A tree, an hour in time

[Stagecoach]

There's nothing more pleasing than being able to sit and watch nature change its light on a subject, the only company being a pack of stray dogs chasing herons on the beach and then getting home for an early breakfast

Here's a few keepers from Sunday mornings outing. My plan had been to shoot a perfect starscape with the tree in the foreground, I failed

No 1


No 2


No 3


Comments and suggestions welcome as always.

Grahame

[FootLoose]

Nice work, Grahame.
I would be happy with the starscape in the first shot. What don't you like about it - the movement in the stars?
I would clone out that yellow thing in the water. It also appears in the second shot but is in shadow there.
I like the processing of the third, or is the change in light just due to the sun rising? The clouds work in the background don't work for me. I'm not sure if it is the colour of them, the shape or a combination. They seem cool and stormy whereas the subject is warm and serene.

[Rainforest]

Hi Graham, Cool tree! You definitely worked the scene - the tree looks so different in every shot. The third shot has a very surreal feel and the tree light is so pretty, (my favorite). It has a lot of impact for me. #2 is very interesting too. The PP is very appealing and the POV is great. A giant beach spider. Looks like an interesting hour :-)

[Stagecoach]

Nice work, Grahame.

Thank you Greg

I would be happy with the starscape in the first shot. What don't you like about it - the movement in the stars?

What I'm disappointed with Greg is that I had spent almost three weeks considering and planning for this shot. At the rare opportunities available during that time, with no rain and little cloud, I had been practising capturing the milky way from my balcony at home and knew what settings I would use. What I had totally overlooked was that at even an hour before sunrise light would be visible where the sun would eventually come up and that area would be in the framing.

I would clone out that yellow thing in the water. It also appears in the second shot but is in shadow there.

Ah, the leaf

I like the processing of the third, or is the change in light just due to the sun rising? The clouds work in the background don't work for me. I'm not sure if it is the colour of them, the shape or a combination. They seem cool and stormy whereas the subject is warm and serene.

I have been using Nik Colour Efex Pro4 'Pro Contrast' and on this occasion for the first time ever applied it twice, and liked the result. The lighting is from the sun being on the horizon just 10 minutes after sunrise. I particularly liked the way it worked on the ripples. As for the clouds, it's rare that they are not there and sure enough 3 hours later it rained

[Stagecoach]

Hi Graham, Cool tree! You definitely worked the scene - the tree looks so different in every shot. The third shot has a very surreal feel and the tree light is so pretty, (my favorite). It has a lot of impact for me. #2 is very interesting too. The PP is very appealing and the POV is great. A giant beach spider. Looks like an interesting hour :-)

Thank you Susan, yes that's a great tree and I hope it stays there before someone hacks it up.

A beach spider is a great description and it's given me the idea of actually getting between its trunks and taking some shots.

[John 2]

Yes, get rid of the yellow thing but otherwise IMHO, these are three cracking shots. I suspect that your disappointment with the first shot is more about not quite achieving what you had in mind rather than it's not being a good image in its own right. The second is my favourite. I like the way that the tree leads you through to the sunrise on the horizon. Nice thoughtful work.

[JBW]

I don't know if you own a smart phone / tablet but if you do 6here are apps that will show you the skies condition for a very specif area and time.

I like #1. Perhaps a sunset shot rather than sunrise?

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[Stagecoach]

Yes, get rid of the yellow thing but otherwise IMHO, these are three cracking shots. I suspect that your disappointment with the first shot is more about not quite achieving what you had in mind rather than it's not being a good image in its own right. The second is my favourite. I like the way that the tree leads you through to the sunrise on the horizon. Nice thoughtful work.

Thank you John. Yes you are probably right about the disappointment and at least I have learnt a lesson.

[Stagecoach]

I don't know if you own a smart phone / tablet but if you do 6here are apps that will show you the skies condition for a very specif area and time.

I like #1. Perhaps a sunset shot rather than sunrise?

I do not own a smartphone Brian, but I have a rather old one that the girls at the phone shop laugh at when I take it in for a topup. But, tomorrow I collect a tablet which is the second part of a prize I recently won in a photo contest

I'll have a search and see what I can find to download to the computer to use with my planning.

Sunsets with these trees are on the cards, just waiting for the right weather.

[Stagecoach]

Nice series.

Thanks John.

[MarieV]

Very creative Grahame - I particularly like No. 1

[IzzieK]

No matter what you do, if you already have a tablet, do not go with the flow of the smart phone. It is OK for instantly communicating with relations overseas using Whatapps and video talking using Duo but otherwise, how many times do you really talk to your relations that Skype and email does not suffice? Before ownership of a tablet, I have to use Bill's (which is a present I bought him on an occasion 3 years ago) but I have to wait till he don't use it to be able to use it. It is easier to go upstairs in my den and access what I need to access via my desktop or laptop.

Anyway, my favourite is #2. It has that certain look to it with that hour while the sun was coming up...the mystery of the scebe between the shadows and light. Once a year I shoot that kind of scenery right at the balcony of a house we stay in while everyone is still asleep and the hour is still cool enough for the noseeums to come out and feast on my skin.

All three of them are good shots. The transition between the hour is really nice. The quiet comes with it too as the day progressed on and the birds starts coming out and so with some fishermen, there is the time to go back to bed and enjoy the quiet of being alone again. Then someone yells "breakfast!"

[george013]

I do not own a smartphone Brian, but I have a rather old one that the girls at the phone shop laugh at when I take it in for a topup. But, tomorrow I collect a tablet which is the second part of a prize I recently won in a photo contest

I'll have a search and see what I can find to download to the computer to use with my planning.

Sunsets with these trees are on the cards, just waiting for the right weather.

You could have known. You see that twilight every day at sundown.

Another question. Footloose mentioned the movements in the stars. I don't recognize it as that. But what are the minimal settings for a sharp image, without star trails? You used 8s and 28mm.

George

[Mike Buckley]

If this is what you produce when being disappointed, I can't wait to see what comes out of your camera when you're elated. This is a very revealing, interesting set of images.

[NorthernFocus]

Looks like a nice way to spend a morning, Grahame. Nice composition in the first shot. The lighting doesn't look natural. I like the second shot best for the colors and the tree produces interesting shapes that make the eye linger. The third one is the best shot of the tree itself. Overall an interesting set. Nicely done.

[Rainforest]

You might like to use an ap on the tablet that has augmented reality or AR for short. You can then take your tablet, stand on the beach, dial in the time and date and see exactly how the MW and everything else will look at that precise time and place. Skyview and PhotoPills are just a couple. PhotoPills does have a lot of how to videos online that are very helpful and they are just fun people. Some folks from my old photo club met up with them for the eclipse on their U.S. "tour" this summer.

[Wavelength]

Very dramatic

[Stagecoach]

Very creative Grahame - I particularly like No. 1

Thank you Marie.

[Stagecoach]

No matter what you do, if you already have a tablet, do not go with the flow of the smart phone. It is OK for instantly communicating with relations overseas using Whatapps and video talking using Duo but otherwise, how many times do you really talk to your relations that Skype and email does not suffice? Before ownership of a tablet, I have to use Bill's (which is a present I bought him on an occasion 3 years ago) but I have to wait till he don't use it to be able to use it. It is easier to go upstairs in my den and access what I need to access via my desktop or laptop.

I will continue to resist getting a smart phone Izzie until such time as I can see an advantage it has that my desktop computer hasn't got

Anyway, my favourite is #2. It has that certain look to it with that hour while the sun was coming up...the mystery of the scebe between the shadows and light. Once a year I shoot that kind of scenery right at the balcony of a house we stay in while everyone is still asleep and the hour is still cool enough for the noseeums to come out and feast on my skin.

One problem encountered at this time is the amount of dew over the camera and the need to keep drying the lens front.

All three of them are good shots. The transition between the hour is really nice. The quiet comes with it too as the day progressed on and the birds starts coming out and so with some fishermen, there is the time to go back to bed and enjoy the quiet of being alone again. Then someone yells "breakfast!"

Back to bed, really, I have it organised so that my breakfast is is there and waiting