On The Beaten Path

[Julie Kenward]

This is an image I made this morning right as the sun was rising. I did a lot of work in pp to bring up the shadows along the tree line and then I applied an Orton action over the entire thing to give it a soft feel. I also tried a blue color fill layer to add a little color to the washed out sky in the URC. Perhaps there is a better way to achieve a more natural effect?

My two questions are 1) did I take pp too far and 2) how did I do with the overall composition? I'm really trying to find my way with landscapes and any critique is very much appreciated.

Canon 40D, EF 17-40mm f/4L
F6.3 @ 1/20th, ISO 400
Manual mode, Pattern metering
Processed in ACR & CS4

[Dennis "Curly" Buchner]

Julie the image is anchored nicely and the winding path gives it a soft look as the journey begins. A little dark on my monitor. Very nice

[Julie Kenward]

Curly, have I ever told you how much I giggle every time I see your tag line? Cracks me up...

I'll recalibrate my monitor tomorrow and check the image again. It looks okay on my monitor but it's been awhile...

[Dave Mills]

Julie I like what you did to the image. The rich color and painterly look gives the image a fine quality and draws you into it.
A minor nit pick...I would have liked to have seen a bit more path on the right otherwise..well done!

[Julie Kenward]

Thanks, D. I realize the front path is a bit short but in order to get more the trees on the left would have been all lined up instead of spread out as they are so I chose the trees over the path. It's always something, isn't it?

[Dave Mills]

Hi..Yes it seems that way. All in all it's a fine image

[Michael Pancier]

I like the scene. I think that perhaps shooting from a slightly higher perspective would better give the feel that you're going down hill and also see the end of the path on the right. if you boost the brilliance (or use a Nik warmth/brilliance adjustment) it would make the foliage colors pop out more. looks like a cool place for IR too....

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Jules,
My favorite tool in PS.........crop......entire sky out (use the browser and scroll to see what I mean)..........IMO it strenghthens the form of the trees and even makes the short path seem more prominant.......only thing left is a removal of a distant building???...........in the UR third area. Sweet work on the shadow areas.........and the Orton effect really added a nice touch.

[Julie Kenward]

Roman, if I crop the entire sky out then the front tree is nothing but stump. You'd really crop that tight?

[Roman Kurywczak]

OK Jules,
Here's the crop.........lets see if others like it as much as me.........but remember..........it's your final call.....but something about the shape of the tree trunks make me like it more.

[Julie Kenward]

I like everything about it except that front tree. It just looks odd to me without any of the upper branches. I'm going to sleep on it and see what I think in the morning.

Thanks for the idea Roman. It does give me something to think about...

[Cindy Cone]

I like both versions. Roman's crop is not something I would have contemplated, but it does make for a unique image with interesting lines. Jules, the original composition works very well, too - just different moods.

[Robert Amoruso]

Julie,

I like losing the sky in Roman's crop but agree with you that the front tree looks odd then. Orton affect works well here. Adding some POP to the colors is what you need to do.

[Julie Kenward]

Thanks everyone. Great ideas...it gives me plenty to think about on this image (and future images as well.)