Apple Orchard!

[Katy Noelle]

#1



#2



#3



#4



I wasn't sure what to think about these. Composition? Transition to B&W? I'd love input. It's another one of those things that I see these scenes all the time and am used to them. Also, what do we do when there's just bleh clouds? Meaning, not even the clouds are interesting. Any hope? I'm sure that I've seen it mentioned before. The first one was, actually, taken in the afternoon and the next two, in the morning. (As I was on my way to meet Mary for lunch, in fact.) The ice storm had been TWO days, before, and there was still so much ice left, everywhere!

[wilgk]

Nice work Katy
#2 I think really captures the minimalist landscape very well and I really like the B/W and the angle of the trees across the frame
# 1 to me is reminiscent of Jeroen's scene with all the crosses in the abstract nature - I think it was thread. But I don't know about the fence being included - maybe you could have hopped over it or moved a bit so the fence is running into the frame, rather than across it.
The clouds though look really good in BW to me - not blah at all.

[MiniChris]

The last is a definite for B&W..clouds in the background will jump at that opportunity. Maybe close down the shadows on the right side to double emphasize the fence and snowplowed edge of the road. A weiner for sure.

[Katy Noelle]

# 1 to me is reminiscent of Jeroen's scene with all the crosses in the abstract nature - I think it was thread. But I don't know about the fence being included - maybe you could have hopped over it or moved a bit so the fence is running into the frame, rather than across it.

Thanks so much, Kay, for your thoughts! Actually, that fence was tricky. I almost didn't take the picture because of it. If anyone has any ideas on how to catch this scene, I'd be so grateful. The deal is, if the deer can't jump over it (which is why it's there), I certainly can't. I was perched up on the floor of my car, leaning out over the door to get some height and be a little above the fence. If I move to the left or the right, the rows of trees disappear. I'd really appreciate any ideas. Last May, I drove past here and all the trees were in bloom and the rows were carpeted with dandelions. I need to get ready for it, now.

The clouds though look really good in BW to me - not blah at all.

That's good to know that you could even see the clouds - well, in #2 and #3. My problem was that it was so dark and gloomy, on the day. Then, when I try post processing, it's hard to get the photo bright enough without blowing out the clouds. What do I do? Is the answer obvious? Do I let the scene be dark and gloomy? Is that okay? Maybe, it's just the iphoto conversion that's so difficult? (I'm just getting into PS! or - jury's out on this one, at the mo.)

Here it is, Chris, the last one in B&W. I just love blue, winter clouds and brown, muddy roads and have a hard time giving them up for monochrome. Thanks for the encouragement!

[ilovelucydog]

I like all of them, Katy. When I look at them, I start picturing them with textures and overlays, and filters and...

[hemil]

dis clicks are just awesome
i like all of dem

[tameigh]

#3 is my favorite.

I did a little armchair quarterbacking on the color image.



It is a blown up version of a crop of a shrunk jpeg. But I like the colors. I think the yellow of the sign works with the blue, but obviously it is too indistinct to really work in this capture.

My sensibility is to usually focus tighter in a scene than take in the whole thing at once. That's just me, but if I were walking down that road, the above is the picture I might take. I think the clouds are great in it, and your original BTW. I would just work with levels to bring up the whiteness there.

Another easy trick to bring out the clouds is to copy the image to a new layer and set the blend mode to overlay, then reduce opacity to taste.

[MiniChris]

Tim you might want to resize thsi a bit...I am only seeing a small protion of the image at an extreme pixelation.

[jamn4ex]

3 is my favorite . I like the woods with some shadow,be nice if the clouds were a little brighter from above.I like all images just 3 alittle more .

[djg05478]

Good for you for keeping the faith and getting out there and taking more pictures of winter....at this point THAT is a feat in and of itself. I like the second one the best. For me the tree's have so much going that the overcast sky provides the perfect blank canvas for them. I think it would make a really great series if you could take the same shot, in all 4 seasons. You have your winter one, another when its covered in apple blossoms (the flowers), maybe another when its filled with fruit and a fall one either during foliage if the leaves turn color or maybe after all the leaves have fallen off. Just a thot. Good stuff.

[tameigh]

Good for you for keeping the faith and getting out there and taking more pictures of winter....at this point THAT is a feat in and of itself.

Fo shizzle!

[Donald]

Sorry I missed this thread. Just catching up

I'm with Kay in that I think #2 is my favourite of the first 3 B & Ws. Compositionally, I think it's much stronger. There's a very definite line (the trees) taking us through the frame. And I like the high-key approach where we can't distinguish between land and sky. In #3, the tree is the foreground is neither in nor out of the picture. It's just sort-of there ... getting in the way.

My favourite sky is #1. That's my sort of sky! But, again like Kay says, I think the fence cuts the image up too much. But, on #1, I think you've really nailed the exposure on the whole image.

And I think Chris called it right on #4. I know what you mean about the colours, but it does work really well in B & W. There are lovely strong lines and tones and removing the colour emphasises these. I would've liked to take that one.

I notice Chris also mentioned about trying to bring the clouds up a bit and pulling down the shadows on the right hand side.

Well, I tried my interpretation of that because I thought it would work as well ... and I think your original is better, particularly the sky. I prefer my skies to have subtlety and not be very contrasty. For example, I don't really go for those skies that have had a heavy red filter applied and look almost black. I like my skies just as you have it in #1.

Here's what I did to #4:

[Wirefox]

Katy, I kept meaning to get back to this thread. It seems you still have winter over there. I have been cycling back from work in shirt sleeves most of this week. My Giant Rincon (all time favourite commuting bike) has been fully rebuilt and is an absolute joy to ride in the sunshine.

This set is a full increment of improvement on your previous landscapes.

No1 - is very well captured but a little bit wonky in places. I think that centreline horizon would have worked really well if it wasn't for the foreground being skew. I suspect it is simply the angle of shooting in relation to the fence - or the road could be on an incline Anyway it is not too bad and i would have thought a little playing around with the perspective tool may yield a result.

No2 is so near perfect I want to shout The cropping is a too tight and it is such a good shot. You have millions of pixels and I personally would always shoot slightly wider than would be instinctual inthe heat of shooting. Of course you may have been constrained if you were using your prime. I would seriously consider increasing the canvas size, add a white (white selected off the edge of the image with the dropper) layer and then use a large soft brush to smudge outward to get a good consistency with the rest of the background. You have the foremost tree in the right hand third so you need to retain that composition but increase the negative space to the left and right. That will mean some cloning of the edge of the extremities of the tree at the far left. It is certainly worth doing when you get Photoshop. It really has potential to be a gallery shot in my mind.

No3 Is a bit busy for me and does not work interms of composition

No4 Is well composed and certainly benefits from the b/w conversion. But, it is just a country scene and nowhere near the impact of No 2

Seriously Katy, this is a real stepping up of your game with landscapes and I know you will not mind my comments above. The truth is when someone reaches this stage it is far easier to give crit because there is far less to pick at and it makes it much easier to see the wood for the trees. I find it so difficult to crit starter images (and some more seasoned photographers if I am honest)- I do not know where to start quite often. Next step up will be no crit....and then you will worry the viewers are bored

[Black Pearl]

Number two is the standout image for me, there is a certain starkness that suits the subject.

[Katy Noelle]

Thank you, Everyone, for your comments. So much good stuff! I haven't responded, yet, because I keep going off to work on your suggestions.

This is re-post processed using Photoshop for as much as I could figure out - including cloning out the tree branch on the right, which was the reason it was cropped so tightly, Steve. (I've only been on PS for a little under a week.) Then, I transferred it over to iphoto to fix the parts (brighten it up without haloes - I hope) that I just couldn't figure out. It's a bit complicated but...that's me.

Is it alright?



I, almost didn't take the first one because of that fence but, really out of frustration, snapped it anyway. I've been trying to figure out how to get the gorgeous row on row of these trees. But, you know, it occurred to me that, I will only have this problem with the snow until spring. I know - tchuh! It's just that, after a while, one starts to think that the landscape will permanently be white, icy and drifted. Anyway, how fun!!! I'm sure that they'll let me in to hike around. Maybe, I can get way up on the hill or way at the bottom for a better perspective with no fence. We'll see. Great idea, Debbie, to get them in all four seasons. I hadn't thought beyond spring.

Thanks, again, for all of your suggestions and encouragement.