Beech Light

I used limited depth of field to concentrate attention on the near

beech tree which was dotted with little white flowers of wood vetch.

Do you prefer it like this or with masses of depth of field, or

somewhere between the two. F5.6 at 1/60sec. I'd be interested in your

views.

I actually hardly notice the detail on the trees even with the shallow DOF as the bright green background sucks my eyeballs straight to it. The detail in the foreground is lost in the darkness even though when I look I see the detail. The weighting of lighting overshadows (pun not intended) the DOF you're using to try and focus your viewers eye. This is a really challenging photo to nail. I do think this is a very good effort though.

I think that it's very interesting to see nature/landscape photographs with a shallow DOF (other than wildlife photography, of course). I recall a photo in a book by David Ward (I think) where he has photographed a group of trees with shallow DOF on a 5x4 and I think it's a technique which, if you saw framed on a wall in a nice big print, it would look quite stunning.

 

Your composition here, with the angle of the trees and forest floor, and the light work beautifully together.

 

Beautiful and original photograph.

I find the shallow DOF to be very eye catching and unique. I wouldn't change it at all. Maybe even use less DOF if your lens will allow.