November in Grant's Woods

Hi Len

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

The lighting in back tree are very beautiful as well as its diagonal position. But I think the silhouette area from the front tree is big. I suggest this cropping.

And a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you.  Looking forward to more of the same in 2012.  Your crop has merit.  I've already cropped the original but apparently not far enough.  You have shown another (better) option.  It was the slate gray of the tree against the solid blue sky that got my attention.  The tree was slightly blown in the first attempt so I took a spot reading from it and took this one.  Bark texture is better here.  Best, LM.

Yes I can see the stark contrasts that would attract attention ........ to us photographers at least. I do like Museebs version too, it frames your intended subject better and focuses ones attention more to where it should be, on the sunlit tree. It's a great example of an everyday thing that comes to life with the right light and backdrop.

Best Wishes To you and yours Len, for Christmas and New Year

Alf

Back at you with the Christmas and New Year wish.  Sometimes, if you can't quite decide what framing to go with at the time of exposure, it's wiser to simply take the shot (perhaps a little wider than you are first tempted to do) and worry about fine tuning the composition later.  That's what I did here.  Took me a few weeks to work up the courage to post it.  Glad I did because Museeb pointed me in the right direction and as a result I've printed this one to his specs using more of the tree branch on the right to properly fame my subject.  (I had cropped most of it out in my original post.  Don't know what I was thinking.)   :-)   Let's do this again next year!  Best, LM.

My dear friend,

Merry christmas and happy new year.Best regards

Thank you, and Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you as well. Looking forward to more of the same in 2012.  Best, LM.

Very good use of creative framing ! The exposure is perfect & the sky is

beautifully saturated.

Sincere regards & Happy new year :)

The contrast is fine but Museeb's version has the same contrast but enhances the  BG trees and is more delicate.( imo)....

What I would like to add is, my wishes to you and your family for the new year,and I hope to continue our nice space relations...;-))!

Good to get your view on this offering.  I was both surprised and pleased with the sky rendition since I used no polarizing filter, basing my exposure on the gray tree trunk.  Happy New Year to you as well.  Looking forward to your 2012 posts.  Best, LM.

How nice to hear from you on this first day of a new year.  As I've said to others, I'm looking forward to seeing what we can all come up with this year.  Museeb was at a disadvantage in his crop as he started with my web sized post and tried to make his point by cropping and resizing it.  I should have provided a larger image for him to work with but his suggestions were not wasted on me. Along with my thanks for everyone's input I'm including the final version for all to see.  Happy New Year!  LM.

i prefer the final cut. Happy New Year. -koushik

Me too!  Happy New Year to you as well.  Best, LM.

You are right to work on the small size is never the same ,as the real big one, your last on is beautiful!

I knew there was a pleasing composition in there somewhere.  I just couldn't see it fully at the time of exposure.  As I said to Alf, 'Sometimes it's better to take the shot & worry about the composition later.'  Thanks for your visit.  Best, LM.

Len your new version really more beautiful, the composition seems more stable by its symmetry. Thanks to all of you.

Thanks for the follow-up.  Always good to know when one is on the right (by peer consensus) track.  Best, LM.

I too like your final cut, Len:-)  A nice capture!

I too favour this one.  It pays to post.  Look at all the great advice I received.  Best, LM.

Back at you with the New Years wish.  You can see from the discussion above that the final post took some thoughtful manipulation.  Simple subjects and compositions sometimes aren't that obvious at first glance.  Best, LM.

Your after post is the best Len! The dark part of the trunk makes a nice finished inner framing!

Best regards!

PDE

Thanks to all the great guidance above it became clear to me the way the crop should go.  What a site!  Thanks for your visit & comment.  Best, LM.

No amendatory actions required. (*_*) - just learned a new word.

Great shot.

It's always a great day when we learn something new.  Thanks for taking the time to dig down to this almost 2 yr. old offering.  Gives me a chance to do the same, revisiting what attracted me to this scene in the first place.  Best, LM.