I think this lacks balance - it's a good shot, but it'd be a great one if the cloud behind the fallen tree was on the left side of the image. The tree is a fantastic exclamation mark, but it's not pointing at anything (if you get me?). I quite like the processing you've used too.
Go There by angad84, on Flickr John Collver's War Dog by angad84, on Flickr Bell AH-1W SuperCobra by angad84, on Flickr Bell UH-1Y Venom by angad84, on Flickr
Bunster Spine, Ilam, Staffordshire by TimSmalley, on Flickr Fujinon.A 180mm lens on Portra 160 with no grad and a massive amount of front and rear tilt (as well as a tiny amount of front swing) to get the foreground and hills in focus at f/32. I'd probably got equivalent to about 20 degrees of tilt on this.
Tried a few macro shots today. This one isn't necessarily the best from the bunch but I found it quite interesting as it seemed to work better as a square crop which I've not really done before. I also stuck in IR filter on the front of the DSLR for a bit more experimentation. The overall effect looks ok and something I'm going to play with more but the Tamron 17-50 produces a hot-spot. This was ISO100, f/11, 40sec.
Some shots of the A-10 in flight. Gear In by angad84, on Flickr Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II by angad84, on Flickr
One last chance to shine by TimSmalley, on Flickr Virtually a straight scan... was going to expose on Portra initially due to the high contrast, but then after metering around the scene for a third time I decided that the contrast might actually give the dying bracken a chance to shine under the sun so opted for Velvia instead. Made two versions - one with the sun out and another with the sun starting to fade behind the clouds... this is the sunny version.
To offer a different perspective, I quite like the image. In my opinion, the slight bump on the hill in the left half of the images provides enough of a counter-balance for the tree. I think there is something somewhat appropriate about a dead tree point at absolutely nothing. I agree about the processing, though. The muted yellowish cast fits the overall empty, sickly feeling I get from the image. This one is beautiful, Tim. For some reason I think of a phoenix, going out in one last fiery blaze before resting on the forest floor.
Am I right in guessing the 'fading sun' shot would have been less contrasty? If so, I'm glad you put this up, it's fantastic. Here are the last of my A-10 shots. Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II by angad84, on Flickr Hog in High-G by angad84, on Flickr Triumphant Return by angad84, on Flickr I'm having trouble with the F-18 shots because the sun was on the wrong side of the sky by the time he did his display and processing those shots is a real nightmare Hopefully I can have those up by tomorrow.
Love the suicidal Lemur They are so fun to photograph As for my dead tree picture I kind of agree with both Tim S & Supermonkey. It is kind of a useless image with no other focus point, but I think the tree can be a story by itself IF the composition would work. However It's cropped too close to make a good case for an open emptiness with just the dead tree on the hill, but if I had more space it could work. That's the problem with my photos. I'm still just making snapshots without trying to tell a story or express something in them. So this one I snapped when driving in a bus & had one shot to get it. Thanks SOOO MUCH! for the comments. They really get me to think. With enough of this kind of thinking I hope to start thinking about it when I hold up a camera in front of my face. Love the photos on this page everyone! I'm really excited coming to this forum. Also I have no idea what 20degrees or what Tilt Shift does/how it works; but I like the image As for stonedsurd I think I'm developing underwood looking at the top two A-10 pics. Last Cruise Ship by Neo - nimajus, on Flickr Cavalry Cemetery by Neo - nimajus, on Flickr Wolf stretching by Neo - nimajus, on Flickr
Nice pics as always, CMW It was a really beautiful sunset tonight so I jumped in the car and headed to the highest point in the city; I think I missed the most of it but got a couple of snaps anyways. Nothing fancy, ND grad applied in PP and white balance tweaked to make em nice and warm
Yeah, the full on sun increased the image's contrast quite significantly - it increased the luminosity of the dying fern by two stops, whereas the green ferns only increased by a stop. Placing the brightest part of the fern at +1EV over midtone (Velvia has 2 stops of detail and 3 stops of colour above midtone so wanted to be sure I'd get all of it) pushed the brightest greens to -2EV and then everything else went down from there. I normally use the fading sun effect (wait for it to just start going behind the clouds) to use the visual effect the light was having, but with less prominence and contrast - high contrast doesn't normally work that well (certainly with grander vistas so it's mainly of use there) but felt it was worth trying both high and reduced contrast versions of this. The reduced contrast version just lacks the simplicity and the other bracken competes with the subject.
Haven't posted for 5 months so here's a couple I'd like to share with yous: Untitled by HejOle, on Flickr Untitled by HejOle, on Flickr Untitled by HejOle, on Flickr Untitled by HejOle, on Flickr Untitled by HejOle, on Flickr And my favorite this summer: Baboon by HejOle, on Flickr