Shasta and Pilot Rock

[lovelife65]

From our hike of Grizzly Peak in Ashland, OR yesterday. Lighting was getting strong mid morning.
When you reach the ridge line, you can see for miles. There was a fire back in 2002 which cleared a lot of trees.



Round 2 by
sharonkay finley, on Flickr

[Wavelength]

Nice colours; will it be even better without that wood there?

[Geoff F]

Several sensor dust spots showing in the sky.

After looking at this image from various options, I think I would crop out the tree because it grabs my attention away from the far distance.

[lovelife65]

Thank you both for the correct suggestion in cropping the tree. It's not a superb image anyhow, but...
Yes Geoff, I tried removing the largest spots, but was unsuccessful. Need to get the sensor cleaned I guess.

[Manfred M]

+1 to Geoff's comments about the tree. It is a distraction and your image would be stronger without it. Same with his comment on the sensor dust.

If it were my image, I might be tempted to play around with how you show the rocks in the foreground or the amount of sky in the background. The balance of the shot is off a bit and could be improved by working with those two compositional features.

[lovelife65]

+1 to Geoff's comments about the tree. It is a distraction and your image would be stronger without it. Same with his comment on the sensor dust.

If it were my image, I might be tempted to play around with how you show the rocks in the foreground or the amount of sky in the background. The balance of the shot is off a bit and could be improved by working with those two compositional features.

Thank you Manfred. It wouldn't be your image because you are a professional
The balance and lighting are both off. I'm not even sure why I included the dead tree as it surely is what draws my eyes.

There was a fire in the area back in 2002 that opened up the views, and there are still a lot of charred remains.
Sad reality of our world, especially on the West Coast.

Here's some remnants of the fire.

fire by sharonkay finley, on Flickr

[Manfred M]

Thank you Manfred. It wouldn't be your image because you are a professional

I'm just an amateur like you, Sharon.

The balance and lighting are both off. I'm not even sure why I included the dead tree as it surely is what draws my eyes.

That's why discussions like people have on this forum are important. The issue with the tree is that it does draw the viewer's attention. If that is what you want, as a photographer, then you have achieved your goal. On the other hand, given the title of the piece, I would have thought that the rocks and Shasta were the main areas of interest that you want your viewers to see and in that case, the tree is preventing that.

There was a fire in the area back in 2002 that opened up the views, and there are still a lot of charred remains.
Sad reality of our world, especially on the West Coast.

Here's some remnants of the fire.

I was in Northern British Columbia a few years ago and saw similar devastation from the Spruce Budworm infestation. It wasn't as interesting as the forest fire, because the dead and dying trees still dominated the landscape. What I found fascinating was how the areas that been shaded by these giant trees was now evolving and a whole different set of plants were starting to grow on the forest floor. I found it interesting how Mother Nature's repair crew was in there hard at work fixing things up.

[rpcrowe]

Thank you both for the correct suggestion in cropping the tree. It's not a superb image anyhow, but...
Yes Geoff, I tried removing the largest spots, but was unsuccessful. Need to get the sensor cleaned I guess.

Sharon... Sometimes just removing he lens and holding the camera face down while using a blower up into the sensor will dislodge some of the major dust spots.

It is easier on a mirrorless camera because you don't have to get the mirror out of the way.

If that doesn't work, a treatment with a wet sensor cleaning swab usually helps.

[lovelife65]

I'm just an amateur like you, Sharon.




That's why discussions like people have on this forum are important. The issue with the tree is that it does draw the viewer's attention. If that is what you want, as a photographer, then you have achieved your goal. On the other hand, given the title of the piece, I would have thought that the rocks and Shasta were the main areas of interest that you want your viewers to see and in that case, the tree is preventing that.




I was in Northern British Columbia a few years ago and saw similar devastation from the Spruce Budworm infestation. It wasn't as interesting as the forest fire, because the dead and dying trees still dominated the landscape. What I found fascinating was how the areas that been shaded by these giant trees was now evolving and a whole different set of plants were starting to grow on the forest floor. I found it interesting how Mother Nature's repair crew was in there hard at work fixing things up.

We had some major smoke issues in anacortes wa from British Columbia fires a couple years ago. The diseases in trees that you mention soften weaken the trees making the fires even worse. It is amazing to see regrowth even in the area I was in for the hike.
Mother Nature works in amazing ways ☺️