A Cherry Tree - Trying to master the intensity of light

[Donald]

I found that the light in Burgundy was so different than the light we get here at home on the north-western fringes of Europe. The intensity of the light was something I'm not used to. It was interesting trying to adjust to shoot it properly.

This tree sat at the end of back garden of the cottage/gite we rented in Burgundy.

For the wine lovers - the raised ground you can see way in the background on the left is the Cote de Beaune, which along with the Cote de Nuits makes up the wonderful, fantastic Cote d'Or.

Have you found different challenges with different light in places you have visited?

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Canon 40D, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ 16 mm. ISO100. 1/750s @f5.6. Grain added in post-processing

[Shadowman]

Always trying to capture light streaming through trees, especially when it lands on brick, granite, or glass.

Nicely captured.

[Donald]

Thanks John. You're right. It was the shimmering effect that was so attarctive. Also, the shadow on the ground was, I thought, a very important part of the scene. Obviously, because it was just outside the house in which we were staying, I was observing the tree and different times of day. This one was taken just after mid-day, at 12:39pm. It was one of those with which to throw away the rule book about not shooting in mid-day sun.

[Mark von Kanel]

Hi Donald,

Nice shot, In answar to your question, yes i do find different quality and colour of light depending on where i am this can also be seen locally in cornwall, There is a real reason that St Ives has such a large artist community and its to do with the light! I didnt really appretiate it until i moved down here and visited St Ives but the lihg quality really is different from where i live a mere 70 miles away. Also during my work travels i see many countries where Light is different from home and one of the most inspiring places i found for light was belive it or not New York.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Donald . I like the tree image but I don't know if a crop from right side would improve the image May I ask how far you were to the tree while shooting with 16 mm. I have the same lens and I might practise some shots like this

[Donald]

Thank you Mark & Binnur.

Binnur - I don't know how far as I was away from the tree. Maybe 3 to 4 metres. I was lying on the ground and using an Angle C Finder on the camera. I wanted to to get the view to the background underneath the lower branches of the tree so had to get down very low.

[Brownbear]

Nice shot, and wonderful to see images photographed in the bright mid-day sun to know that they can work out beautifully.

With respect to challenges with light, yes! Having moved to the rainy and often dreary coast of BC after living beautifully colour tropical climes (bright and gloriously colourful) for several years I find it so much more challenging to photograph wildlife especially birds in flight because it is so dark here (high isos ), and grey when it rains. But I especially love photographing scenes in the mist, the snow and the fog.

[Ken Curtis]

Hi Donald. Saw this on FB the other day and liked it. I've been looking at it here and have a couple things to mention.

First, you said you added grain. Not sure why, perhaps personal preference. In the safety of my home, I removed the grain and prefer that version better. Nobody got hurt during the surgery.

Second, there is an awful lot of detail in the grass in the foreground which tugs at the eye. When I reduced the detail (using Topaz Labs Simplify plug-in), I liked the results because there were still lots of edges in the tree leaves but the distracting edges of the grass were reduced. After the simplify procedure, I could still see a lot of detail along the fence row and in the trees in the far background.

Third, my preference is to cut back on the amount of vignetting. I heard someone say, "If you can see the vignetting, it's too much." I find that to be true for my own work.

That's my two cents worth. You and others may disagree and that is OK. Just my personal thoughts.

[Donald]

Thanks, Ken. All points noted.

To my eye, it was too flat and bland without the bit of grain in it. Maybe it's just because I'm not used to light of that quality.

Generally I agree with you about seeing the vignette. But, like everything else, I think we need to 'break-the-rule'. This felt, to me, like a case of having to do that.

I also did a version of this with the Singh Ray Vari ND on so that I got a long shutter speed. This allowed to me twist the zoom through the 11-16 range whilst the shutter was open. Interesting effect. Not sure if it will ever see the light of day.

[Mike Buckley]

I agree with Ken's comments, though I don't have any strong feelings one way or the other about the vignette in this one.

Having just returned from spending a week above the arctic circle at a time of year when the sun never sets and spends most of the time as it would normally be at about 10:00am, I spent the entire week seeing light that I had never seen. I have definitely noticed the different kinds of light in different parts of the world.