Autumn Sunlight through the Trees

[Ndukes]

Water at my feet, fallen beech leaves all around, sunlight breaking through. Well, not exactly. Taking this kind of shot straight into the sun (non-HDR this time) I normally try to place the lens in the shadow of a thick branch in order to avoid uncontrollable flare in processing. But, I wanted the sun in the shot. So a little cheating was called for. The sun was obscured in the original and I used a lens flare filter in CS6 to re-introduce it.

This was one of many I ran off on my recent trip to Cloughlea in County Wicklow.

C&c most welcome , as alway.


Nikon Df with Nikkor 16-35 f4 at 17mm. 1/15 at f22, iso 1250

[rachel]

That is gorgeous

[deetheturk]

Lovely capture Neville!

[Ndukes]

Thank you Rachel and David. It's a gorgeous place.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done, lighting on foreground really sets off the composition.

[bnnrcn]

Beautiful place Neville and your shot looks very nice

[Rebel]

The sun is from the lens flare filter? Unless I had read your intro first (I rarely read the intros first ) I wouldn't of known.

Lovely shot, and good PS work!

[Ndukes]

The sun is from the lens flare filter? Unless I had read your intro first (I rarely read the intros first ) I wouldn't of known.

Lovely shot, and good PS work!

I like to come clean!

Thanks Matt.

[Ndukes]

Thank you John and Binnur. The place, in the right light, is full of magic.

[Ndukes]

For anyone interested, this is the original without the 'flare' added.

[Dave Humphries]

Very nicely and naturally done Neville

[John 2]

Neville, you're going to hate me for this but I prefer the original. The flare, whilst well done, distracts from what is a very beautiful scene. None the less, you really are making the most of this time of year.

[Ndukes]

Neville, you're going to hate me for this but I prefer the original. The flare, whilst well done, distracts from what is a very beautiful scene. None the less, you really are making the most of this time of year.

This is why I posted both versions John. There is a nice shape to the branches which stands out better without the flare. Interesting to get different views on this. Many thanks for your feedback.

[Ndukes]

Very nicely and naturally done Neville

Many thanks Dave. I plan to return to this spot on Monday (weather permitting) to get Autumn at a more advanced stage.

[FootLoose]

Good work with the sun flare, Neville, but I also prefer the unaltered version. It seems more peaceful to me without the sun poking its fingers through the leaves.

[Ndukes]

Good work with the sun flare, Neville, but I also prefer the unaltered version. It seems more peaceful to me without the sun poking its fingers through the leaves.

Thanks for that Greg. I like to think both versions have their own merit. Not sure which I like best now.

[MrB]

A lovely scene and composition Neville, and I too prefer the image without the sun. Although I am well aware that the light is partially transmitted and filtered by the colourful autumn leaves, as with the bridge shots, both of these look more natural to me after a subtle reduction of the yellow colour cast.

Cheers.
Philip

[IzzieK]

I was sort of reading some CiC articles/howto on the use of UWA yesterday and would like to ask you how low you went to get this shot...this is a good example for me to emulate wen the sun comes up this Sunday...I really love this image and love the original better though the second one would have been nicer if the flare was not added but only a starburst, what do you think...? A flare is a little bit too much but the colour you chose is nice..

[rachel]

I see quite a few prefer the original. FWIW I prefer the one with the flare/sun. It looks natural to me, it looks like this scene would have looked if you'd had your eyes/camera in a slightly different position but which you'd never manage to get a good picture of without purple streaks appearing.
The original is a beautiful photo but with the flare I can feel the warmth of the sun. (And let's not foget, the original was itself engineered in a way to block the sun behind a branch, the flare is simply recreating what was really there....)

[Ndukes]

I see quite a few prefer the original. FWIW I prefer the one with the flare/sun. It looks natural to me, it looks like this scene would have looked if you'd had your eyes/camera in a slightly different position but which you'd never manage to get a good picture of without purple streaks appearing.
The original is a beautiful photo but with the flare I can feel the warmth of the sun. (And let's not foget, the original was itself engineered in a way to block the sun behind a branch, the flare is simply recreating what was really there....)

Yes Rachel, exactly my thinking. And thank you so much.