Pretty cool trees huh? I can certainly relate to the elevation of the Patriarch grove. I spent a week there and eventually got use to it, but it's amazing how much effort even the smallest of things take.
I'd love to see a version of each of these with the saturation dialed down quite a bit. They both feel a bit unrealistic, and the subtle nuance of light and color have been lost to the saturation. If these were mine, I would dial back the saturation of the overall image, take down the strong warm tones in the trunks, and darken the dark-mid tones a bit. The clouds in the first one have some areas where color is so strong that it's falling apart a bit in the transitions to strong magenta.
These trees are downright awesome looking, and I don't think they need the strong processing to make them pop. It's the subtle color and detail that make these trees feel like they have a story to tell to the viewer, and I think the saturation somewhat silences their voice.
Acclimation is important. But, altitude is funny. Sometimes you can pop up to 12,000 feet and function quite well. Other times you get to 10,000 feet and can't get your wind. It's not a consistent thing. And if you smoke, drink excessively, or are out of shape (which I didn't think you were seeing your picture in the awards thread) then it compounds the problem. Next time you might feel fine.
Sweet shots. They look a bit more like drawings then photographs, but I still like them for what they are. These trees are awesome. How tall/wide are they?
Justin Grimm wrote:
Sweet shots. They look a bit more like drawings then photographs, but I still like them for what they are. These trees are awesome. How tall/wide are they?
Hey Jim,
They aren't very tall maybe 10 feet (the one on the picture). There are taller but by not much. The tallest I saw was maybe 20 feet. No, they aren't as tall as redwood or sequoias, not nearly that tall, if this is what you had in mind.
1 and 2 are really well done Gregg... wonderful compositions with the gorgeous sky, and I love seeing the rich wood tones and striations in this magnificent tree.
Excellent work.
