The Elder Tree

Comments and Critiques welcome. If anyone could tell me why the colors

are not showing up the same on photo.net as they are in CS#, that

would be great. The color space is sRGB with all the letters and

numbers after it.

 

Raters PLEASE NOTE: Low ratings will not help me improve as a

photographer if they are not supported by a critique. If you feel that

the photo is of less than average quality (ratings below 4), please

include an explanation of why you gave the ratings you did. If you are

unable or unwilling to do this, please abstain from rating.

 

Viewers PLEASE NOTE: Look at the ratings breakdown. IF there are

unsupported threes, please disregard. These are only people who have

nothing better to do than rating bomb other people's work.

Christopher, I suppose you know that the anon raters are over on the gallery/rate page and cannot see your comment. I think the monitors rate too and if so they usually rate with a 4. I am not sure about the monitors.....The focus on the tree could maybe be better? About colors, I know nothing about what you talk about. Colors look beautiful to me. I would rate this 6-7 on both if the focus was not soft. You should do more of these because this one reminds me so much of a well known Jackson Pollock painting. It is a favorite of mine which may explain why I like your photo so well. I am saying a lot of nonsense. Pollock attached....If you want, write me and I will delete the comment.

Splendid. I have a friend who likes to paint some of my photos. I am sure she would love to have a go at this photo. Well done.

P.S. I do not think anyone regards other ratings when they rate.

Hi Christopher, This is a interesting shot. Colors are great. DOF is good. The way you framed is good. Allow me one critique though, your subject, which is the elder tree appears to get a bit lost, or rather, one gets distracted from the subject by the great multitude of intruding details of other trees, greenery and thicket. As a comparison, I saw your other photograph, of "Old man Willow" - which I think is a terrific shot. In that shot the subject is clear, made clear by prominence, the largest object in the photo, by the lighting, standing out from the background. emphasized by the shadows - wow, what a beautiful shot. Final note: On the above - in my opinion - it is quite a difficult shot, and under the conditions you had to cope with, it is a great shot. Regards - Sigmar

Thanks for the comment. That is an interesting painting, and at first I had been wondering if you had done something weird in PS to the picture. I'm not so sure that the focus was off as there being some camera shake. On this particular trip, I was not able to carry a tripod, so this was handheld during partially overcast conditions.

If you want to let her have a go at it, be my guest. I've never had one of my photos painted before.

I agree that the subject does get a little lost. I was unable to find a good spot where I could have a little less chaos, and thus opted to use partially selective focus to improves matters a bit. Another way of looking at it, which occurred to me when trying to find a name for it, was that all of the other plant life in the frame is younger, smaller, and less hardy. The moss clings to the tree much like a child to its parent. At any rate, I'm glad to hear that you liked it.

I understand your points and what you were facing. Thanks for explaining. But yes, I agree, there is poetry in the picture. Regards - Sigmar

I did nothing to the painting. That is how pollock painted. Yes a tripod.I think you had a low light level.

No no, I know you didn't do anything to the painting. When I first saw the image I thought it looked sort of like my picture. I sat there thinking, what the hell did he do to my pic? And then I read what you wrote and realized that it was actually a painting.

Normally I would have carried a tripod with me, but weight was a major concern on this trip and I was hiking with a bunch of non-photographers who needed me to carry crew gear too.

Between you, me, and the fence post; you've got to quit worrying about the ratings on PN. Just deal with your photographs and your vision. That's all! You only have control over what you see, capture, and process. The rest is completely out of your hands, and frankly you shouldn't give a damn; so just let it go. Your rant at the 3/3 raters will not change anything, and only serves to frustrate yourself, and is tiresome to read. Everyone has experienced precisely the same thing. Just post your photographs; believe in 'em; and we will too. Cheers! Chris

Chris,

I think I'm going to post for critique only, since people can judge for themselves whether or not a photo is a good one and since it is the critiques that are actually worth paying attention to.

Now you're talking! I have been posting for 'critique only' for about 18 months and am delighted at the responses that I get. A whole lot of photographers on PN do just that. Your work is very interesting and artistic; I've marked you as 'Interesting' and I'm sure a lot of other folks here have as well. Keep up the good work, my friend; and mainly have fun with your photography. Cheers! Chris