Along the road to Crawford

[RobbieV]

Hello all!

I've been patiently waiting for the appropriate photograph to post on the forum. I do not feel that the photo you see here is my best work. I do believe it is an appropriate photo for me to learn from in terms of composition and processing.

The photo was taken on the road that leads up to Crawford Lake near Milton, Ontario. I had gone for a ride to scout for locations and came across this scene, and made a note of it. I came back on an clear evening with textured clouds to provide some interest in the horizon. I waited for the sunlight to illuminate the central tree as it poured over the field from the left, scattering through the leftmost trees and brush.

Since I only took my 50mm with me (on a crop sensor K5 body), the photo you see here is a two photo composite so I could include enough of the sky to please me. My GND had not arrived yet, so I exposed the sky and the field separately.

Processing began in LR3.5 and involved some gentle touches of clarity, a (very gentle) dose of luminance, and some push to the greens and yellows.

In Photoshop, I stitched the photos together, duplicated, inverted and changed the layer blending to vivid light. I then ran a surface blur on the layer with both variables within set at 32.

When that is finished, I hit [Shift][Option][Command][E] to duplicate the layer and change the blend mode to normal. I delete the original since it's blend mode is stuck at vivid light. On the newly duplicated layer, I changed the blend mode to Overlay and reduced the opacity to around 30%.

I then dodged and burned to aid the composition to my liking, and finished with an unsharp mask to my taste.

I chose this composition because to my eye, the path is as follows:
The sky draws the eye first. Attention then proceeds to the sunlight leaking out of the left frame, which follows the lighted pathway on the field to the sunlit tree. The bank of darker trees in the field to the right create visual line which leads the eye back to the sunlit tree. The eye follows the sunlit path to the darker portion of the composition on the bottom, which leads the viewer (hopefully) back to the sunlight leak and to the sky.

Since I am very much am amateur, I am looking for critiques on my process and composition. I look forward to more contemplative contributions to this forum.

[kikashi]

I chose this composition because to my eye, the path is as follows:
The sky draws the eye first. Attention then proceeds to the sunlight leaking out of the left frame, which follows the lighted pathway on the field to the sunlit tree. The bank of darker trees in the field to the right create visual line which leads the eye back to the sunlit tree. The eye follows the sunlit path to the darker portion of the composition on the bottom, which leads the viewer (hopefully) back to the sunlight leak and to the sky.

First, welcome.

My eyes move in a different way to yours. The first thing that grabs my attention is the enormously bright sun. Everything else is secondary to it.

I like the shot but I feel it would be hugely improved by removal of the leftmost 10%.

Jeremy

[luxborealis]

Wonderful location - Crawford Lake C.A., Twiss Road Forestry Tract and the Niagara Escarpment as a whole are great landscape locations. You've captured a great moment here.

As is so often the case with landscape photographs, the viewer's eye is most often drawn to the brightest part of the image first - which, in this case, is the sun on the left. So, I must agree with kikashi about cropping off the left side. In fact, if you want to make the lone tree more prominent, then it should occupy one of the "sweet spots" of the classic tic-tac-toe "rule of thirds" grid, rather than being so centrally located. The photograph I see here is the tree in the upper left sweet spot with the flow of light from there down to the right. You may also wish to consider putting back some of the shadow detail that might have been in the original scene - this would add a further dimension, more interest beyond the initial impact.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

It's a stunning shot, but I agree with both Jeremy and Terry. Removing the sun from the left would make a major improvement for me, and repositioning it as Terry suggests would clinch it. The sky is nice, but I'd be willing to sacrifice a fair amount of it to get the tree in an optimum position, as it is the sunlit tree and the light on the grass in front of it that provide the main point of the image.

[sdwilsonsct]

The eye follows the sunlit path to the darker portion of the composition on the bottom, which leads the viewer (hopefully) back to the sunlight leak and to the sky.

I agree completely with the previous comments, but I admire your original and reasoned approach to composition. Don't lose it.
Scott

[Justan]

While the other idea presented is interesting, I think the work as conceived and executed is excellent. The only change I might play with would be to lighten some of the darkest shadows......but maybe not, as the shadows make sense to the eye given the sunlight.

It’s one of the more interesting captures presented here recently. Well conceived and executed.

Welcome to the forum!

[louoates]

I agree with most comments here. The bright sun needs to go. Very few suns like this work. Cropping to the tree and the nicely lighted field would make a nicer shot.

[stpf8]

Another agreement with cropping the sun (too bright) and cropping the sky (least interesting part of the frame, and it will help to position the small tree to a better [more aesthetic] portion of the frame).  You have wonderful light to work with, and just doing some makeshift crops on my monitor helped me to see some wonderful possibilities.

[RobbieV]

Another agreement with cropping the sun (too bright) and cropping the sky (least interesting part of the frame, and it will help to position the small tree to a better [more aesthetic] portion of the frame).  You have wonderful light to work with, and just doing some makeshift crops on my monitor helped me to see some wonderful possibilities.

Thanks very much. The light and sky spoiled me that evening and it hasn't returned in the same way since. I know using the RoT coud produce some other images on here, but I wanted to stay away from the "lone central tree" theme that is prevalent. I challenged myself to produce something different. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

I agree with most comments here. The bright sun needs to go. Very few suns like this work. Cropping to the tree and the nicely lighted field would make a nicer shot.

I wasn't 100% about the sun, but included it in the post to gather criticism and information as to when and where it is ideal for this type of photographic element.

While the other idea presented is interesting, I think the work as conceived and executed is excellent. The only change I might play with would be to lighten some of the darkest shadows......but maybe not, as the shadows make sense to the eye given the sunlight.

It’s one of the more interesting captures presented here recently. Well conceived and executed.

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks very much for taking the time to respond with a critique. Sometimes I look at it and think about lightening the shadows and toning the brightness and luminosity down a bit as it is bordering on "overcooked" for me. I decided to leave it and see what the consensus was.

I agree completely with the previous comments, but I admire your original and reasoned approach to composition. Don't lose it.
Scott

I'm challenging myself to produce the absolute best I can with what I have. I have a long way to come and look forward to posting here again. My approaches to composition are informed from plenty of reading on this and other sites, as well as my background in graphic design and culture studies. Thanks for the critique.

Wonderful location - Crawford Lake C.A., Twiss Road Forestry Tract and the Niagara Escarpment as a whole are great landscape locations. You've captured a great moment here.

As is so often the case with landscape photographs, the viewer's eye is most often drawn to the brightest part of the image first - which, in this case, is the sun on the left. So, I must agree with kikashi about cropping off the left side. In fact, if you want to make the lone tree more prominent, then it should occupy one of the "sweet spots" of the classic tic-tac-toe "rule of thirds" grid, rather than being so centrally located. The photograph I see here is the tree in the upper left sweet spot with the flow of light from there down to the right. You may also wish to consider putting back some of the shadow detail that might have been in the original scene - this would add a further dimension, more interest beyond the initial impact.

I was attempting to step away from the RoT, but I do think about what you have mentioned. As mentioned above, the shadow detail was something I was originally mulling over, and shall continue to do so.

First, welcome.

My eyes move in a different way to yours. The first thing that grabs my attention is the enormously bright sun. Everything else is secondary to it.

I like the shot but I feel it would be hugely improved by removal of the leftmost 10%.

Jeremy

I felt the sun was a tad gimmicky and overly fake looking (even though it was carefully placed when I created the picture in the field). I still included it to see if it would fit this style of photo and aid the composition in some way. I think I agree with most on here in that it distracts. Thank you for the comments everyone. By far the most productive conversation I've had on the Internet in a long time.