Red

Red tree, red rock, red leaves... Zion National Park.

Hi Floris, thanks for posting your photograph. I have some thoughts...

 

1. In general, if a subject is planted dead center in a composition, it tends to be uninteresting. What causes us, as viewers, to be drawn to a compelling image is visual tension. We are also drawn to certain parts of a photograph naturally. If you are familiar with the Rule of Thirds, and particularly the Golden Mean, you will understand what I'm saying. Your subject is dead center and there is nothing of visual interest either to the right or left of it. I would have offset it so that it is closer to the right or left third of the frame. It would have caused it to be a little more dramatic and dynamic.

 

2. If you don't know how to dodge and burn, I would suggest you spend some time learning about it and experimenting. Very few great photographs have escaped this process. It's not so much cheating the image as much as it's trying to properly represent the scene you have captured.

 

The average digital camera captures between 6-8 stops and a typical scene on a cloudy day could have 15-20 stops and even more on a sunny day. So you have to do a little work to try to emulate that kind of latitude. In this case, I would have worked on adding some contrast to the scene because your blacks are weak and that's causing the overall picture to be quite flat. By dodging and burning the detail on the trunk you could really make it come alive. Adding contrast only to the trunk would separate it from the background because right now it is almost blending with the water in the background because the tones are so similar.

 

3. Looking at a histogram would show you how much black you need to recover. Maybe just a little but it will also make the colors more rich and really breathe life into the scene. It's a beautiful tree and a beautiful color, you just need to do some work to coax the full potential of its beauty.

 

4. Lastly, when you see something you want to shoot. Take the time to examine it from different angles. If you don't get your knees dirty, you are not really trying hard enough. Look at it laying on the ground, look at it from a skewed angle, look at it from many perspectives. Consider your background. Break your scene down into basic shapes and see if there is some kind of pattern that will lead the eye naturally to where you want it to go. Sometimes the difference between a mediocre shot and a good shot can be a matter of moving a few feet to the left of right.

 

I hope my comments were helpful to you. Photography is a lifetime of learning and if you are committed to learning every day, you will be able to produce spectacular shots.

 

~ Steven

Hi Steven,

 

Thanks for your thoughts. I am very much aware of all of the things you mentioned, and every point you make was a deliberate choice of mine. The rule of thirds, is a guideline, and only works when there is a counter point, some sort of balance to offset the subject, or a dynamic directionality in the subject which can balance with negative space. In this case there was no such counter point, or direction, so offsetting the tree from center would create an uneven and awkward composition. The scene begged for a vertical line of symmetry. (note, however, that the density of maples begins to drop off at precisely the lower third line). The image isn't so much about a subject, it is about a design, a graphic and aesthetic statement about texture, and about subtle tonalities and colors.

 

For me, this image is about subtlety, and natural tones. A scene like this (in shade/reflected light) doesn't have high contrast, and I wanted to render it naturally. Contrast is like crack.... photographers get addicted to it, but after abusing it for a while, you realize that you're missing the real thing :) If you look at the histogram, you will notice that the image already contains pure blacks and pure white + red. Of course, most of the image is in the central region - as I said, I've chosen to let it be true to itself.

 

Is it conventional? No. I don't do conventional, it's boring. As a result I fully accept that my images don't always work for everyone.

 

Thanks again for your thoughts, I do appreciate them! I hope you find my reply helpful as well.

 

Hi Floris,

 

I'm glad you have fully considered all of the things I mentioned and you sound quite well educated in the art of photography.

 

As you implied, photography is subjective, as is all art. My comments to you are based on how I see it. Thanks for your considered response.

I love it, Floris. My eye sees thirds in the tree with the branches on each side, and top to bottom in the rock, branches, and red leaves. I guess it's all in how you look at it:)

 

Steven, your points were helpful to me. If you have not looked at the rest of Floris's portfolio, you should...

Floris, this is the true piece of art. To my taste, all elements are placed where they should be to create a flawless view of the scene. What amazes me the most is striking yet very subtle background, some incredibly appealing effect you managed to create here. Tonality is just awesome. Congratulations, excellent work!

Wonderful creation. Sensitive, mysterious, pleasing and soft. The pastel hues are dreamy and delicate. cheers Jana