Tree Lane

[Morkel Erasmus]

Another humble attempt at coming up with interesting compositions when no obvious ones present themselves.

This is an HDR image converted to B&W. The tree tops are blurred due to a strong gusting wind which had me lock my tripod to the ground with my feet.

The image was taken on a local farm about 15 minutes out of town. You can see the cattle grazing behind the horizontal treeline.

Techs:
Canon 1000D with 18-55mm IS
f16 @ ISO-200
blend of 3 exposures to enhance detail in the shadows

[Robert Amoruso]

Compositionally, this is well handled Morkel. THe strong leading line on the right leads to the BG and then turns. To bad there was nothing in the FG grass to add interest there. I would lighten up this image somewhat. I tried a curves adjustment using the Lighten preset and that did the trick IMO.

[Dave Mills]

Agree with Robert's comments especially regarding lightening the image.Simple comp but yet effective!

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Robert & Dave!

here's my repost with curves and eyedroppers adjustment

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Morkel,
Always looking for those easy landscapes:D! I like the comp here....but even in the repost.....you need to go old school....selectively dodging and burning will really make this shine!

[Bob Miller]

Hey Morkel! i like the repost alot! Nice job!

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Bob & Roman...

Roman - dodging and burning is something I don't often do. Where would you do which in this shot? Burning the high-key BG, but dodging?

[Kobus Tollig]

I like the first one better. This is REALLY 3D. Well done. Might be a bit oversharpened

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks bud...

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Morkel,
here goes.....first 2 levels layers.....one on grass up to trunks.....one on just the upper part of trees (leaves/branches avoiding the sky where possible) and then 2 Brightness contrast on the same areas.....but not very agressive. A bit of dodging and burning on the trunks only....fading it every time. After all that the upper sky areas drew my eye. You cann clone/patch the areas in or as I did crop. Let me know your thoughts but I hope it gives you at least a few ideas to try!

[Roman Kurywczak]

Yellow will give you an approximate idea where I did the levels and B/C adjustments and the blue is a good idea where I dodged and burned

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks a lot for the effort Roman - your repost has enhanced the image IMO.