Silhouette Tree , Yosemite

[Gerald_Gilligan]

I was out early on Sunday morning driving from Camp Curry toward Valley View chasing early light...
I stopped several times to take some images and continued to the Swinging Bridge parking area.
I went into the meadow on the right and came across a workshop lead by Michael Frye.
I greeted the group and continued past them as this fleeting scene presented itself.

The sun is rising on the left side creating an amazing glow through rising valley mist. It was an amazing few moments, and having very little time to react and capture this scene, I created several wide angle images with multiple tree's.

I was not satisfied that I captured the moment with the wide angle approach and quickly changed lenses and I was able to isolate this tree with a zoom.

This image was created on June 7, 2009 at 7:01 am.
5D MKII
70-200 2.8 IS L
f16
1/30 second
ISO 100
at 85mm
RAW

Some PP w S/H adjustment to bring out the grass.

Does this image work?

All comments and critiques are welcome.

Jerry

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Simple and a neat image Jerry. Like the fog here. Mighting darken the lone tree. Wondering if a B&W conversion would enhance the impact of the image...

[Robert Amoruso]

Gerald,

Simple but effective composition. Though this suggestion will change the complexion of the image, I would like to see more sharpness in the tree or perhaps do a local contrast enhancement on the image (USM on BG Copy at 20/50/0 to start).

[Gerald_Gilligan]

Here is a re post using the guidance from Robert and suggestion from Kaushik.

The LCE darkened the tree and added a little punch overall.

I uploaded the image at the maximum size.

Any thought's on this version?

Thank you as always

Jerry

[Paul Marcellini]

Works for me, I might warm the highlights a touch to give it that morning glow, but really a nice mood and image here.

[David Thomasson]

Beautiful image and nicely composed just as you shot it. But this is also a great image to experiment with in varying the mood and feel. Endless possibilities ...

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/2438/treeatsunrise.jpg

[Robert Amoruso]

Jerry,

I like your repost. Also feel keeping some detail in the tree helps to balance the image better with the fog as apposed to a silhouette of the tree.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Jerry,
I too like the re-post as it still shows the delicate layer of the mountain through the fog. I may play around with adding Balcs in selective color.......but the simple comp and mood work very well here. Nicely done!

[Morkel Erasmus]

great shot! simplistic - I like however what David has done to make it a touch more moody. so many possibilities with this one!

[Gerald_Gilligan]

Thank you all for the comments and suggestions. It really helps seeing other interpretations, I think that the warmer glow has some merit...

Jerry