george peterson 0 Posted August 10, 2004 A simply perfect choice of POW congratulations elvish people - youv'e done it again! Wonderful, beautiful takes me to another world. I love the way the light streams through the trees and lights up the grass. The grass looks electric! Great technique - everything is so sharp and clear. Link to comment
michaelseewald 237 Posted August 10, 2004 This image has a nice feeling and is reminiscent of the POW two weeks ago. Underwater blue with no control over how the eye will flow through the image, making it very 'short lived' by the viewer on the average. So I agree with a couple of artists here that it's not a 'WOW', but a definite 6/6. Not all images can be a wow, but this was close and I think the editor alluded to the fact "And what would happen if a human or animal subject were present: serenity gone, or a point of interest added?" I think you would have kept the serenity and added that point of interest- for sure. But I know, how long can one wait for a deer to show up and look at us from the end of the road, moving it up to a 7/7 and a 'best of show' in the large competitions around the world? Not too long probably. Sometimes you get lucky, but luck does tend to favor the prepared mind. Keep up the good work Jean, Michael Seewald. PS -Bill, the 'path' is supposed to be the tree on the right. Link to comment
georg_kern 2 Posted August 10, 2004 Sorry, but nothing special. I think, it is difficult to take a picture of a forest path without "repetitive tree patterns", or a composition of vertical lines and a winding path. The only thing which catches the eye is the ugly green. Link to comment
fernando_mcsoto 0 Posted August 10, 2004 Yes, this saturated green is natural. You can see it very often in the forests of the West Coast of Scotland (the Trossachs, etc). No wonder Glasgow and Copenhagen are in the same latitud, although I think we get a lot more rain and humidity (the Gulf Stream). Link to comment
dan_perreaux 0 Posted August 10, 2004 Great photo. As to the question if there was a subject...for myself I think it would take away from the photo. Link to comment
chris haake 0 Posted August 10, 2004 Unlike most others, I like the saturation of the grass. It, in combination with the straightness of the trees and the relative darkness of the woods beyond, gives a very "fairy tale" feel to this picture. Very nice work, Jean. Link to comment
stephen_mathis 0 Posted August 10, 2004 Good composition! I live in a part of the U.S. where coming upon green this saturated is not uncommon. Good work. Link to comment
martin_courtenay_blake1 0 Posted August 10, 2004 This intense green is common in the maritime regions of north western Europe. I live in Scotland and if the conditions are right this is how it is. This is a stunning shot. One of my all time favourite pictures is W. Eugene Smith's "Walt to Paradise Garden". I am drawn to any good shot with a path that appears to lead to somewhere unknown. The liniarity of the pines simply adds to the mystery that you feel in these woods. Great shot Link to comment
fergus kane 0 Posted August 11, 2004 I'm sorry, but this shot seems sterile, not serene. The light in not interesting, in this kind of shot I would want a sense of mystery, something to evoke feeling. But nothing, like a snapshot of my local woods. A subject might make it more interesting, but better light would be more likely to transform it. Link to comment
Guest Guest Posted August 11, 2004 I've feel entranced by forests and I tried to put that aside while I viewed the image. Yes, it's beautiful! The simplicity strikes at the core of its beauty. Moreover, Jean made me feel that I was there in the forest for a brief moment of magic. Thank You! Link to comment
leslie_koller4 0 Posted August 11, 2004 I too think the green is a little overdone, but I'd follow this path in a heartbeat. 6/6 Link to comment
steve_chong 0 Posted August 11, 2004 Congrats Jean! About time! This is a truly wonderful shot! Perspective, exposure, composition, mood you name it!Congrats again!- steve chong -www.stevechong.com Link to comment
jean_schweitzer 0 Posted August 11, 2004 Thank you all for the amazing feedback, I was delighted and surprised by the fact the picture was selected as POW. I feel proud to join all those fabulous pictures in the previous POW amazing collection but can't restrain to think the image do not deserve so much attention, but who am I to judge...? As to the numerous comments I like to say that I understand the discussion about saturation, but as many mention it this is more or less how colour could be in this part of the world under certain conditions. To made it clear about how I have process the image, here are the details again: the picture was shot in raw mode, I tend to expose on the brighter areas of the scene, therefore I had an overall slight darker image (see the original sent), that was leveled in the sofware Capture One that I use for working the raw files. The only thing I have done is the leveling, after that I resized the picture in ps ending with the unsharpening before sending to PN. The day of the picture was rainy, I was out in the forest on my bike with the goal to shoot a lake in the area, but I lost my way and found this spot and I was immediatly in love with the light and I spent about half an hour there, trying different angles. This is one of the first pictures indeed. My main problem was that I expected to shoot in a better light condition and I had no tripod. So I used my bike against a tree to get the best stability I could (the shutter speed is about 1/20 or so), not the ideal way to take picture as I had to be close to a tree to shot, so I felt a bit restricted in my movements and shooting spots...As usual not all of us like the same picture and this is fortunate (otherwise we would have a boring world); however I regret I was not able to share entirely with all the real beauty of this place (here I dont talk about the picture but the place); this place is'nt just another forest in my eyes, but this is probably something one can't learn to see; either you see it or not and 1000 words wouldnt help more. Thank you again all. Jean Link to comment
michael_davidowsky 0 Posted August 11, 2004 Great picture - it makes the eyes want to linger! One question - did you use a tilt-shift lens for the picture? The tall trees do not appear to taper vertically - or, did you adjust the perspective in Photoshop? Link to comment
jean_schweitzer 0 Posted August 12, 2004 Michael thank you; I have not used a lense doing such correction, I used the standard zoom lense sold with the D300, (18 - 55mm). No correction in ps either. I guess I was far away enough to have no visible distortion. Jean Link to comment
bradsimages 0 Posted August 12, 2004 This is a seller and that is all there is to it. Saturation is what puts this images apart from others. Don't forget that when you scan film or take a digital image, you lose a bit of contrast that otherwise was there. I think Jean did a good job at making a image that not only will sell, but an image that was this vivid in reality. I live in the Pacific Northwest and when it rains, and a bit of sunlight gets through, it really saturates. This level of saturation is completely realistic. I've seen it for myself. Good image and a real gem. Get this published! Link to comment
ArthurRichardson 2 Posted August 12, 2004 I am sorry, but in the picture detail you state that you did nog manipulate the picture. You did manipulate the picture! Personally I don't like the picture that much. The composition is nice but the effect of the grass being illuminated is over the top if not irritating to me. Link to comment
jean_schweitzer 0 Posted August 12, 2004 Arthur, please read the instructions about when one can cross or not the box "unmanipulated". I mean from what I have read that leveling is NOT considering as a manipulation (maybe someone from PN could confirm?). If I'm wrong please accept my apologizes. Anyway if you read my comments above you will see that I have been open and honest about how the image was processed.... Jean Link to comment
el molise 0 Posted August 13, 2004 Its a great shot! I keep scrutinizing the picture to see if I can spot something everybody missed. No luck. Good work my friend! Link to comment
arimus 0 Posted August 13, 2004 Other than the over saturation of the green a lovely shot, excellent. Link to comment
spohn 1 Posted August 13, 2004 Jean, evidently from much of the feedback you'll have to take the photo in a less optimal light next time so the green isn't "oversaturated." :-) The oversaturation thing is an easy assumption to make, I suppose, for those never having been blessed with seeing something this vivid in real life... especially if they didn't browse your previous comments. Great shot. - Al Link to comment
jean_schweitzer 0 Posted August 13, 2004 Thanks again all...Albert you are right. One of the reason to shot exposing on the brighter area is to keep the shutter speed as high as possible as I had no read tripod..but I took note of the advice!!! Jean. Link to comment
baldurbirgis 0 Posted August 13, 2004 I do not think the green is oversaturated. The composition is very good and the road between the trees curves nicely from the left corner inside the image. The one tree to the right makes the balance. I can not see any way to improve this beautiful image. Excellent work! Link to comment
jean_schweitzer 0 Posted August 14, 2004 You are right, ALL pictures on pn are digital as sent as jpg. Knowing this what makes the difference between a picture taken with film scanned and leveled and this one taken with a digital camera? Jean Link to comment
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