3070.jpg
In trout fishing, there's a thing called frog water. Flat, slow, no structure. Often pretty and accessible, but no reason to be there if you're looking to catch fish. I can shoot this kind of stuff all day every day, but I'm out of ideas on what would make it better. Are my woods frog water? Should I just give up and move on?
 
Embrace it, it's how it looks at the moment so work with it. Find some splashes of a contrast colour from another plant or flower. Wait for a misty or foggy morning to give a little atmosphere and soften off background colours.

Or wait until autumn and then it'll really come alive.
 
It's green now, but come fall it should be spectacular.

Look for shapes and structures - trees doing interesting things, subtle details, curious fungi, hidden features. As Chris said, mono may also help - Ansel Adams took pictures in woods that weren't boring at all, but you do need the right light for that.
 
It looks lush. Look for patterns or distinctive trees that stick out from their surroundings, and simplicity is often best in woodlands so go if it’s foggy as that’ll help separate your subjects from backgrounds...I think vibrant greens and mist work really well together. You could also try close ups especially if there’s flowers or fungi
 
if you use Lightroom CC .the latest update gives a curve channel control to reduce the harshness of the greens . or simply do it in camera in picture settings
 
jerry12953 said:
I think we all suffer from an overdose of green in mid-summer. Maybe hit the coast or wait until August when the autumn colours start to appear. I know......it's a long wait!
Click to expand...
I think the greens of June are great but July becomes very tough when they go dark green and there doesn’t tend to be much colour from wildflowers or crops. As you say the coast is a great option then and in August heather is fantastic
 
Yes, heather is the greatest show of the year in many respects but other colours begin to change in August,certainly by the middle of the month. My observations arethat by about the middle of september the vividness and variety that is visible in mid-August has faded and by October the landscape can look rather tired. Then by the end of october.... pow.... (we hope).
 
Went back into the woods today. I mentioned there's a lot of water up in these mountains. Haven't done gauzy water in a million years. Figured I'd try and work that into the green. Follow a creek. See what I could find.

I'm not a tripod guy. When I think of tripods I think of fireworks and studio work. You always have to account for a tripod. Account for it while you're shooting with it. Account for it when you're carrying it. And especially account for it when you're not shooting with it. You can't just set it down and wander away, looking for a shot.

I probably shouldn't complain. I got a really nice modern carbon fiber tripod. Sure beats the hell out of that old Bogen 3021 that I used to lug around. You gotta have a tripod to shoot gauzy water, and that's what I shot today. Pretty much nothing else, tied to the tripod and all.

web-5864.jpg

web-5902.jpg

web-5949.jpg
 
Last edited:
I really like that first image - great contrast between the hardness of the rocks and the silkiness of the water with a pleasing passage through the frame.
 
I've never been able to bring myself to take a silky water shot but kudos for trying something different.
 
I love early summer as you get a big variety of greens - some subtle differences in the hues and tones. I rather like wet days in summer - allows you to play with the softness of the scenes. I tend to use the individual colour controls in Lightroom to play with subtle changes of hue in the orange, yellow and green. You can always split tone a wee bit as well which can work well in a woodland scene.
 
Hi Ken, the second image works best for me, though it would be interesting to see what mono would do for the tones and textures.
 
ancient_mariner said:
Hi Ken, the second image works best for me, though it would be interesting to see what mono would do for the tones and textures.
Click to expand...
I think that middle one is my favorite one from this set as well. But I think the deep green water in the foreground actually adds to to composition. Here's what it looks like in B&W.

web-6858-3.jpg

Looking at it here on a white page, it looks better than it does against the dark gray background I have in Lightroom.
 
Last edited:
Don't forget there are also some nice ways to post process woodland images, the Orton Effect being one example (although it's not to everyone's liking). Nice images by the way.
 
you could adjust the hue and tonality to give the greens a darker look.
 
something like this shot where the greens were originally much brighter. i turned desaturated the greens a bit, gave them a browner hue and darker tones.

49071004732_41478d30da_o.jpg
 
Here's one I took this week, of a quarry pool that has green water - so I just had to 'embrace the greens'. For me this one just about works (although I boosted the yellows and oranges as well).

 
Last edited:
Last edited:
AdamSi said:
Where is this, its beautiful !
Click to expand...
This is the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie river on the western foothills of the Cascade mountains in Washington state, USA. More generically, the Great Northwest. Pretty much all my images in this thread were made in this part of the world.
 
It's fall. Hooray. Fall is my favorite season. Most of my hobbies have been best in the fall.

Somebody up above mentioned I should wait until fall to mitigate the green. While I've always admired fall foliage, I've never seriously tried to photograph it. Went out this morning on a practice run.

web-1604.jpg

web-1645.jpg

web-1617.jpg

web-1704.jpg
 
Last edited:
I've come back to this thread. Anyone seen this years UK LPOTY winner.

Woodland is my least favourite genre/style of landscape...but the winner has used the season to bring what is a pretty mundane area and subject to life.

The winning picture is lush green and embraces the most beautiful time of year and I'm glad it's a summer picture rather than some dank winter misery fog and grey sky misery fest that won...

Rather than wish the most beautiful, clement and vibrant time of year away I suggest savouring and embracing it for all its splendour.
 
sirch said:
This...

"YouTube Video"

Beware though, those with camera club sensibilities may be offended :)
Click to expand...
Why's this guy hate green? :)

Good video. Might watch some of his others. But his main point about blue and green seems to be, avoid it. Shoot around it if you can, mute it or turn it B&W if you can't. All good advice, but still, I'd like to figure out a way to use it. Autumn moving into winter has been kind to me as a green-avoidance project (see my gray thread). But this summer I think I'm going to take green head on again.

This one has a little bit if green left in it.

web-0054.jpg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top