Some shots in the Oakland hills. C&C welcome.

Phil

Hey Phil,

Ghostly is right! #3 and 4 are my favorites here. You seem to be getting to know the Fog Monster pretty well.

Jim

These are all great Phil. I think #4 is my favorite. The colored brush in #1 almost seems like it doesn't belong. I wonder if that one would work better as a B&W

JimFox wrote:
Hey Phil,

Ghostly is right! #3 and 4 are my favorites here. You seem to be getting to know the Fog Monster pretty well.

Jim

Thanks Jim - yes, in these parts the fog monster must be accommodated.

Tuan Le wrote:
These are all great Phil. I think #4 is my favorite. The colored brush in #1 almost seems like it doesn't belong. I wonder if that one would work better as a B&W

Thanks Tuan - you could be right about #1m I'll try a B/W conversion.

JimFox wrote:
Hey Phil,

Ghostly is right! #3 and 4 are my favorites here. You seem to be getting to know the Fog Monster pretty well.

Jim

Me thinks he conjures up the Fog Monster

Nice working them Oakland Hills

Dan

Nice series, Phil. I think #4 works a little better for me. Something about the lines of the trees and the way they are layed out. And of course, the sun beams. Nice work on all.

JBR

John Richter wrote:
Nice series, Phil. I think #4 works a little better for me. Something about the lines of the trees and the way they are layed out. And of course, the sun beams. Nice work on all.

JBR

Hi John - Thanks! I was struck by the way the beams ran parallel to the downward pointing branches and tried to capture a little bit of it.

The atmospheric lighting is awesome. But, I think I know what the problem is. Yea, the light is amazing but the images are not wow because take away the mist/fog from the equation and the compsitions themselves are not great. I know how it is when one is there experiencing this one gets all pumped up and starts shooting away. But if the composition and elements are not good or better by themselves in regular light, the added effect of the fog and light shining through it doesnt work to take the image to another level but is just showing that, a nice light shining through and a cool natural effect.

In #3 you really have something going. In #1 and #2 it would have been nice to have had a good vertical arrangement of trees with a clean forest floor (not full of brush). #4 is also decent but the arangement of the branches is just not that good and the mixture of trees in the back just doesnt work that well.

Sneakyracer wrote:
The atmospheric lighting is awesome. But, I think I know what the problem is. Yea, the light is amazing but the images are not wow because take away the mist/fog from the equation and the compsitions themselves are not great. I know how it is when one is there experiencing this one gets all pumped up and starts shooting away. But if the composition and elements are not good or better by themselves in regular light, the added effect of the fog and light shining through it doesnt work to take the image to another level but is just showing that, a nice light shining through and a cool natural effect.

In #3 you really have something going. In #1 and #2 it would have been nice to have had a good vertical arrangement of trees with a clean forest floor (not full of brush). #4 is also decent but the arangement of the branches is just not that good and the mixture of trees in the back just doesnt work that well.

Thanks Sneakyracer - I appreciate your thoughtful comments. It is easy to get carried away and lose sight of the fundamentals!

Also, I would try these in B&W, I think they might work better that way.

Here are a couple of black and white conversions. I think the absence of color is helpful for the 2nd one in that it emphasizes shapes and contrast. Not so sure about the first, which in both versions seems to have no place for the eye to rest. C&C welcome. Thanks again for the suggestions.