Maple in Morning Light

[Remo Nonaz]

There is a stand of maple trees I pass frequently on the way to work. Saturday the weather was clear so I went there at about the time in go by on the way to work. Got this keeper.

[rambler44]

I like the way you have tried to capture the character of this old maple without finding it necessary to include the whole tree.  I do find that my attention is drawn to the cluster of small branches in the middle left.  Maybe because they appear quite bright.  I think the curving larger limbs and the texture of the trunk is what needs to be emphasized more. You have done well with the background.  We can see clearly what it is, yet it does not distract us away.  It has a nice relationship with the scene.  This is a good choice for black and white.  There was probably not much color there, yet enough contrast to make your main subject stand out.  Overall, nicely done.

[Isaac]

The arched branches are fun - perhaps there's a way to compose the photo without that patch of sky?

[Remo Nonaz]

I don't know. It can't be cropped out - it messes up the proportions of the photo. Perhaps it could be shaded out. I tried a couple of things but they didn't work well, so I left it alone. 

[Isaac]

Can you take another photo from a slightly different position and still show what you want to show?

[Remo Nonaz]

Changing position would move the fainter tree in the background, which was an element I wanted. The print of this image is not as contrasty as the screen image and the sky bright-spot does not interfere with the composition. Still, I'm open to suggestions on how to darken it slightly. I tried using the select tool and then color selection in that area, copying to a new layer and darkening, but the results were worse than leaving it alone.

[rambler44]

Here is another way to try to darken the corner: select the area out loosely, then copy and paste to a new layer, then change the layer mode to Multiply.  (Near the top of the Layer palette, click on Normal and select Multiply)  When you do that the layer will darken depending on the opacity chosen.   Using a Paint brush, foreground set to black, set to Linear, and say an opacity of 50%, paint over the selection to darken it more.  (Or lighten it with the foreground set to white.)  Set at 100% opacity would get you to black.