Two Trees

[Jay Sheinfield]

I was out shooting with John this morning. John, noticed the sky to the side of us, so he gets the credit. I stopped to take this shoot. wishing I could isolate only one tree............I used a very light layer of Simplify and applied some Topaz Adjust 5 details. About 6 layers of texture, each at about 5% opacity, following one of Hillary's tips, for depth. Some light balancing and Tonal Contrast.

Comments welcome...........

[Dennis Bishop]

Hey, two trees is perfectly good. I like that one has a bright trunk and the other a light one. And this image is way more than just good. The composition is just superb with the clouds leading down to the trees and that bright glow at the ground taking the eye back to follow the clouds up, again. The trees are just right with respect to divine proportions both horizontally and vertically. There's just enough foreground to ground things and provide some additional texture. Speaking of which, you did a great job with the textures you added. There's a wonderful feeling of depth, especially in the clouds, and a nice painterly look to the entire image.

My attention is drawn to the silhouettes of a house and maybe a barn toward the lower left corner. I'd suggest healing them out.

This was a single shot rather than an HDR?

[Brendan Dozier]

Jay, another beautiful comp, and you are quickly becoming an expert using textures. The light and color is beautiful, and good call by John. Like it for all the reasons already mentioned by Dennis. (I like it when he goes first! ) I hope you are considering doing a show at some point with your terrific landscapes and town & cityscapes, because you have a lot of winners.

[Indranil Sircar]

Awesome composition, Jay. I love those wispy clouds and the illuminated trees. Excellent work!

[John Storjohann]

Jay, you did a really nice job in capturing the drama of the sky, and you were able to bring out some of the color we saw, even though it had started to fade a bit by the time we got to a new location. The lighting on the trees is striking; I might have wanted to capture just a bit more of the foreground...I'm not sure...it may have diminished the the overall mood of the image and the lines of the clouds. We need to head out that way at sunset at some point!

[denise ippolito]

Jay, I like the moody sky, the texturing and the lighting. The two trees work for me. I might add a teeny sliver to the bottom but I do like the very minimal look of the FG. Nice job!

[Jay Sheinfield]

Thanks for the feedback folks. I feel I need to do a Mia Culpa here.........

John, is right. The color of the sky did fade a bit before the actual shot. In using the textures and finally Tonal Contrast, the warm colors were enhanced. I intended but did not mention this in my description of the processing. I did use the darkest of my 5 framed exposure for max saturation.

Dennis, the distraction was a gate, it's gone. I intended to do HDR, but Color Efex had some problems with alignment. I'm still working on it.

John and Denise, I think I'll stick to the minimal foreground, I kind of like it.

Brendan, thanks..............I tried once for a very short time, to sell some work on FAA (Fine Art America). Crashed and burned!

Here is RP without the gate and truer to the saturation of the original exposure used.

[Mitch Carucci]

A powerful and emotional image. Your processing was superb on this one.

[Dennis Bishop]

. . . I intended to do HDR, but Color Efex had some problems with alignment. . .

I'm assuming you meant HDR Efex. I use Photomatix and have never run into an alignment issue. Were the shots handheld or did you use a tripod? Using the darkest exposure sure turned out well. I'm not sure an HDR version would look any better.

I prefer the golden glow in the original post. It's just dynamite.

[Nancy Bell]

Magnificant! I much prefer the 1st one with its dramatic golden colors and the glow on the trees. Beautifully processed!

[Jay Sheinfield]

I'm assuming you meant HDR Efex. I use Photomatix and have never run into an alignment issue. Were the shots handheld or did you use a tripod? Using the darkest exposure sure turned out well. I'm not sure an HDR version would look any better.

I prefer the golden glow in the original post. It's just dynamite.

I used a tripod, and lot's of shadow work on the OP.............

[Paul Lagasi]

Jay a lovely mid-west sky....lolol, I thought the gate was a couple of horses (memo to self, glasses in 2012). The colors and composition are great. Like em both..well done

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Jay, I love the colors in the original post and wouldn't want to lose them. Good idea to evict the gates. Love the big sky in this one. Nicely seen!

[Maureen Allen]

This is gorgeous, Jay. I much prefer the OP and it doesn't matter to me if the gates are there or not

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi Jay;

My 2 cents. Love the complete package and # 1 gets my nod as the flow of colors is beautiful. The gate, I never even noticed it You have that special touch, Young Man.

Keep up the super work, and thank you very much in sharing this beauty.

Regards

Gus

[Judy Howle]

I love the image for the same reasons already mentioned, and I also prefer the golden tones of the 1st image. Definitely a wall-hanger with or without the gate removed!

[Steve Adkins]

Well seen and captured. One more vote for OP colors. This is a beautiful landscape, Jay!

[Hazel Grant]

Nothing more to add from me....ditto to all. I didn't notice the gate, but that's a good eye that caught it. Easy fix. Love the glow of the first one.

[Anita Bower]

Love, love, love it! Gorgeous light and sweep of clouds. In comparing the 2 posts, I love the warmth of the OP, and the darker upper sky of the second. Removing the gate was a nice subtle touch. The composition is just right. Bravo!