Any advice on shooting up trees, please . .

[Cogito]

I wouldn't call it a failure! I think it came out quite well! Back in the 80's I bought a couple of rolls of iso 800 tungsten film. Sure in daylight it was predominantly blue - but some were quite nice!

[pnodrog]

Thanks Izzie!

Funny curve on that sunray - more Sigma magic - I always thought that light travels in straight lines . . .

Sigma just proving that light is bent by gravitational forces.....

Interesting photo - I quite like it.

[IzzieK]

Some photographers/videographers will include lens flare (that is why Photoshop has it in its filters...) in their shots. You do not have to have Photoshop to do it. I kinda like the colours though -- the flare matches the colour of the leaves. Not a failure, it is a beauty!!!

[xpatUSA]

Here's another looking-up shot - still testing for lighting angle and type of sky.



Following suggestions about side-lit trunks and diffuse skies, this one was shot early morning with the sun at about 25 degrees up and a nice, clear blue sky. Could have been better perhaps earlier but I live in a clearing and have to wait for the sun to rise enough. There might be better shots out on the street once I've figured out some criteria for this and related kinds of shot.

Looks like I left the hood on again . .

The side-lighting does show the texture of the trunk and lower branches quite well. The clear morning sky, not yet Texas-bright, is keeping the scene dynamic range to within the less-than-wide capability of the Sigma SD1 camera.

[Cantab]

Ted, your most recent photo works well. I see from the EXIF data that you shot at 1/10. Obviously there was no wind; as far as I can tell there's no motion blur.

[Dave Humphries]

I like that a lot Ted

[xpatUSA]

Thanks, Gents.

Now to think about composition . . .

[James G]

I've not been very 'with it' this last few months, but I have been browsing the forum occasionally.
Today, I decided it was time to take the camera for a bit of fresh air..... It's been a lovely sunny late autumn day, and the light lifted my spirits.
Not sure why, but I remembered reading this thread, and something of the 'little boy' in me took over, so..... flat on my back into the damp grass .... I took these shots..

#1



#2


#3

[Cantab]

James, I like all three of them. The first is probably my favourite but I'm not sure why. I've been trying to figure out why these photos work. Perhaps it helps having trees which have lost most of their leaves for the winter and hence the branches are outlined against a blue sky. Or maybe it's because you lay flat on your back on damp grass!

[xpatUSA]

Hi James,

Three nice shots indeed. I like the oak with the gradual transition from the thick and gnarly trunk going up to thinner-looking branches with some leaves still left.

[James G]

Perhaps it helps having trees which have lost most of their leaves for the winter and hence the branches are outlined against a blue sky

Bruce, I think it is the fact that most of the leaf canopy has gone, plus I think a relatively 'low' autumn sun which lights up the remaining leaves.
As regards lying on my back... it's was a new experience at my age and if I'm honest was pleasantly novel, though next time I may remember to bring a plastic sheet!

I like the oak with the gradual transition from the thick and gnarly trunk going up to thinner-looking branches with some leaves still left.

Same for me Ted, though I was attracted to the false symetries in the other two images.

I should be honest though and own up to simply trying the shots without any clear plan in mind... beyond avoiding a crick in the neck!

[Dave Humphries]

Hi James,

I also like your #1 best, which I think works because, as Bruce says, the leaves are mostly off so we can see more structure and this also (through surrounding foliage) allows the sun to fortuitously light the trunk in compositionally 'good' places and shade it in others. The corner entry of the trunk also works well.

#3 (for me) is spoiled by the branch in lower right corner, which is too close to us, but - if imagined cloned out - makes the rest of the image too 'left heavy'.

HTH, Dave

[James G]

#3 (for me) is spoiled by the branch in lower right corner, which is too close to us, but - if imagined cloned out - makes the rest of the image too 'left heavy'.

Hi Dave... I was not so aware of it when I took the shot, but I agree it does jar. That said, I did consider cropping from the bottom, up to the point where that branch meets the bole of the tree to reduce the impact. In the end I decided not to because I thought that overall the image would lose some of the 'vertical' impact associated with the viweing angle.

I've reconsidered that thought and tried a rework, cropping to the squarer format and then selectively lightening the branch. It has worked better than I expected. But!... I'm now finding the blurred leaves just above rather distracting.... That's photography for you!

#4

[rpcrowe]

I don't remember ever shooting a shot like this. In fact, I looked through a large selection of older images just to make sure and did not find one. I thought that I did an image like this of the California Redwoods but guess that I never did.