And the Clouds Blew Away

Hi Lynne,

A very nice scene.

Many members would benefit from seeing the details of what you used and the setting made to make such capture. A short description is also helpful.

I understand IR photography , as I have worked in the field professionally for over 40 years now.

Best Regards,  Mike

I wonder if I need the tree on the left, if I should crop it smaller or out

completely.

To tree or not to tree—that is the interesting question. I see in your portfolio that you have a number of photographs that contain interesting clouds so I make an assumption that clouds are something that you enjoy photographing. On most of the photographs it appears that the clouds are used as backdrop, not as the primary subject matter. This one is not so clear since there is no particularly interesting subject matter other than the cloud and the relationship the photograph draws between the cloud and the tree—which personally I find interesting.

So I guess my primary question would be, what were you photographing? Was it the clouds, the field, the tree? Or was it something more esoteric, like the way the scene made you feel?

How many ways have you cropped the photograph to see which one comes closest to what you want the photograph to be about?

You could crop out everything except the sky. You could include the wisp of cloud on the top left and then clone out the tree altogether or you could crop to the right edge of the tree. Both are interesting cloud photographs.

Personally I am more disturbed by the triangular dark area in the lower right corner—it is much too straight, looks manmade rather a shadow cast by an object from nature. You could crop in from the right to remove that area without losing a great deal of your cloud.

Cropping up from the bottom to just below the trunk and shadow of the nearest tree will but even more importance on the sky and the clouds. There is little or no importance to the area below the shadow of the tree. This would still leave you a vanishing point, a feeling of depth.

You could drop just above the far tree line and put all the interest in the relationship between the tree and the clouds. This removes the vanishing point and any suggestion of depth. It flattens the two elements the tree and the clouds therefore strengthening the relationship.

It is always good to examine your images this way in order to learn what makes the strongest statement of what you want the photograph to convey. The idea is that it is a learning process that can be carried over to your in camera composition rather than after the fact in post processing.

I find the relationship between the right edge of the three and the left edge of the clouds to be very interesting—the permanence and the stability of the tree contrasting with the temporary and ever changing clouds. I also like the feeling of depth so my pick of the bunch would be to crop below the tree shadow and from the right to remove what appears to be a vignette of a lenshood (there is an equal one on the left, just not as noticeable.)

Of course, the final composition is your choice—the one that tells the story that you wanted to tell when you clicked the shutter.

Very good work: i like the B/W tones and the composition! In my opinion the trees on left are very important balancing elements in this scene. Compliments and best regards.

Beautiful and elegant work!

Very good and original composition. Interesting clouds!

The shadows on left and right bottom make a trouble for me :(