Stand of Trees Along the Oregon Coast

[ShaneS]

I recently returned from a long stay in California and while I was there had the pleasure of taking a quick trip down the Oregon coast. There are beautiful sights around the every bend of Highway 101 and this stand of trees near Depoe Bay caught my eye.



Taken hand held at midday, the trunks of the trees brought to mind the shots by Ansel Adams of the Colorado aspens where the trunks seemed to be glowing (not that I am comparing this shot to his by any stretch of my wildest imagination...)

For those interested I edited a slight different crop of the shot in color for my Mom as she is not a huge fan of black and white generally but in this case she found the color version too busy and found her eye was drawn to the yellow tones in the shoreline not the trees.



I did ponder replacing the cloudy sky with a clear one to simplify the image but couldn't bring myself to alter the image in that manner. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on that from the preservative of future shoots of similar scenes. When do clouds add to an image and when do they compete with the subject? Do you plan your shots around sky cover for certain subjects/compositions?

Also, do you have a preference for the color or mono version? Voting is open

As usual I would also love to get your thoughts on any aspect of the image that captures your eye in terms of potential improvement.

[Brownbear]

Hi Shane,

Beautiful light and detail. I prefer the b&w image but I think I might prefer the colour image if it were lighter, with the trees a little lighter in colour but the rock face lighter/paler than the trees (so the yellow is less strong) I downloaded your colour image and played with the curves tool to see if it could be done.

I think I would also like this image with a clear blue sky, or half as much sky (cropped closer).

I love skies and I always look for pretty, unusual or dramatic clouds. I'm still on working on learning to photograph landscapes so that is all I can share.

[Shadowman]

Nice image, I prefer the color version as it (the colors) must be what attracted you to the scene although you mention another source.

[BrianA61]

I live only about 1.5hrs away from Depoe Bay and absolutely love the drive up/down the Oregon coast. It is a "target rich environment" for photographers. I prefer the b/w version but only if it were cropped much closer to the trees. The clouds add to the scene, not subtract from it, especially in the b/w version. Lower the highlights and raise the whites in the clouds to make them pop some and also for the trees. My opinion. You get what you pay for.

[ShaneS]

Thank you John. Brian, when you say crop close to the trees would that include all of the water? Something like this (SOOC - unedited)?



BTW, I have many more shots to edit, not as many keepers as I'd like though. My goal was to shoot Bandon Beach and I got one early morning of shooting there which was awesome - could have stayed a week though! I would love to move back to the pacific northwest at some point. I realized how much I miss it on this trip.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Shane, I like both B&W and the colour. I would crop the sky a bit aggresively , close to the top end of the trees ,because your main subject is trees

[AndrewMcD]

My preference is the B&W image. The yellow color of the bank dominates the color version and draws the eye to the cluttered bank which I find less interesting than the trees. I think with the B&W version I might crop the sky to the point where the sky and water approx. balance one another. I wish I could say that I had some basic principles that guide my thinking but I'm afraid my limited experience leaves me operating on a hit and miss basis!
I do love the Oregon coast. I'll be visiting family in Portland in August and hope to spend some time on the coast with the camera.
Andrew

[BrianA61]

Thank you John. Brian, when you say crop close to the trees would that include all of the water? Something like this (SOOC - unedited)?



BTW, I have many more shots to edit, not as many keepers as I'd like though. My goal was to shoot Bandon Beach and I got one early morning of shooting there which was awesome - could have stayed a week though! I would love to move back to the pacific northwest at some point. I realized how much I miss it on this trip.

Shane, you could do two different crops. One as you have posted here. The other you could crop out most of the sky and include all/most of the water. Process both and see which one looks best to you. Depending on the resolution, you might even be able to crop out the water and the sky and just concentrate on the treeline to eliminate other distracting elements in the wider shot. It just boils down to personal preference. If you want, I could take a stab at what I'm talking about if you post the original. Or, is the original posted in your first post?

[BrianA61]

Shane, I took the liberty of editing your original post photo to better explain what I was describing. I can delete them if they are not to your liking. This is just a quick adjustment/crop just as an example of how different the same photo can come out. In the second one, I toned down the distracting sandy bank by reducing orange and yellow sliders. That gives the trees a little more pop.

[bnnrcn]

I like Brian's crop of sky, but I wouldn't crop the image from right and left

[Mike Buckley]

Good to have you back, Shane! I hope California was as good to you as Oregon was.

I much prefer the post-processing in your monochrome over any of the others in the thread. Consider an aspect ratio that is 2:1 or even 2.x: 1.

[Brownbear]

Hi Shane,

Yes, it is indeed wonderful to have you back just to see your beautiful images. I don't normally do this because I don't have the utmost confidence in my post processing skills but since I couldn't seem to explain what I saw in the colour image I thought I might give it a try.

I used the curves tool to lighten just the trees and the rocks, and then I applied another layer, soft light and painted on the trees with a white brush (12% opacity - 25% flow), choosing the trees that I wanted to emphasize. And I painted the clouds with a black brush for less emphasis.



I like your B&W best only because I prefer lighter images.

[ShaneS]

Thanks to everyone for your insights but especially to Brian and Christina for showing me what they meant. Here are two new versions for your consideration...

Mono with no water:



Color with less sky and the yellows desaturated on the waters edge:



I'm now thinking that I may convert this color version to B&W???? But I will await your verdict

[dje]

Hi Shane

For me it's the composition of your first colour shot with the colours of your last colour shot - if that makes sense !

Very nice

Dave

[bnnrcn]

Hi Shane, your last crop of colour version (with less sky,trees and water) is fine. If it was my image I would actually go more agrresively on the sky and crop some more I think if you convert it to B&W that one will work too

[Mike Buckley]

I agree with Binnur.

[Marie Hass]

Good morning, Shane!!!!

I really like the last crop. Compositionally, the image is divided into classic thirds.

Do try b&w. I think it would work out beautifully.

Marie

[Brownbear]

Hi Shane,

Just to say that I adore the last colour version. De-saturating the yellows worked well. Seeing it also shows me that I lightened the trees too much in my version. I prefer your original b&w to the new one.

[AndrewMcD]

The last color version is close to how I imagined the crop; perhaps a bit more aggressively with the sky as Binnur suggests. I do like the processing in the last color version and look forward to seeing a B&W version.
Andrew

[BrianA61]

Shane, nice job on the latest color version. The toned down yellows/oranges worked great as your eye doesn't necessarily drift towards the bank. The b/w shot is OK but, for me, maybe darken up the foliage(reduce green saturation) somewhat to make the tree trunks pop more. Would be interesting to see what your color version would look like in b/w. As I said before, it's all a matter of personal taste. There are as many versions of the same photo on here as there are people, which is why I like photography so much.