Zoom burst on 250-year old Elm tree

This is my first photo I am submitting for critique - so please be kind,but truthful. :)   (I am an amateur - my Nikon system layout ishere.)

 There is a very old park/conservatory near me called Wave Hill, whichis in Riverdale where I live. The grounds have various sections - AquaticGarden, Wild Garden, Herb Garden, etc. In the middle of the impressive groundsstands this great old Elm tree.

After taking about five photos from 30 feet away, I went up close to the treeand pointed my camera straight up; I was 12 inches from the bark at this point.I took one regular photo, but then realized the potential impact of a zoomburst. I set the shutter at 1/4 sec and zoomed my 28-105mm from around 35mm toabout 100mm (the shutter closed before I got to the very end).

So - what did I do wrong? What did I do right? Creative comments? Lookingforward to hearing some professional thoughts. Thanks.

 

This is my first photo I am submitting for critique - so please be kind,but truthful. :)   (I am an amateur - my Nikon system layout ishere.)

 There is a very old park/conservatory near me called Wave Hill, whichis in Riverdale where I live. The grounds have various sections - AquaticGarden, Wild Garden, Herb Garden, etc. In the middle of the impressive groundsstands this great old Elm tree.

After taking about five photos from 30 feet away, I went up close to the treeand pointed my camera straight up; I was 12 inches from the bark at this point.I took one regular photo, but then realized the potential impact of a zoomburst. I set the shutter at 1/4 sec, aperture to f/8 or so, and zoomed my 28-105mm from around 35mm toabout 100mm (the shutter closed before I got to the very end).

So - what did I do wrong? What did I do right? Creative comments? Lookingforward to hearing some professional thoughts. Thanks.

 

Well it's a little hard to tell what it is.

 

Zoom bursts are a little hard to get right but this is what I usually do, but if your using a F65 I'm not sure you can do this anyway. I take two exposures one sharp and the other with the zoom effect. That way in this case the tree would still be able to be seen with a zoom effect coming from it.

 

Experiment and you will find a technique you like

great job capturing the streaming red and green colors from the trees leaves, as well as isolating the rougher bark colors.

I quite like this one. The colours are so gentle, and the zoom inevitably pulls you in.