Cherry Tree 2: The Experiment!

[Donald]

Here there is an image picture of a cherry tree that was in the back garden of the gite we rented in Burgundy in June. Well, me and that tree spent a bit of time together.

I saw a chance to experiment a wee bit. Slow the shutter right down and twist the zoom ring on the Tokina f2.8 11-16 whilst the shutter was open. A sort of 'exploding-with-life' kind of a shot. Which was appropriate as the tree was laden with fruit.

So this was a bit of holiday/vacation fooling around. Any good?


Canon 40D, Tokina 11-16 f2.8. ISO100. 1/2 @f22

[chauncey]

Donald, I tried using that technique...once! Yours is much better...better than was mine.

[Mike Buckley]

It's always a good idea to do something a little different from what we normally do to force us to think beyond our norm or comfort zone. I'm guilty of not doing that often enough.

Though this style doesn't appeal to me, I can appreciate the concept of exploding with life so long as it is explained as you did. I think it would be more effective if the explosion had emanated from any point on or in line with the base of the tree rather than to the right of it as seen here.

[Shadowman]

Quite the experiment, nicely captured.

[Kodiak]

It is, indeed, very exciting to explore and experiment!

I like this shot… the only thing I would recommend is to make sure that the
center of the effect is at a proper point of the photograph… in this case, you're
off +/- 10 mm at the right of the tree trunk.

[Kaye Leggett]

I love it. Does it work as well in colour too ?

[Donald]

Thanks for your comments folks.

I love it. Does it work as well in colour too ?

I don't know is the answer to that one, Kaye. As I've written on here before, I shoot to make either a B & W or, less frequently, a colour image. I never change my mind. So what is shot to be a B & W is never made into a colour image ... and vice-versa. Sure, I have the colour TIFF from the RAW file that is then converted to make the final B & W image. But that is far from the finished article.

Some people no doubt think I'm a bit stupid for imposing that 'rule' upon myself. But it worked for me when I was training myself to try and 'see' in B & W and I just keep it going that way. Even when I see a Raw or Tiff with the colour in it and think, 'Hmmm, that looks nice', I will not make a colour image if I shot it to be B & W. That would be breaking 'the rules' and it is just my fault for not having 'seen' the colour image when I captured the photo in the first place.

What else do I do as part of this discipline? Well, if I'm shooting for a B & W, I switch the setting on the camera to Monochrome. That means I see a B & W image on the back screen. If I'm then shooting for a colour image, I change the setting to 'Faithful'.

[wilgk]

I think it works well here, I tried the same technique looking into a Forrest in NZ & zooming during the exposure to try to evoke a scary middle earth trees coming to get you feel...
I don't know if I achieved it or not, yours I think works well with the 1 tree and the clouds, something to do with 1 tree that I never would have ever thought of.

[Donald]

.. something to do with 1 tree that I never would have ever thought of.

Kay - It's probably because I used to sit on the terrace at the back of the cottage we rented, with bottle of wine on the table beside me, looking out on this view. Must have been too much of the stuff that made me 'see' this picture.

[Kaye Leggett]

Kay - It's probably because I used to sit on the terrace at the back of the cottage we rented, with bottle of wine on the table beside me, looking out on this view. Must have been too much of the stuff that made me 'see' this picture.

All the best ideas originate in the pub..............

I'm interested in your technique Donald but what annoys me is that when I switch my camera to black and white the jolly old computer says 'no' when I load it - do you have software that doesn't do that ?

I like the B&W, I guess I asked if it was good in colour as you gave such an evocative image of the tree in your words when you said it was laden with fruit which doesn't come out in the picture and I wondered if it did n the colour version.

[IzzieK]

I have exactly a Cokin filter that I use for shot effect like this -- but had not used in in my dslr. Must be a feel-good fun thing to do it manually.

[Donald]

I'm interested in your technique Donald but what annoys me is that when I switch my camera to black and white the jolly old computer says 'no' when I load it - do you have software that doesn't do that ?

Kaye - When I upload onto computer, I have a first look at the RAW files in Canon's Digital Photo Professional (DPP) software. This is the only RAW processor that I know that will show the .CR2 Canon files in monochrome. And that's because it's Canon's own product and is fully synchronised with the camera so can read the files coming from the camera in a way that allows it to reproduce the mode used at the time of capture.

I use DPP for the first cut, as I find its 'Quick Check' feature good for that purpose. I don't use DPP for the RAW processing as I find it quite limiting, although many people are quite satisfied with it. Once I have the files that I'm going to process and the rest have been filed in the bucket, I do my RAW processing with DxO Optics 8. When I open the images in DxO, they have all the colour information showing. I can't see them in B & W at that point.

I like the B&W, I guess I asked if it was good in colour as you gave such an evocative image of the tree in your words when you said it was laden with fruit which doesn't come out in the picture and I wondered if it did n the colour version.

You couldn't get a sense of the fruit even with the colour in it. But I got in amongst the branches and leaves (on the instruction of my dearly beloved) to get a memento of all that wonderful fruit that she gorged on.

[Mike Buckley]

when I switch my camera to black and white the jolly old computer says 'no' when I load it

Personally, I wouldn't be concerned about that. That's because the black-and-white image will look so very different depending on the method used to make it so. I'm referring to the choice of desaturating the color or converting to black-and-white using any color of your choice that is visible to the human eye. That's a lot of choices, so why make a decision about the photo based on how the camera manufacturer's engineers decided to render the black-and-white image?

When I first learned of Donald's technique of displaying the image in the camera's LCD in black-and-white, I initially planned to also use it. As I began to think about it, I realized that doing so wouldn't be a good fit with me for the reason explained above.

[Bobobird]

LOL. Donald doing a Sharon. Who would have thought.

[Mark von Kanel]

It took a minute or 2 but yes Donald it does work, i didnt notice the off center zoom point until after Daniel mentioned it but now ive seen it, it leaps out every time do off you go back to France for a re shoot

[Donald]

LOL. Donald doing a Sharon. Who would have thought.

She's much more imaginative and creative than I am.

[Donald]

It took a minute or 2 but yes Donald it does work, i didnt notice the off center zoom point until after Daniel mentioned it but now ive seen it, it leaps out every time

Neither had I. But I wonder if it is a weakness? Or is that just my wishful thinking?

... off you go back to France for a re shoot

If only! If only!

[Bobobird]

If only! If only!

It is only a short leap across...