Natural Growth

In the mids of a jungle trek.

Reminds me of Eliot Porter. Nice.

Nice composition. I like a lot the colors and the light.

Nice shot, Alec. Fresh colors!

Maria, Pim thanks for your comments.

 

Elliot Porter? Brian, you are just too kind although I wish I have his tremendous energy towards excellence in every image he creates.

Actually, I don't think many of his images would rate highly on photo.net. I'm certainly no expert at photographry but I have found that you really have to study a picture to learn it's merrits and the 1-5 second glance web based rating tempts people to do often misses the finer (or weaker) points of an image. I think had Eliot seen this scene, he would have been tempted to photograph it, but I cannot really speak for him, that is just my impression.

 

Personally, it seems to me that the action is the tree and the ferns. I notice they get smaller the higher up the tree you go. The background on either side tends to distract from this, especially the top lit glossy leaves in the upper R corner. So, if you could reframe the shot, I'd focus more on the portion of the trunk with the smaller ferns in the middle going down to the larger ones getting that nice moss. If you include anything to either side of the trunk, stay away from the top lit glossy leaves and get the softer more receeded plants in the background to add depth. Only get one (at most) of the heart shapped leaves on either side of the tree as they add to much symetry if framed together (to me). You could get by with a portrait shot of just the trunk starting at the smaller ferns going down to the larger ones with lots of DOF to give detail. Can you get back to this scene and reshoot it with the same kind of light?

Thanks for your insightful view of this image. Yes I can definitely get the same kind of colors again as it is a cloudy day - i.e. most days are like that here. Actually I was a little bothered by the last fern missing the tip. Yes I believe a closer shot will definitely improve the coloration. Especially if I can use the higher resolution F717 which unfortunately was being repaired during this shoot. Still, I think it will just be for my personal pleasure as there might not be enough colors to really make an impact in PN. You know how picky members here can be. Nice of you to share your views here, I appreciate your time.

 

One thing I learn here which I am really glad to share is.........Even with a simple 3.3 megapixel camera some shots can really turn out amazing if it is handled properly.

agree on the lower end cameras...In the the right hands, with a good eye, a point and shoot digital can run with the big dogs...