Response to Trees (Response #4)

Uploaded 603 Days Ago by George - 11 comments

Photo © George - www.jargonhunter.com/images/daily
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User Comments

Ana said 603 days ago:

Not going to be as interesting as some. looks like a great, old tree. The blue seems a bit over done? I mean, it's a tree, but it doesn't have much impact.

amnesiac said 601 days ago:

nice blues!

luminouslens said 597 days ago:

I love the idea of the silhouetted tree against the bright sky. Unfortunately, I feel like this photo is working too hard - it looks like either the white balance was way off and this affects the tree branches as well, or that color saturation was bumped way up in post-processing which also turns the tree branches blue. I think I understand what you were going for and I think that compositionally this is very powerful. But It might have even more power if it were too look more natural, I think.

George said 597 days ago:

Thanks for the comments :-)

George said 597 days ago:

@Ana & luminouslens:

I see what you mean about the blue being overdone, and I'm curious what you think of the original shot. You can see it here:

http://www.jargonhunter.com/images/daily/misc/ws_trees_1_original.jpg

The only thing I've done to it is sharpen. Thanks! :-)

luminouslens said 597 days ago:

Oh wow, I like the original MUCH better.

But I don't think it's the lack of color that makes me like it better, I think it's just that the branches are still black. Also, the background (grey) is more consistent than in this version where the edges are bluer than the center.

I don't know how you added the color toning, but it looks like it could have been a solid color layer set to overlay. I tried a couple different ways of blending in a color layer and found that a linear burn kept the branches black and also didn't give the inconsistent density of the color. (I picked a different blue only because I didn't want to spend the time trying to match to the exact color you'd picked.) Here's the image: http://luminouslens.baltiblogs.com/whitelight/misc/ws_trees_1_bluelinearburnoverlay.jpg.

(Hoping you don't mind that I played with your image!)

Anyway, I personally find that in this version that you posted to WS that the processing detracts from the image, yet the silhouetted tree is very cool and should be the first thing that attracts my attention. My opinion anyway. :)

George said 597 days ago:

luminouslens,

I took this shot 2 years ago, so I don't remember how I processed it. I suspect I adjusted levels in PS, but I hardly use PS anymore that I don't even remember whether "levels" is the correct term! (yikes!)

Anyway, I really appreciate such a quick reply, and I think it's totally cool that you spent some time working that shot! No worries :-) I like what you've done to it, although now that I *see* the original I think I like that one the best.

Again, thanks *much* for your input. It's greatly appreciated. And I look forward to seeing more of you on WS!!

King said 596 days ago:

I thing you should consider changing your user name to "ByGeorge!"

SeekingFocus said 596 days ago:

George,

Missed another one of your great shots! I really like the over saturation (or should I say high saturation) in the blues here. It really make the tree stand out. Really intense, and I love all those branches!

Good work, as usual.

George said 595 days ago:

Jason thanks! That high saturation seems to be a like it/hate it thing. If you've seen the original (http://www.jargonhunter.com/images/daily/misc/ws_trees_1_original.jpg) I'm curious to know which you prefer. And while you're at it, check out Tamara's version. It's kewl: http://luminouslens.baltiblogs.com/whitelight/misc/ws_trees_1_bluelinearburnoverlay.jpg

SeekingFocus said 595 days ago:

I still have to say I like the one you posted here best. I really like how it seems to be glowing or full of electric energy or something. Normally, I'm not a fan of processing like that or extreme over saturation, but I really think it works very well here.

The original version is great also, and works well in black and white. If I had seen it solo I'd have liked it just just as much, but seeing them next to each other, I feel like the processed version really has a lot of impact.

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