#476-sq

Although I am not entirely new to photography, I am always eager to

learn, so any comment will be appreciated very much.

but I find the overall tone too dark.

I am not sure that I like the bottom third  as, for me, the subject of interest is the silver birch.

I realise that you have left the bottom third in to somehow keep the 'thirds' working but sometimes you have to break the rules- that's what they are there for. I would like to see more 'sing' from the trees as maybe there is a photo here.

Best regards,

Patrick 

Yes, it's dark, but whether it's too dark depend entirely, I think, on the mood or message you wanted to convey.  It does have a dark, moody feel to it, perhaps a night-time shot, and if that's what you wanted, it's a successful photo to my eyes.  Much of the understory is obscured and too dark to see, so if you wanted to convey the complexity of an alder forest, this is too dark, IMO.  Personally, I like the photo, but I also want to consider what you were wanting to convey.  Your motivation does influence my view of your photograph.

Lars,  Yes, it is too dark, for me at least.  You need to consider what medium in which this is to be presented.  I don't think you could print this image on paper and get much to show up.   Lightening the trees would certainly add more contrast and interest, and the reflection would show up better.  I recently posted some dark B&W images too, convincing myself with the help of some comments from others that getting in as many of the ten values of gray, as in Ansel Adams' zone system, is a good idea.   Of course, this is just one opinion.  Larry

Thanks Patrick, Stephen and Larry for your comments.

The story is this; I went out for a walk and brought my camera (but no tripod). As it gets dark early on this time of the year (at least here in Denmark), and I perhaps spent more time than I had original planed, it became dusk and later dark, while I was still in the woods.

The atmosphere in a forest as night falls is fascinating I think, and that's what I tried to capture with this picture (it is hand-held and the motion-blur is rather visible).

Since no one has perceived it as a twilight image, I guess I must realize, that I communicates the atmosphere rather poorly - maybe the mistake (or one of them) is shooting birch trees, that lights up even at the dim light almost as though the daylight was still present.

Re.Lars

I called this a night-time shot, but late-evening would have been a better description.  Frankly, I think it works quite well.

A problem here is that this photo could have been shot at noon and then intentionally processed to be very dark (most would say too dark).  Just knowing the circumstances helps me to understand the conditions you faced and that this is what you saw (as opposed to what you tried to digitally create).  I think you did well, especially without a tripod.