Reaching Out To The Sky Photo

Photographer’s Note

[scanned negative, iso 200, pp on colours and saturation, sharpened after resizing for TE]

I hesitated whether to post this picture on my TrekLens account or here on TrekEarth, as I did some postprocessing on it. I finally decided for TE.
I took this one during a walk in the Belgian Ardennes, a wooded plateau with deep valleys covering the southern part of our country. I liked the way this tree seems to stretch its “arms” towards the sky.
However, I was quite disappointed by the scan the photo developper made of my negative (I still use an analogue camera), because it did not render the liveliness of the colours on the photo print (especially the blue sky). That’s why I decided to change saturation and colour rather strongly, hoping that these tones would better emphasize the “wooden arm reaching out to the sky”. I’m looking forward to your feedback.

Je me suis demandé si je ne devais pas plutôt “poster” cette photo sur mon compte TrekLens . Finalement, j’ai opté pour TrekEarth.
J’ai pris cette photo pendant une promenade en Ardenne belge (plateau boisée aux vallées profondes, couvrant le sud de la Belgique). J’aimais la façon dont cet arbre tend son “bras” vers le ciel.
Toutefois, j’étais assez déçu du scan qu’on m’avait fait de mon négatif (j’utilise toujours un appareil argentique), parce que je n’y trouvais pas les couleurs vives de ma photo sur support papier (en particulier le ciel bleu). C’est pourquoi j’ai décidé de retravailler profondément la saturation et les couleurs, en me disant que les nouvelles tonalités feraient mieux ressortir “ce bras tendu vers le ciel”. Merci d’avance pour vos commentaires.

Ik heb me afgevraagd of ik deze foto niet beter in mijn TrekLens-fotogallerij zou plaatsen. Uiteindelijk dan toch maar voor TrekEarth geopteerd.
Ik nam deze foto tijdens een wandeling in de Belgische Ardennen (zoals iedereen allicht weet: een bebost plateau met diep ingesneden rivieren in Zuid-België). Een boom die zijn “arm” uitstrekt naar de lucht, dat vond ik wel wat hebben…
Minder tevreden was ik echter over de scan die van mijn negatief was gemaakt (ik fotografeer namelijk nog analoog). De kleuren (met name die van de blauwe lucht) waren heel wat minder levendig dan op de papieren foto. Daarom heb ik de saturatie en de kleuren grondig gewijzigd. Het scheen me toe dat die bewerking de “naar de lucht gestrekte arm” beter tot uiting zou brengen. Alvast bedankt voor de feedback.

Simonlebelge, banyanman, bakes888, plimrn has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

josete (84) 2007-04-23 13:51

In spite of not obtaining the wished effect, the photography is excellent. The filter and the saturation obtain that the branches contrast with the bottom. Good work. Thanks to share.

markogts (1116) 2007-04-23 15:04

Well, I would try to find another scanning shop. There is some noise in the sky. A part from that technical note, great picture, particular colours and original composition.

You know, I also find very difficoult to reproduce the real colours, but then, what is "real"? This light has vanished forever, but you'll keep it in your mind, and there is no camera, digital or analog, that will render it the same way.

mikolaj_kawa (31161) 2007-04-23 15:48

Hello Erik! Wonderfull shot! Best regards from Poland.

mursaloglu (5218) 2007-04-25 4:47

Dear Eric
Is a charming picture of landscape with the colorful effect but no problem so wonderful. ihsan

Simonlebelge (129) 2007-04-25 15:22

Bonsoir Erik,
J'aime beaucoup le sujet et le cadrage de ta photo. Les couleurs sont également très belles et intéressante. Par contre j'aime moins la texture du ciel.
Bonne soirée.
Simon.

Rosa (4147) 2007-04-27 5:20

Bonjour Erik,
J’aime beaucoup cet arbre qui tend ses bras vers le ciel c’est assez surprenant,
ainsi que les couleurs.
Bonne journée.
Amitiés Rosa.

rushfan2112 (2965) 2007-06-30 22:31

Hi Erik. I love the colours on this shot. A great gradation of pinks. If anything, I'd have allowed the tree and land to become silhouettes as they are not interesting, in themselves, but form a fantastic pattern against the dramatic sky. Kind regards, Paul.

banyanman (7737) 2007-08-02 8:14

Excellent composition, Erik, although I would have cloned out the few tree branches in the top right hand corner as they tend to be a bit distracting. Yes, your photo developer didn't do a very good job on the scan as it introduced a lot of noise in the sky. Out of curiosity, I put it through Neat Image (which turned out quite well) and then pushed the contrast and sharpening harder to see what that would do. I quite liked the result (see Workshop). One point for what you posted and one point for giving me some good 'raw material' to play with ;)
Cheers ...David

[workshop] [compare] +

bakes888 (18327) 2007-08-09 2:21

Hi Erik. Even those of us with digital cameras can be disappointed with the results of a days shooting and resort to PP, even just to show the scene as we remember it. I love the composition of this shot, good colours and detail also. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Paul.

plimrn (19694) 2008-04-24 9:07

Bonjour Erik,
I do like the way you framed this interesting tree against the sky. I think the choice of a rosy sky was a good one. it appears very natural.
SAJ, pat