Tangled

[James Clark]

Happy New Year everyone!

This is from my trip to upstate NY late last fall.   As with my previous image from the same trip, I got out as the sun was rising, and found just a small bit of light that was highlighting a few remaining colored leaves.   The tree trunk to the left and the frosted underbrush balance and provide some structure, but the gold and orange are there after you look around and work into the frame just a little.  Or maybe vice-versa depending on your perspective.

[Tony Jay]

I like it.

Images like this are pretty difficult to get right - I know, I have had lots of failures over the years having had a roughly similar thought in mind (different bush, different hemisphere, different climate though).

You named the image "Tangled", but in fact, you are correct, if one takes the time to view this image it is possible to "untangle" its components and a fairly well structured image emerges.
In fact one, when viewing this image, is immediately caught up into it - there is no viewing this one from the outside looking in.
I can comment on the light and the colour, etc, but I won't - you know you nailed it.

All that is left to do is offer my congratulations - and express my admiration in your fortitude in being out in such chilly weather!

Tony Jay

[sdwilsonsct]

I think the vertical aspens in the middle also help to hold the eye. Good seeing on a difficult subject.

[Paulo Bizarro]

The image works for me, I feel immersed in it.

[francois]

I like it very much… Subtle colors and vertical lines (of the trees) are the strong points (for me).
Well done.

[James Clark]

Tony & Paolo - thanks for the comments. I've ben sitting on this for about 3 months now trying to figure out what to do with it - I'm glad you found it worth delving into.

Scott & Francois - that's a great point about the verticality in the aspens in the back/center. To be honest, that's not something I even saw until you pointed it out.  For me the image was mainly about the pop of color in the upper right, but I think as we get more experienced in "seeing" artistically, sometimes strong complimentary elements come almost naturally.  That is, we see a feature that we probably see dozens of times every day (like the leaves on the trees), but subconsciously when we see structures, patters and contrasts around that focal point that make a "good" image, our experience somehow identifies and picks out that particular setting from the last dozen trees we saw that weren't situated correctly.

Or something -  it's also possible that I just get lucky, 

[nma]

I can echo Tony Jay's comments and appreciation. I, too, have seen this scene and struggled  to make it into a picture. Until I saw your image, I thought that the sharpness of the image was key to dealing with the apparent chaos, but now I see that it is something else. The way this image is structured is something like a painting; there is a certain impressionistic quality. I can see that by subtly enhancing the saturation and reducing the clarity one can guide the viewer. Yes, I really like it.