Critique Woodland, and tips on post-processing?

FishyFish

FishyFish

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This is one of a number of shots I took in some local-ish woodland on Monday. I've attempted to process the shot to get it looking how it did to my eye at the time, and it feels pretty close. The weather on the day was overcast but still quite bright, so I've cropped the photo to 16:9 to remove some of the overly bright areas at the top of the frame where bits of sky could be seen through the treetops and also removed some foliage from the foreground. I've darkened the foreground too, but lightened the foreground path a small amount (maybe 10-20%) to keep the lead-in. I've also darkened the greens in the foliage a little as it was noticeably bright before.

I don't think it's an amazing shot, but I wanted to post it to see how I can improve the processing, or gain some tips on how to better process this type of photo. While I've tried to keep this shot natural looking, I'm not opposed to adding some "wow" factor either. Ideally, there would always be atmospheric soft mist when I went to the woods, but mostly there isn't. :)



FILM - Springtime wood by fishyfish_arcade, on Flickr
 
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I’m not that great so take with a pinch of salt! I’d maybe tone down the green (just a smudge) and darken it slightly. Mist would definitely make it more atmospheric but it’s more a case of rain these days

Sorry that’s not much help. It’s quite pleasant a shot though
 
I might add some vignette especially to the top half to emphasise the track more.
 
I think your processing is fine, I just don't find the composition that interesting. Sorry.

Needs a focal point of interest. A path can do that and draw you into the photo, but the path in your photo doesn't do that and leaves the photo a little flat.
 
Ste_S said:
I think your processing is fine, I just don't find the composition that interesting. Sorry.

Needs a focal point of interest. A path can do that and draw you into the photo, but the path in your photo doesn't do that and leaves the photo a little flat.
Click to expand...

I agree about the composition. I don't hate it or anything, but I didn't find a shot I really liked on the day (although I have a few medium format frames on Provia still to look at). This was more a post about how to go about processing this sort of shot than the composition.
 
Processing-wise I'd be inclined to bring up the path with brushwork, possibly also lift shadows a little more & dial the green hue 5 units toward yellow (lightroom HSL module) and drop saturation of green a similar amount. Perhaps a gentle tweak to sharpness & clarity (the latter possibly down as well as up - try both) and finally just re-do black & white points.
 
I agree that the composition is the weakest point here, it's a nice 'record shot' and naturally edited but it's not going to win any prizes. Look for trees with character to base the composition around. Simon Baxter's recent vlog has some good examples of what I mean (
View: https://youtu.be/5nRF2DJZWUw
). I've seen a few of photographers bemoaning a lack of mist lately - odd as the woodland images they've shared have been beautiful without it...there's no doubt it can provide a nice atmosphere but it isn't essential
 
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