Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: cjogo on January 27, 2013, 01:33:23 pm

Title: Coastal Cypress
Post by: cjogo on January 27, 2013, 01:33:23 pm
The Lone Survivor ....
Title: Re: Coastal Cypress
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on January 27, 2013, 03:35:45 pm
Wow. The trunk and roots are fantastic. It's a tad tightly cropped on the right.

Jeremy
Title: Re: Coastal Cypress
Post by: cjogo on January 27, 2013, 04:50:39 pm
Wow. The trunk and roots are fantastic. It's a tad tightly cropped on the right.

Jeremy
thanks for lookin'     A good 100 years on this Cypress ..survived a few earthquakes , for sure.   I will look at the neg ( from '83) > see if there a little more on the right in the dense fog  .... been a long time..
Title: Re: Coastal Cypress
Post by: Tony Jay on January 27, 2013, 05:38:48 pm
The Lone Survivor ....
This reminds of those ancient B&W portraits of side-lit wizened old men.
Whereas one would characterize those portraits as characterful this tree is beautiful in a way that defies vocabulary.
Wonderful composition from foreground to misty background.
My personal take on this image is that it may not have been possible to do better on that day.
All-in-all a true winner!

Tony Jay
Title: Re: Coastal Cypress
Post by: BernardLanguillier on January 27, 2013, 06:12:41 pm
Nice, I would give it a tad more breathing space towards the top.

Cheers,
Bernard
Title: Re: Coastal Cypress
Post by: cjogo on January 27, 2013, 06:27:18 pm
The fog was fairly thick  >> Had a 250mm lens across the inlet -- waiting for a clearing of the tree > to snap quickly before it was engulfed..
Title: Re: Coastal Cypress
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on January 27, 2013, 06:58:06 pm
I agree with the others that a bit more on the right and top would help. But in any case it's a true Edward Weston level cypress. Nice!
Title: Re: Coastal Cypress
Post by: RSL on January 27, 2013, 07:20:26 pm
I agree with Eric, but I'd add that there are times when a 1 x 1 aspect ratio just doesn't get the job done, and this is one of them. This scene obviously cries out for a vertical that at least hints at the cliff this guy lives on. I'd also have given it a bit more room on the right, though that's a call shot that's up to the photographer.
Title: Re: Coastal Cypress
Post by: cjogo on January 27, 2013, 07:59:51 pm
Probably not much detail on either side -- just fog rolling through..  Always printed square or the full frame > of whatever camera I was working that year ... Trails are very narrow at this Park  -did not have a zoom in those days.. probably was back against the poison ivy at this point...not room to move much. 
Title: Re: Coastal Cypress
Post by: RSL on January 28, 2013, 10:50:31 am
One significant thing about this tree is the way it clings to the side of the cliff. To bring out that significance some of the cliff has to show -- even if, in reality, it's a pretty short cliff. The other problem with the shot, if it is a problem, is that a square format is static. But this isn't a static situation. It's a dynamic situation. A vertical with a 4 x 5 aspect ratio, and the tree in the upper left third would have brought out the dynamism.

But the execution of what's there is excellent. I love the mid tones in the fog.

By the way, if you'd been on LuLa for long you'd know I always recommend printing full frame.