Across the Glen from the old Cemetery

[Donald]

Saw a wee colour image to day. Nothing too spectacular. It won't be in the Sony World Awards. But that zig-zag from the bottom right, then back up over the little bump in the field, then along the top of the faraway field and, finally, along the trees at the back, appealed to me.

What do you think? C & C always welcomed, particularly as this is me trying something in colour. What do you think of the framing with the trees?



40D, Sigma 120-400 F4.5-5.6 APO DG OS @159mm. ISO100. 1/10@f22. 2sec delay c/w Mirror Lock-up. Cable release

[Steve S]

Hi donald, you have done very well with the color in this image. Everything looks natural and saturated. Surprised it wasn't a square crop though.

As far as the trees, they hold your focus to the center of the frame and add some needed depth to the image. When they are clipped like this, however, they always come across (to me anyway) as clutter. I much prefer to see the trunk of the tree and a little of the ground around the root. (clipping off one side or a portion of the tree doesn't hurt , as long as you can see the base of the tree and a small amount of ground around it) . It looks more complete that way and tends to really anchor the image. The only exception i make, is when the clipped limbs are very unique and are a + addition to the image. Sometimes this is very hard to pull off, but the images i like the most, have these qualities.

If you look just at the center of your image, you can see what i mean. Look at the row of trees in the middle. The one on the right is half covered by the pine in the foreground, but it has a completeness to it, because you can see the trunk and the ground around it.

Always enjoy viewing your work , looking forward to the next image. Perhaps another in color?

[FrankMi]

Hi Donald! I love to explore how you see the world in photographs and this is no exception.

I usually like having a natural frame around a landscape image and tend to use the technique whenever I can to add interest and depth. In this case, I think because it is a portrait view of a landscape image that the trees are constraining the subject and threatening to dominate the composition. I do think that this scene would work better with the framing trees if it were in landscape mode as that would give the subject more breathing room.

[MrB]

Pleasant image, Donald (and I too would be pleased to see more of Scotland in colour!). But...

Surprised it wasn't a square crop though.

...it is a portrait view of a landscape image...

...On my PC, your image is 1024 x 1024.

Philip

[Donald]

Thank you for taking the time to comment. Interesting and very helpful comments re composition and how to use trees for framing like this.

As Philip says, interesting comment about the ratio. It is square. I wonder if some sort of optical illusion is being created by the use of the trees running up each side.