Trees - C&C and how to capture them?

[whited3]

For whatever reason I struggle with capturing trees. I can appreciate their beauty but I can never figure how to position myself, what to focus on, etc.

I'd appreciated some C&C but more importantly, some tips on how to do trees!

These are shots from a rain forest (obviously) where there's thousands of subjects to choose from. Perhaps that's part of the problem?

[Shadowman]

I think you are moving in the right direction with the second and third image, the key to capturing the essence of trees is isolation. Photographing trees from a distance is much easier than trying to depict the lush greenery of a grouping of leaves in sunlight. The image usually looks unsharp, shapeless, and very boring. The problem I believe is because light strikes each individual leaf, creating multiple areas of highlight, local color, shadow, and reflected light. When you look at this assemblance of tones it looks chaotic.

[Skitalez]

I join the first comment. There all is told. On the first photo it would be desirable to see little bit more. While it simply cracks

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Mark,

I think you're doing alright with the second and third as John says, better than I do - to coin the old phrase; "I can never see the trees for the wood".

#1 would benefit from also being vertical orientation, so we can see what is just out of shot above and below (as Yegor says).

On #2; personally, I would have cloned out that diagonal branch, it spoils the 'tallness' of the main tree.

HTH,

[Wirefox]

For whatever reason I struggle with capturing trees.

Trees are designed to be photographed either very close up (image 1) or very far away. The exception is some deciduous trees in winter. In reality of course trees are wonderful from any distance but our brains work hard to perceive their complexity. This complexity of form is not usual conducive to photography. I am by no means a tree hugger but I do believe that as humans we also sense tress in a way that is far beyond what we see. I think this is the reason we can enter a forest glade and perceive the most beautiful scene but photographic results are often disappointing.

[rob marshall]

I do a lot of tree shots, and I rarely find that a 'straight' shot works. You need to find something else to add interest or drama. here are a few examples of mine.

here the camera was deliberately moved and some Vaseline smeared on an OLD UV filter (NOT the lens). It makes for a surreal look.



Trees in winter make great silhouettes, due to their skeletal structure. Just use spot meter on your camera for the brightest part of the sky - then switch to manual mode and set the shutter/aperture and take your shot. Like this one.



Just shoot part of the tree, not the whole. Like this...



If you have strong back or side light, then try shadows, as they can add a lot of drama to what might have been quite a standard shot. Like this...

[Gingerbaker]

Really like that first one, especially, Rob!

[MiniChris]

I didn't get particularly creative with this tree shot other than to take advantage of a nice shadow play..Wish now, I'd taken more time and dropped the DoF.

[cthermans]

I also find taking pictures of trees looking straight up difficult. I do like the second and third picture. Capturing the character of a tree is like taking a picture of a person--trying to capture their character.

[whited3]

On #2; personally, I would have cloned out that diagonal branch, it spoils the 'tallness' of the main tree.

Didn't see it at all until you pointed it out!

Rob, your "Tree shadows" image is great.

[Shadowman]

I also find taking pictures of trees looking straight up difficult. I do like the second and third picture. Capturing the character of a tree is like taking a picture of a person--trying to capture their character.

And just like a person you sometimes have to look closely or underneath before you find anything appealing. For some reason we are initially attracted to the mass of greenery but my personal tastes lean towards the colorful shades of late autumn.

[rpcrowe]

IMO, a rain forest is a pretty hard place in which to shoot. I shot these using an Olympus P&S quite a few years ago in the Hoh Rain Forest of Washington State's Olympic Peninsula. I would love to go back there with my DSLR, collection of lenses and my good tripod. The little Olympus had a lot of CA problems which I have not taken the time to correct.