Learning Landscapes - A Snowy Tree

[Brownbear]

Actually I'm not sure if this qualifies as a landscape. A heavy snowfall is a rare event in Vancouver and the snowy scenes appealed to me simply because I think snow is pretty.

Wide Angle lens 22 and 24 mm, respectively.

Aperture Priority ISO 200 F13 SS 1/40 & 1/60 Exposure Comp +1



1.

I tried to capture the enormous size of the tree including the bench simply for the perspective of the size of the tree.




2.

I simply liked the snowy solitude.



I think these are pretty scenes but lacking something special and perhaps that is nice light.

C&C always appreciated. Thank you.

[Geoff F]

Yes possibly a nice clear blue sky would have helped. But viewing them at full screen size, where there is a narrow black border, considerably helps to create a more 'constrained' appearance with these images.

[ajohnw]

I like the 2nd one Christina but you may be able to bring up the detail in the tree trunk a bit more.

I'm sure that I have seen an old print of a shot like this with an oval cut out in a black rectangular frame showing the tree. If you have cropped a lot off a strong vignette might achieve the same sort of thing.

John
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[Brownbear]

Thank you John. And also thanks for the tip on the tree trunk, good to know. Right now I'm just going to focus on learning to photograph landscapes, better, just so I'm not overwhelmed with learning post processing.

It's not cropped. I can see that in my mind. I think a lone tree, bench and snow with nothing else in the image would work best.

Geoff, why do they need to be constrained? This is the first time I've heard this term in reference to a photo. Thank you.

I like the 2nd one Christina but you may be able to bring up the detail in the tree trunk a bit more.

I'm sure that I have seen an old print of a shot like this with an oval cut out in a black rectangular frame showing the tree. If you have cropped a lot off a strong vignette might achieve the same sort of thing.

John
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[Downrigger]

These are nice. I agree that if there was some way to get a little structure for the trunk in the second - so it is not pure silhouette, it would be nice. The "snowy solitude" effect is very nicely shown, in any case.
I like where you have put your subject in the first. I don't know what you PP with but there might be a way for you to fix the lean of the spruce, much of it owing, I suppose, to the wide angle view shot upwards. The deciduous on the right leans a hair towards the spruce (they converge upwards, optically), so simple adjustment of vertical won't solve this, but whatever perspective controls you have might.

The third thing is that I think there is snow going on, and that you might have had a wish that it show better. I really haven't figured out how to do this - how to reliably depict the falling snow in a scene. More depth of field, maybe? I hope someone who knows will share.

[Geoff F]

You have a white background to these images, Christina, so on a white page there is no real edge to the scene.

I'm not usually a fan of adding borders but occasionally, on scenes like this, it really seems to work and concentrates the view.

[Mike Buckley]

Both are very nice photos.

If the first one was mine, I would add a white vignette and send it as my holiday card for the year. I'd like to have a little more space on the left but I see that there is a house. If you can't add more space on the left for that reason, I would leave it as is but I would remove the house. Consider cropping to eliminate about half of the foreground snow.

Mark the first photo as one to come back to if you ever get serious about monochromes. It would be stunning in black-and-white.

The second one would also work well with a white vignette. I would try to bring out (or add) a little detail in the snow on the bench. Thinking of the composition, I do wish the tall evergreen in the rear was more to the left of the subject tree.

[Brownbear]

Thank you to all for your helpful advice. I have a work project to finish in the next few days so I will not be able to try the suggested edits until this weekend, especially since they seem to involve complicated things like fixing perspective and trying to clone out a house, but I will give it a try for the learning experience, which no doubt will serve me well in future.

Mark...

I use Lightroom 5, but I also have Elements 9 and Photoshop (recently acquired the Cloud program), but my skills are still pretty basic. I did hit the lens correction button in Lightroom but I guess that didn't work.

Yes, it was snowing. I had my camera on a tripod stuck in a 1/4 meter of snow while trying to coordinate an umbrella to keep my camera dry. I think that the curves tool might bring out the snow, so I will give it a try.

Geoff... Thank you for explaining. Yes, that makes sense to me.

Mike... I framed it as best as I could to exclude the houses on the street, so no space left. I see what you mean that cropping out the snow, when I move it around in Lightbox it makes the image look better... Can you explain why it works better with less foreground? (I will save this one for future B&W possibilities, thank you.)

I see what you mean by that fir tree, and now that I see it (I totally missed that tree in the scene while photographing it) it detracts too much for me. Unfortunately it is not possible to retake these, as all the snow has disappeared, but the next time I see a bench and a tree in the snow I will be better prepared. I doubt very much that I am capable of cloning out a house but I will give it a try just for the learning experience.

John, in hindsight your suggested edit sounds easy and one that I can manage, so will do.

[Mike Buckley]

Can you explain why [the first photo] works better with less foreground?

Two reasons: The information in the lower part of the foreground is the same as in the upper part of the foreground, so there is no benefit to including the lower part. Eliminating half the foreground places greater emphasis on the bench and the scale and simplicity (for lack of a better word) that it adds to the image.

[ShaneS]

I really like the first shot, Christina, and I second Mike's crop suggestion - it popped into my mind even before I scrolled down to read through the comments and Mike beat me to the suggestion. I like the feeling in both of these images and will look forward to seeing how you fine tune the PP on them.

[Brownbear]

Mike - Thank you for the explanation. Something new for me to think about, but it makes sense.

Shane - Thank you. I will try my best.

[Digital]

Christina, nice captures.



Bruce

[deetheturk]

Nice images Christina,well done

[Shadowman]

Your images here could be so many things, nature obviously-perhaps natural still life. Nicely done.

[Magog]

Christina,

Two nice shots; I can only comment subjectively, as I'm not as technically competent as a lot of the guys and gals on here.

Like others, I really like shot 1, and thought "Christmas card!" straight away; I agree with Mike's comment that some foreground could be lost.

For shot 2, I think I'd have been tempted to take a slightly lower view point, and move to one side or the other to separate the bench and the tree (assuming there was nothing in the way!). For me, that might have created a different mood to the image; rather than snowy-pretty, perhaps an image of wintry loneliness - an empty bench, a bare tree....

Mind you, it's easy for me to say that whilst sitting in a warm office!

[Stagecoach]

Hi Christina,

Both nice scenes but I can see why you could consider they lack something special. I wonder if it would have helped shooting from lower in No 2 and perhaps a bit wider?

Grahame

[Kaye Leggett]

Hi Christina. Like you we rarely get snow so when we do, you just have to go out in it. I like your shots, particularly the second where I think the 'less is more' mantra works.

[Brownbear]

Thank you to all for your comments and suggestions. Truly appreciated.

John (Shadowman) so these are still-lifes, not landscapes?

John Roach and Grahame... There was a bus stop shelter in front of the tree, and the other angles of view, especially wider included houses and streets. I was low for the first tree image so it is likely that I couldn't get as low for the 2nd image. If I could find a similar scene out of the city, I think that could be what the scene needs to be special and I will try just that when the next opportunity arises.

Thank you Bruce, David and Kaye... Kaye, it's pouring rain and the snow has disappeared. (:

[Donald]

Your compositional skills can be seen to be improving with every image you post. It's as if your studying of the scene is now much more attuned and you are creating much better compositions.

[Manfred M]

Hi Christina - I'm glad you are enjoying shooting snowy scenes.

By now you will have noticed (given the typical Vancouver cloud cover at this time of year) is that your shots all act as if you have a giant softbox (the overcast sky) and a giant reflector (the snow). Nicely said, there are no shadows to add interest to the images; but on the other hand, thes shooting conditions are also great for showing fine details that normally get overwhelmed by shadows.

The other thing you will have noticed is that snow is white and the viewer's eyes will tend to wander to the bright areas, and not necessarily the subject.

Both shots are quite nice, but I think they could be improved with a bit of tweaking (in-camera and in post-production).

In your first shot, you have a lot of snow in the foreground, I wonder if trimming that back a bit might result in a stronger image. The white space on the bottom isn't really doing anything for the shot. On the other hand, the tree on the left seems a bit tight at the top and I wonder if a tiny bit more sky might not help the composition.

I like the second image better, it looks like it a B&W image at first, until you notice the green bushes. I find that both the tree and bench in the foreground are too close to the centre of the image. I think you might have a stronger image if they were more to the right,

I agree with the others that say that your eyes run off the image; a slight vignette (try dark or light) could help and a border to constrain the viewer's eye might work too. Nothing to heavy though; the overall scene is light and airy and you wouldn't want to be to heavy-handed with a big, wide, dark border.