Silver fir forest

[GiacomoD]

I took this shot last autumn. A light fog was giving a magic touch to our walk in the forest and I was amazed by the perspective effect of those 30-40m tall silver firs climbing up to the sky.

Now, looking at it, I'm full of doubts about this composition...
C & C are more than welcome

[Wavelength]

Your doubts are justified....this is an excellent image, classic view

[Wavelength]

I have one like this but lagging far behind in quality

[Quinn]

Think you meant 'not justified' Wavelenght...
Its a fantastic image. Tried but failed to capture this view myself...
I might like to have seen the foot of the two foreground trees ??

Well done !

Phil

[GiacomoD]

Thank you Phil, I think you are right.
Unfortunately the photo is not cropped, that's all I could frame with my 18-200mm lens. At that moment, I considered more important the upper part of the trees, but if I will have a second opportunity I will take in consideration your suggestion.

[Geoff F]

A rather dreamlike scene for me, Giacomo; almost nightmare like with the oppressive trees encircling the viewer.

An unusual angle, but well worth shooting.

[GiacomoD]

Yes Geoff, "oppressive" is exactly the feeling I was having during my walk under those trees.
I need to learn from my mistakes... why it's an unusual angle? I mean, what is the usual angle for a subject like this?
Thanks

[Mike Buckley]

What specific doubts are you having, Giacomo? The only thing that I notice is that the foreground tree with leaves on the branches is positioned dead center, which makes the photo a bit static to me. I really like the drama of everything else about your photo and don't have a need to see the bottoms of the trees. In fact, try cropping a little off the bottom to eliminate any hint of the bases in the foreground.

[davidedric]

You could crop to change to composition a little, but not the vision. I love it. Transports me there.

[GiacomoD]

Mike,
my doubts are mainly about the composition and you perfectly targeted one of them: it looks to me too symmetric. Not only the center tree but also the right and left foreground trees are nearly specular.

It's nice to read that Phil would like to see the foot of trees while you are suggesting to cut the lower part
Unfortunately I can't do anything for Phil, but I tried to follow your cropping suggestion.
What about this one?

[davidedric]

Just my opinion, but I like the first one better. Gives me a sense of place.

[PRSearls]

I agree with Dave. I like the first composition best. I think the trees need to be "grounded." Very cool shot.

Paul S

[jeeperman]

Very nice work, Iprefer the first...but....I do like the crop as well.

[jamn4ex]

Paul said it ! Thats one cool shot!!

[GiacomoD]

Ok, first image wins 3-0 !
Actually, I prefer too the non cropped version, I think that the small strip of brown leaves helps in bringing the view inside the forest.
Thank you all for your comments, they will be helpful to me for better framings

[Mike Buckley]

I agree that the original version is better. When I suggested making a crop at the bottom, I wasn't thinking of a crop that is so severe that it eliminates almost all of the ground.

I do like the new placement of the tree with limbs, so if you're still interested, you might want to try going with that and a less severe crop at the bottom or with no crop at the bottom.

[GiacomoD]

if you're still interested

Mike, when it comes to learn more and improve, I'm always interested

Perhaps sometimes I'm too severe in applying certain rules: for example, when I crop an image I always use the fixed 3:2 aspect ratio. That's why in the second version, aiming to move the central trees on the left side, I eliminated most of the ground... I should try to feel more free, such as in this one

[MrB]

This is a very good composition Giacomo and I wouldn't change it - the natural symmetry of your original post is just fine. If it were mine, I might try to graduate a slightly lower contrast up towards the tops of the trees (although I haven't learned how to do that yet!), to enhance the mist and mystery of the shot.

Philip

[Mike Buckley]

I do like this last version the best for several reasons. The image is grounded (both figuratively and literally ). The position of the tree with leaves no longer renders the image static. The crop with regard to the base of the trees seems really natural.

As I mentioned in my first post, it's a really nice image.

[GiacomoD]

I find very stimulating such different suggestions from you all. Each suggestion brings to a different representation of the same landscape.
For me, trying to interpret them is at the same time funny and instructive.

This is the version suggested by Philip (MrB): I simply duplicated the layer, reduced contrast by 30% and applied a graduate mask.

I wouldn't go more far than this. I like to play in post-processing but also I wish to preserve the original representation or, let's say, to keep the image enough similar to what my eyes saw that day.

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions!