Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: David Eckels on November 29, 2013, 10:19:22 am

Title: Morning Tree in Ohio
Post by: David Eckels on November 29, 2013, 10:19:22 am
This morning. I continue to experiment with pastels ;) Done on my laptop, needs some fine tuning, but composition and subject matter comments welcome.
Title: Re: Morning Tree in Ohio
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 29, 2013, 10:58:41 am
Lovely!

As for the subject matter... As-is is a good record of your personal experience... without the hand of man in the background, would be a nice fine-art shot.
Title: Re: Morning Tree in Ohio
Post by: RSL on November 29, 2013, 11:10:36 am
WITH the hand of man it's a nice fine-art shot, whatever that is.
Title: Re: Morning Tree in Ohio
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 29, 2013, 11:21:01 am
... fine-art shot, whatever that is.

Fine art snap? ;)
Title: Re: Morning Tree in Ohio
Post by: David Eckels on November 29, 2013, 11:25:27 am
Happy Thanksgiving guys! I'm going to work on that background when I get back...see if I can ruin it ;)
Title: Re: Morning Tree in Ohio
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on November 29, 2013, 11:30:31 am
Lovely!

As for the subject matter... As-is is a good record of your personal experience... without the hand of man in the background, would be a nice fine-art shot.
I agree.
But Russ would insist that the hand of man in the background is what makes it a fine art shot (or an acceptable landscape).
Title: Re: Morning Tree in Ohio
Post by: Christoph C. Feldhaim on November 29, 2013, 01:50:43 pm
This image is a very nice base to work on.

The sense of depth, provided by the fog could be enhanced by putting more white (fog) on the man made structures to make them really faint and I believe you can weaken the man made stuff so far, that it is a nice fine-art shot, even for Slobodan.
You could also very carefully boost the structure of the snow in the foreground.
The tree and bushes beside it could be very little darker to be more prominent.
Its a delicate work to do, but the potential is there and definitely worth the work.


Cheers
~Chris
Title: Re: Morning Tree in Ohio
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 29, 2013, 02:13:49 pm
And a Happy Thanksgiving to you too, Dave!

Many things to be grateful for in our lives, but in the context of this forum, this might also be a perfect time to express our appreciation for all the good things we have learned here, exchanged ideas, forged new friendships, and in general had fun.

As for the hand of man in this image... do not mind it in principal, but this particular one is overpowering and distracting. The hand of man, when not the main subject, works best as a symbol, a hint. In this case, we have it flanking the main subject from both sides. There are two or three recognizable elements (the third being a snow-covered car to the right?). Reducing such clutter to a symbolic presence would be possible by cloning out the car and the leftmost house (my choice) or the car and the house part on the right.

Title: Re: Morning Tree in Ohio
Post by: petermfiore on November 29, 2013, 05:01:40 pm
The soft hues of the houses in the distance are reminiscent of Twachtman. Great Job!!

Peter
Title: Re: Morning Tree in Ohio
Post by: brandtb on November 30, 2013, 09:59:27 am
Dave - nice tones...dont' think the crop is successful...I would experiment with that just a bit. And great comment about J.H. Twachtman by Peter (!)...one of my favorite painters of snow scenes...just brilliant...and someone to think about when processing these types of images...you should look for his work. /B
Title: Re: Morning Tree in Ohio
Post by: RSL on November 30, 2013, 10:16:05 am
Brandt, No kidding! What crop would you suggest?

David, don't pay any attention to suggestions that you chop up this beautiful thing. The "crop" is fine, and the picture would lose most of its impact without the house in the background.
Title: Re: Morning Tree in Ohio
Post by: David Eckels on November 30, 2013, 06:45:17 pm
Many things to be grateful for in our lives, but in the context of this forum, this might also be a perfect time to express our appreciation for all the good things we have learned here, exchanged ideas, forged new friendships, and in general had fun.
I agree absolutely. Thanks for the comments and suggestions. BTW, no crop applied! Will look up Twachtman.
PS, not a snow covered car, a snow covered bush!