In matters of time and balance

On the edge of a new year may we all have joy and success. There are

obstacles to overcome and triumphs to share. Peace to all. Thank you.

Great light. The balance is nice but it could use a dash off the right, about midway to the island, to keep the eyes in longer. Crop it with your hand and notice how much longer you view the piece and the details you look at you had not noticed before. Wish there was more seperation between the foreground tree and the ones behind it. It's called tonal merger/ color merger and causes confusion. Our brains hate confusion. Otherwise an exceptional piece. Blessings, MS

Michael, thanks for your kind words. I could lug my old chainsaw up on the bluff and try again :) Just kidding, I have been going to this spot since I was a kid and wanted to capture the old oak before it swan-dives to the river for its journey to the sea.

The piece poses quite a few problems if you were to try and stop the tonal merger without changing the beautiful composition.

 

You could be to go back and shoot it when there is a bit of fog. You would get the separation, but of course the feeling would be changed and the distant part of the river could disappear as well. Maybe just a slightly foggy day would do it.

 

If you moved left to create the separation you would lose the river too, obviously, because the foreground would start covering it. That would not work.

 

You could painstakingly remove the back trees via PS. I'm not adverse to doing something like that but usually do not. If I started doing that, I'd get rid of that part of the tree that touches the horizon line above the river, giving separation there too. The crop might have to change as the weight of the tree would be different, that would have to be studied after the surgery.

 

What makes our art so much fun, at least to me, is the challenge that it is. Painters would not have the challenges as they don't have to deal with reality.

 

Anyway, it?s very nice as is, in most respects. Blessings.