Ushering in Spring

[John R]

Yesterday I took my sister and baby niece for a walk in High Park. We saw this worker-gardener raking up leaves into piles under the bare canopy that was full of buds just ready to bloom. To me it looked like he was ushering in Spring in a raking ritual. I hurried and got one or two shots, and then it rained. So this is the result, an impression of things to come.

JMR

[Hans Kruse]

Yesterday I took my sister and baby niece for a walk in High Park. We saw this worker-gardener raking up leaves into piles under the bare canopy that was full of buds just ready to bloom. To me it looked like he was ushering in Spring in a raking ritual. I hurried and got one or two shots, and then it rained. So this is the result, an impression of things to come.

JMR

Hi John,

I really like the scene and composition and the mood. I'm less thrilled with the post processing. I'm not sure what you have done, but it looks sort of tone mapped to me.

[John R]

Hi John,

I really like the scene and composition and the mood. I'm less thrilled with the post processing. I'm not sure what you have done, but it looks sort of tone mapped to me.

The colours and tones are deliberately skewed. Its experimental and meant to be impressionistic. Mostly layers and Gausian blur, done to make the colours more vibrant and soft without actually changing them. There is no HDR involved.

JMR

[Hans Kruse]

The colours and tones are deliberately skewed. Its experimental and meant to be impressionistic. Mostly layers and Gausian blur, done to make the colours more vibrant and soft without actually changing them. There is no HDR involved.

JMR

Hi John,

Thanks for the explanation. HDR and tone mapping are two different things, though.

[JeffKohn]

I too like the composition. The trees are nicely arranged and balanced throughout the frame. And you've found a good crop point at the top of the frame, using those large branches to contain the image so it doesn't seem arbitrarily chopped off at the time. If I were to nitpick it might have been nice if the fellow with the rake were standing somewhere other than the center of the frame (maybe in the lower left area which is a bit open compared to the rest of the frame). But I realize he's probably not a paid model posing under your direction.

I have to agree with Hans about the color; it's the greens that I don't like, they look like the saturation slider was cranked up and it gives the image a digitally-proccesed look. If you could desaturate the greens I think I would be OK with the rest of the processing.

[dalethorn]

Interesting how most of the trees grow straight up, in spite of the slope. But a few of them lean toward the downslope. I wonder if there's more light coming from that direction.

[John R]

Hi John,

Thanks for the explanation. HDR and tone mapping are two different things, though.

Thanks for the information. I have never tried tone-mapping and I thought it is related to HDR.

JMR

[John R]

I too like the composition. The trees are nicely arranged and balanced throughout the frame. And you've found a good crop point at the top of the frame, using those large branches to contain the image so it doesn't seem arbitrarily chopped off at the time. If I were to nitpick it might have been nice if the fellow with the rake were standing somewhere other than the center of the frame (maybe in the lower left area which is a bit open compared to the rest of the frame). But I realize he's probably not a paid model posing under your direction.

I have to agree with Hans about the color; it's the greens that I don't like, they look like the saturation slider was cranked up and it gives the image a digitally-proccesed look. If you could desaturate the greens I think I would be OK with the rest of the processing.

I agree it does have a processed look. But as I said, it was meant to, as an experiment to bring out a certain quality. I usually get the same varied reactions on other sites as I did on this one. People like it or have reservations about the processed look. I will keep experimenting and see if can I reduce some of the effects while retaining others as many have suggested. But I liken the choice to overprocess as analgous to when a photographer deliberately over or under expose a scen to render the image in a certain light or way. The key has to be whether the image is good or not.

Thanks for the comments.

JMR

[John R]

Interesting how most of the trees grow straight up, in spite of the slope. But a few of them lean toward the downslope. I wonder if there's more light coming from that direction.

In the past the authorites would cull the trees and clean the park, so most of the leaning trees were either taken down or corrected. Now the philosphy is a mixture of letting things go wild in certain areas and keeping the walking parts free for the thousands of visitors that walk through every year. When the sun shines, it very difficult to get a shot with all the shadows around. And you are right, there is more light coming from the right as the sun turns westward.

JMR

[button]

This one works for me, because you have put together an intricate composition.  First, I like the division of the blue sky and the green ground with the diagonal line of the hill.  Next, the lean of the man creates an unusual counterpoint with respect to the lean of the trees which frame him.  Finally, the man looks entirely too small- the scale discrepancy creates tension.  Cool!

John