The Old Apple Tree

[Bambi]

So I took the camera on a walk today. I'm still trying to figure it all out. :)
I took this from a friend's field. all I did was crop it and fiddled with the curves.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_eTzuNZZ7ZF0/Szlxmuisj1I/AAAAAAAADaM/PYY9RXm2WRs/s800/apple%20tree.jpg

let me have it. :)

[Chantelle]

I like the composition here. The sky is off though, the clouds looked blown out or too white, and the sky usually isn't that aqua colour. The tree itself looks pretty good, and so does the foreground. Is it possible to lighten the greenary/ trees in the distance on the left, they seem just a bit too dark.

Note: This screen isn't calabrated, so please excuse my critques if they are wrong to everyone else. :o

[Mad Aussie]

Lookat that sharpness!!! You weren't getting with your P&S now were you? :)

Composition is nice, no surprizes there.

The dynamic range is harsh with that bright sky and the dark trees though. Some dodging of the trees to bring them up a bit would help.

You've lost the colour in the sky also and ended up with an aqua colour above the horizon. A polarizer filter would have helped there. Photoshop (and I guess Gimp) have a colour replace feature that might turn that back to a decent shade of blue.

The snow is sitting in a trail I think that pases the tree and dissappears to our right before reappearing and travelling across to the farm house. I wonder if keeping that bend in the trail we can't see would have been a good thing? By moving to your right more you may have been able to put he tree in the left of frame and included that trail and house as secondary elements.

[tirediron]

I think the background is a little too complicated for this image. My eye is wandering all over the place. This would make a great silhouette if you could get it with the sun behind it in the evening.

[Bambi]

:thankyou: everyone.

I took quite a few shots of this tree so will go back and see what else I have. I know I have some with more to the right but didn't like the background. It was about 3p.m. and the sun was bright. I will see if I can tone down the sky too. I know I didn't have the setting on vibrant colour so will go back. I had the same thoughts about the blue of the sky but wasn't sure if it was my monitor or not.

oh and I have a set of filters on order. should be here in a week or so......

Okay so I made some of the changes. I cloned out the telephone poles, adjusted the sky colour and tried to lighten up the trees. I can't change the comp until I get home but I think that this is an improvement.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_eTzuNZZ7ZF0/SzoF0WRfsXI/AAAAAAAADcg/pBo8DfnJ7J0/s800/apple%20tree2.jpg

[tirediron]

Definitely going in the right direction!

[Mad Aussie]

I'd have said the wrong direction. I wanted to see that aqua disappear and more of the darker blue in it's place. However, you now have a uniform colour which you should be able to change to a nicer hue.

[Bambi]

So one vote yea and the other nay. ;)

The colour it is now represents the colour it was on the day. But I am certainly willing to play with shades.....

Keep in mind I'm also a newbie with photo editing :) I didn't know colour changing was possible like that until you mentioned it. A quick search and 'yup, here's how you do it'.

do you like the removal of the poles though?

[Marko]

I liked the blue sky better before as well.

For me the sky is a bit blown and horizon sloped right.
To my eye the bottom left treed corner looks a tad dark.

I think my eye is searching for a focal point at T.I suggested, and it wants it to be the tree...and yet the house in the bkgd is in competition for it.

Overall i still like this image and it has nice curves and lines in many parts.

Congrats again on the spend!!

[Bambi]

thanks Marko
I will play with the colour and see if I can get it better. The location is quite hilly so the horizon might be off or it might be accurate. I'll take a closer look.

[Mad Aussie]

I didn't think the poles were an issue in the first place :)

[Bambi]

so this has turned into a wonderful learning exercise for me (so thanks guys, if I ever meet you in person I'll buy you a drink :)).

I've modified the tone of the blue and attempted to clone out the farmhouse. I left the barn in because it might be too difficult but if deemed necessary I will give it a shot. :D I've also played with the horizon line.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_eTzuNZZ7ZF0/SzpYD6fFBqI/AAAAAAAADdI/istPQQC7uh8/s800/apple%20tree3.jpg

I'm not sure how happy I am with the sky but I think the clouds look better.

[Mad Aussie]

Try this Bambi ... with that photo as it is now ... open it in Photoshop and using the Replace Colour tool try these settings ...

Localized Colour Clusters - unchecked

1st dropper selected and then ...
Fuzziness - 48
Selection - checked (Image - unchecked)
Hue +10
Saturation +27
Lightness -17

On my screen that gave a pleasing shade to the sky.

[Bambi]

Try this Bambi ... with that photo as it is now ... open it in Photoshop and using the Replace Colour tool try these settings ...

Localized Colour Clusters - unchecked

1st dropper selected and then ...
Fuzziness - 48
Selection - checked (Image - unchecked)
Hue +10
Saturation +27
Lightness -17

On my screen that gave a pleasing shade to the sky.

hmm but I don't have photoshop. Feel free to show me yours. I'll see if I can find an equivalent. can you post your version of mine?

:thankyou:

[Mad Aussie]

I didn't save it as I didn't ask permission to edit it ... but I'll do it again quickly now :)

[Mad Aussie]

Ok here we go ... I didn't darken the colour change quite as much as I suggested above ... went for -10 instead of -17.

I dodged the trees a bit to brighten them as well

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20photographyca/july-dec09/bambi-appletree.jpg

The processes have created a bluing of the tree tops and some of the cloud fringes so some cloning would be needed to correct all that now. But this has become a learning tool now :)

[Mad Aussie]

Of course different monitor calibrations are going to see this a bit differently. To me the shade has changed to a more natural sky colour.

[Bambi]

I like it. whenever I try to dodge a large area it looks like a preschooler did it!

The colour looks good to me too.

thanks MA!

[Mad Aussie]

Practice practice practice Bambi :)

What program are you using? Gimp?

[Bambi]

Practice practice practice Bambi :)

What program are you using? Gimp?

but I wanna be perfect NOW! :yell:

lol, I know. I know.

I have 3 programs I go back and forth with:
GIMP, Photoshop Pro (much like elements) and Picasa. I like picasa for uploading and simple edits.

[Mad Aussie]

I think Photoshop Pro and Elements do just about everything you need. GIMP is supposed to be very good too. Pissscasa I wouldn't bother with :)