Lonely Tree * by Canon DSLR Challenge

Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Challenge 70: Leading Lines (host: Michael Puff) >> Eligible > Lonely Tree *


June 20, 2006	Harvey Gold (harvey_g)

Lonely Tree *

Cobourg, Ontario, Canada

I was passing a farm in a rural area not far from home when I spotted this lone tree on a fenceline. I wanted to capture it in a way that highlighted that fact.

Canon EOS 20D ,Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
ISO 100, f/10, 1/160, 105mm, polarizing filter hide exif

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Guest		03-Jul-2006 17:44
beautiful image nicely done

Canon DSLR Challenge		27-Jun-2006 23:29
Beautiful landscape, with an interesting fenceline and a nifty tree... --Melanie (mlynn)

Canon DSLR Challenge		23-Jun-2006 20:36
My pleasure. Don't let it all intimidate you. It sounds like a lot, but it's really not. You'll see as soon as you start playing. Have fun!!! ~ Lonnit

Canon DSLR Challenge		23-Jun-2006 11:29
Traveller, Lonnit... Thank you so much. You guys, as always, are very helpful and very generous with your time an knowledge. I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate it. You are very instrumental in pushing me up the learning curve (pun intended) and helping me to make better images. I have copied your comments into a document so that I have a record from which to work. I am busy this time of year with training and working dogs so I don't spend as much time on the computer as I do in the winter. I will try to get on this project this weekend. ~Harvey

Canon DSLR Challenge		23-Jun-2006 03:30
What Trav described with the curve is really simple and will give you very nice control. You don't need any manual for it, just play around with various points on the curve, push them and pull them and see what they do. If you control+click on any area of the image, while you have the curves dialog open, it will put the dot on the curve at the area of that tone. Then you can pick which things you selectively lighten and darken. That's about as technical as it gets. :) For example, on this image, I might control+click on the dark part of the middle of the tree, or the fence, just to put the dot there so that area doesn't lighten. Then, I'd control+click somewhere in the midtone of one of the clouds, and play with pulling that up to brighten the image. It will mostly brighten the clouds, but it will bring the grass up a tad. Now, if, for example, you wanted to bring the darkest part of the tree leaves up, and you sampled that area, you'd brighten the whole thing, but you might find the grass getting too light. So, for something like that, I might go to the shadow/highlight tool and just tweak a bit of lightness into the dark areas. If you want to get more complex, then for me, that'd not make me happy with bringing lightness into the fence, so I'd do the highlight/shadow thing, but then click on the mask button, fill it with black (so none of the hightlight/shadow work shows), then take a white brush and paint with white (to reveal) in the dark parts of the tree so that they would lighten without affecting the fence or anything else. Of course this is starting to get into more detailed work, but honestly, it's really not hard, and you'll get a feel for it quickly. Masks are your friend. They will help you control effects. So, start simply on an image you want to play with, and do what Trav said, and then when you get the hang of it, try the other stuff I mentioned. You're starting with a nice foundation of photography, so you don't need all that much tweaking. :) ~ Lonnit

Canon DSLR Challenge		23-Jun-2006 02:01
Dear Harvey: PS 7 has curves and you'll be on top of it in a flash! Just play with it....lighter, pick a point on the line 1/3rd of a way down, pull up for lighter. This should be enough....just play around with brightening. Later, pick a 2nd point further down, pull the curve down and increase darks and contrast. Often to be fancy, I'll do an S curve with 3 points. Just play around and with preview clicked, see what happens. Best Wishes, Traveller

Canon DSLR Challenge		22-Jun-2006 22:16
Lonnit, I've never used curves and wouldn't know where to begin. I've only been into digital photography since the first of the year and I'm a neophite with PS7. I'm sort of stumbling around in the dark (as some of my photos might indicate) with PP. Most of what I've picked up has been through forums such as this. I don't have a lot of patience to sit with a manual and plod my way through things. Thanks again for the compliment. ~Harvey

Canon DSLR Challenge		22-Jun-2006 22:03
Thank you for the kind complimnet. :) Do you ever use curves instead of levels? I find it a much better and more flexible tool. I virtually never use levels - unless I'm adjusting a mask. IMO, levels is more of a sledgehammer when a chisel would be better for the job. I generally tweak my curves in RAW, and a rare onec-in-a-while, if I've done some filtering that has left some areas too dark, I might do a PS curve to tweak, but, then again, I might just mask the darker areas a bit to brighten to thier previous state. Sometimes that's just removing too much effect, so I move to the shadow/highlight tool instead for some dainty touches. As for increasing the sat, yes, that can easily get too artificial looking, and this scene is not one that artificial would inhance. Again, really such a lovely composition. Good work! ~ Lonnit

Canon DSLR Challenge		22-Jun-2006 20:32
Thanks, Lonnit. Compliments coming from someone as talented as you are always flattering. The original was a bit lighter. I pulled the left side in a bit in levels to give the shot a bit more punch for my eye. Probably makes it look about 1/2 stop less exposed. Just a personal preference. I first tried by increasing saturation but it looked too 'neon' for me.

Canon DSLR Challenge		22-Jun-2006 19:55
Very lovely! Great scene, nice composition. If I were to nitpick, I might say it's a tad underexposed, but that's no biggie to fix. Again, very lovely is the thought that comes to mind. :) ~ Lonnit

Canon DSLR Challenge		22-Jun-2006 16:58
Okay, Guys and Gals. I've had similar feedback from a forum on which I posted both images with the same result. I'm going with this image and am replacing the other version with a different image. Thanks so much for your comments. ~Harvey

Canon DSLR Challenge		22-Jun-2006 14:22
Michael, Nico, Traveller... thanks for your input. It seems that at this point our panel of experts is in agreement. I will probably go with this image. There are still several days left in the challenge so I will leave the two images up for a couple more days and see what other comments are posted. My guess is that any additional comments will likely reflect your thoughts.

Canon DSLR Challenge		22-Jun-2006 06:50
I'll tell you what's interesting, at least to me....I think that #2 is the better picture, but the eye is forced to scan right to left in that image, (something un-natural), while this one the eye natually moves left to right. Hummmmm Best Wishes, Traveller

jnconradie		22-Jun-2006 05:05
Harvey, both are beautiful and I can only echo Michael's comments, i.e. it probably a 51/49 decision in favour of this one. However, if I look at it again tomorrow, the numbers might just be the other way around. Best of luck in choosing! ~jnconradie

Guest		22-Jun-2006 04:19
uh huh, I can see why it was difficult to decide between these two sublime pastoral scenes. This one is my favorite of the two. While I enjoy the simple graphic feeling of image #2, this version #1 has great depth and a level of complexity which grows on me after repeated viewings. Both images have a fine leading line in the fence, so you are covered either way you eventually decide. On another day with a different mindset, I could probably easily tell you #2 is my favorite. I know, that's hardly a definitive answer. -Michael