Bristlecone At Sunset

[Hank Christensen]

An ancient bristlecone pine reflects the last rays of daylight, White Mountains, CA

I took this on a recent trip the the White Mountains of California, one of the best places to see ancient bristlecones. It was amazing to be standing among living trees that were thousands of years old.

My goal in the photo was to capture the vibrant colors of sunset reflected in the wood of the bristlecone, while also getting the colors in the opposite horizon, as well as the earth shadow as it crept across the eastern foothills and Nevada desert beyond. The warm pastels in the wood are continued in the sunset colors of the sky above.

Canon 5D MkII
EF 17-40mm f/4L @ 23mm
1/5 sec @ f/22, ISO 400

All comments welcome....

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Hank,
Well.....I think you did what you sent out for very well! While I am not usually a fan things that cut the horizon, in this case I think it works as if the bristlecone was reaching towards that sky! Great color and very well composed with the base of snow adding a very nice touch.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Hank, soft light,good detail with the wood positioned on a diagonal makes for a pleasing image.
The wood is so dominant the cut horizon doesn't bother me either in this case. Finally, just enough color in the sky to have interest....

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hey Hank, well composed and love the soft colors in this one.

[Robert Amoruso]

I agree, well done.

It looks a bit soft to me, I would suggest some more sharpening.

I would also suggest in situations like this moving up and down to create different looks to the BG being careful how the pine's tips interact with the horizon line (i.e, don't merge).

[Hank Christensen]

Thanks everyone for the comments and critique.

Robert and Roman both mentioned the horizon being cut, so I thought I'd address it here. In general, I too usually try to avoid cutting through strong compositional lines. However, in this case I think it works better, creating just a bit of tension in the image. I worked this piece of wood for a while, trying different angles. I settled on this composition in the field, and it was also my favorite at home on the computer (sometimes my preference changes between the two). My compositions from a higher angle were okay, but the photo became very ordinary. With the image above, because the horizon and the wood have similar tones, I felt I could use the wood to tie the foreground into the background. I know I broke some rules here (and that not everyone will like the results), but I'm happy with the result.

Its great that we have a place to discuss advanced composition techniques! As usual, this forum goes beyond the "great shot" comments. :)