Ponderosa Pines, Yosemite N.P.

[sierraman]

Small grove of Ponderosa pines in the valley.

[Jeremy Roussak]

I do like the trees themselves - sometimes I imagine that the bark glows - but sorry to say I don't like the style of your picture at all.

I have to agree: it really looks very odd and, I think inappropriately, rather disturbing. What did you do?

Jeremy

[sierraman]

I have to agree: it really looks very odd and, I think inappropriately, rather disturbing. What did you do?

Jeremy

Not sure what you mean by "disturbing". The only thing I did to this image was add a little "warmth" to it. So if you could let me know the disturbing details, maybe I would not make that mistake again. 

[Vladimirovich]

Shiskin did it better anyways

http://www.google.com/search?q=shishkin&um=1&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi

[sierraman]

Shiskin did it better anyways

http://www.google.com/search?q=shishkin&um=1&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi

Thanks guys for looking. I never really tried photographing trees like this before, maybe next time it will come out better. 

P.S. Not really sure who Shiskin is?

[sdwilsonsct]

To me it looks more like a drawing to illustrate a magazine than a photograph, that's what I meant by I don't like the style. (I expect there will be plenty of people who do like that style.)

Maybe it's the sharpening? Maybe clarity?

Just so. Not necessarily a bad thing! I wonder how this was processed.

[sierraman]

Just so. Not necessarily a bad thing! I wonder how this was processed.

Believe it or not, I just added a little bit of "warmth" to the image. When I first saw the image I thought it looked a little odd myself. I'm not sure if it's the patterns in the bark combined with the proximity of the trees or what it is. It almost looks like an HDR image but it's just a single frame. How about without the tree on the left side of the image?

[Harald L]

For me the first image looks overdone and I believe that this is caused by the lush green of the grass which looks somewhat odd and over-saturated. The second one looks much more realistic (just my opinion)

[OnlyNorth]

Thanks guys for looking. I never really tried photographing trees like this before, maybe next time it will come out better. 

P.S. Not really sure who Shiskin is?

Shishkin not Shiskin   was a Russian painter from 19th c.who painted trees in the forests and forests in  a  realistic way.

[sdwilsonsct]

How about without the tree on the left side of the image?

The left-hand tree adds depth, I like it.

Did you get a jpg or raw file out of the camera? I think Harlem22's right...the spring green grass, the highly directional light and the well-rendered bark texture add up to a drawing-like quality,

[Isaac]

Did you get a jpg or raw file out of the camera?

That, Detective, is the "right question."

[sierraman]

It was a raw file. I agree that maybe I added too much warmth and need a less saturated look. Tried B & W, not enough contrast? Thanks everyone for your input. 

[Jeremy Roussak]

Not sure what you mean by "disturbing". The only thing I did to this image was add a little "warmth" to it. So if you could let me know the disturbing details, maybe I would not make that mistake again. 

Oh, I wouldn't presume to suggest that something I didn't like was a mistake! I express my own views and I don't purport to be an arbiter of taste.

The image looks, to me, over-sharpened and HDR-like. There's something unreal about it, which unsettles me. I'm afraid my vocabulary lacks the words to describe exactly what I mean. It's still visible, though to a much lesser extent, in the B&W you posted later (which I prefer, although the grass looks a little odd).

Jeremy

[Paulo Bizarro]

I like the almost ethereal look of the image. There is a wonderful contrast between the texture/hardness of the bark and the softness of the grass.

[OnlyNorth]

Despite of the majority's opinion I like both color versions especially the second one.In my opinion the subject is that orange colored(189,133,76-on my display) pine and its solitude.So ,for me,the B/W version is a nonsense.So to underline the loneliness feeling open a new layer(ctrl J and layer 1 will appear)then ,in layers cassette  it pushes down on the small square to obtain a new layer which will be layer 2 then it modifies the blending mode from normal to lighter color  .Then with paint bucket cover the image with a light gray(i.e.190,190,190). Then with erase tool at 1-5% begin to erase the grey color especially from the orange pine and from the background grass(for erase tool it uses a soft round brush from default brushes). Then from the foreground grass but only a little and from orange area of the   other pine.Then with brush tool at 10-20% cover the layer with a little blue 150,150,190.Finally crop the image from the left and bottom side .If you'll try you will be amazed!Of course, the personal taste will say how much erase tool it will be used and how much brush tool for blue color  too.The process was described for those who use PSE 7-11and was used one from the middle...PSE11 . Time was not over 12 min.I extended that because someone tried and failed.  
With friendliness.

[Glenn NK]

I was somewhat distracted by the tree on the left of the original, but something else seemed unusual (not wrong, just unusual); for the size and proximity of the group of trees, I would have expected more shadow on the ground and the trunks.

Glenn

PS:  Just read the post by Only North - I agree about the cropping.

[sierraman]

I was somewhat distracted by the tree on the left of the original, but something else seemed unusual (not wrong, just unusual); for the size and proximity of the group of trees, I would have expected more shadow on the ground and the trunks.

Glenn

PS:  Just read the post by Only North - I agree about the cropping.

With the tree on the left and all of the other trees, I was trying to show the unique bark pattern of the Ponderosa Pines. I thought the tree on on left might add some depth to the image (maybe I was wrong). The trees all were in early morning shade so there wasn't any shadows in the image. I admit maybe there is just too much going on in the image and next time focus more on a single tree. 

[Richowens]

 After a few tweaks in Lightroom.

 I think this will address what appeared strange to others.

 Any objections and I will remove it.

 Rich