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Diane Miller
06-29-2014, 03:15 PM
The peeling bark on a Madrone is a bigger subject. Did both double-diffused flash and natural light on this one and wound up liking the natural light better.

Canon 5D3, Sigma 180 macro, ISO 800, f/16, 1/20 sec. Probably should have gone to a lower ISO but I needed that much to get enough flash power through two diffusers and didn't bother to change it for an ambient exposure. Live view, remote release, big Gitzo and Wimberley II. A ball head is a little easier to manage but I wanted to try for stability.

Tried a few focus stacks but haven't had time to assemble them. This single shot is up to my standards.

I don't care for the empty space top left -- may run back down to the tree and hang a leaf there.

Ron Conlon
07-01-2014, 08:15 PM
I like the composition, and don't have a problem with the empty space top left, it establishes a nice counterbalance in color to all the interesting reds elsewhere. I find the overall effect very calming, abstract. I like it better than your other posted, similar shot. A novel subject for this forum as well.

Diane Miller
07-01-2014, 08:23 PM
Thanks, Ron! I like this one better, too. Wish I had noticed it when I was shooting the previous tree. (They're neighbors, so I should have.) The nights here are generally quite cool and the humidity rises, which causes the bark to "unpeel" but when it gets hot by mid-day, it peels again. But every day is a slightly different pattern, as the curls shed fairly quickly. So every day is a new adventure.

I think I could crop off about the top 1/3.

Steve Maxson
07-05-2014, 11:21 AM
Hi Diane. This is very cool! I like the soft natural light and the pleasing mix of colors. There are interesting things to see throughout the frame and everything is sharp. I like the comp as presented, but cropping some from the top, as you suggest above, would make a strong alternate comp. This is very nicely done!

Diane Miller
07-05-2014, 10:47 PM
Thanks, Steve! I need to camp out by this tree. It changes daily.

WillieHall
07-10-2014, 11:26 PM
we have madrones up here in the Sierra Foothills. very creative reminder of a beautiful unique tree. Like it just as is and will try this on manzanita.

Diane Miller
07-11-2014, 02:17 PM
Look forward to seeing what you get, Willie! Watch out for rattlesnakes up there. We had one sitting in the base of this tree several years ago, where the trunk branches a few inches from the ground. The large wild area behind us is home to the largest privately-owned collection of rattlesnakes this side of west Texas.