Character

[Michael Lloyd]

The word that came to mind when I saw this old tree was character

1DsMKIII
70-200 f2.8L IS @ 70mm

ISO 200
1/4000s@ f2.8 (don't ask me why I shot this at f2.8 because I don't have a clue :confused: )

[Dennis "Curly" Buchner]

I like it Mike with the fence leading to the tree. Find the tree to the right distracting. Heck green grass I have not seen that for a while.

[Paul Marcellini]

Very interesting, the land on right is flat, on left with elevation change, the tree on right is broken, on left growing fine. Because of this division, I think a square crop centering everything might work well.

[Michael Lloyd]

I reworked it per Paul's recommendation. Notice that the color is different. In the process of reworking the image I noticed that the White Balance was off. The camera that I shot this with was last used at a basketball game. I always use a fixed WB at sporting events and I had forgotten to set the WB back to Auto. :) Oops... so... this isn't as blue as the other. I'm surprised that I didn't catch it the first time. This was shot near sunset so it makes sense to be a little warm not cool.

[Paul Marcellini]

Yes, very nice. The color balance does look better as well.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Michael,
I like the comp as presented.....but would be interested in an offset fence version......from the other side with the fence holes and posts leading us to the tree.....and that one is quite the character. I was going to question the 2.8......but won't....as it has grown on me. I do prefer the blues in the original post..flowers and grass.....but am really liking the 2nd post comp.....and maybe why the 2.8 grew on me.....just leading me to the tree. I think this was nicely done....as even the original comp was fine with me.....so nice luxury to have. Next time.....try a vert and see if you can get the fence a little stronger in the frame (higher than 2.8 for sure).....and play around with those f stops and comps. The contrast between the grass and flowers is also very intriguing....so with spring approaching....hope you get a lot more ooportunities! Angry storm clouds may be cool too!