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Birches
© ifdefelseif
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Ansel Siegenthaler 3 years ago
Nice work getting this one through, ifdefelseif.

the snow covered branches in the foreground are a tad bright, more contrast or maybe sharper to add detail. The way you captured it works though, good work.

Best.
ifdefelseif  Thanks! Yep, I think a closer crop would be better--I discussed this in the comments below. :-)
Zsolt Arkossy 3 years ago
Absolutely amazing shot. The blue cast gives some supernatural feeling to the scene. Really good.
ifdefelseif  thanks, Zsolt! This was the first thing I've ever done that I thought was any good at all. :-)
Alex OBrien 3 years ago
beautiful!
ifdefelseif  thanks, Alex! I was reading your profile and laughed at this: "Being worse than everyone on this site!" I wouldn't be too sure about that! ;-)
Alex OBrien  Haha it's probably true. For proof just look here: aobaob.deviantart.com
Nothing like shameless self promotion ;P

And continue shooting! I really loved this photo!
ifdefelseif  ha ha yourself! I already went and took a look and you're doing some great stuff!
Alex OBrien  Why thank you, but unfortunately nothing to the standard of this website. Thanks for the motivation booster! :D
Hope to see more from you!
ifdefelseif  Hmm... I'm not sure I'm up to the standard either... :-/
Alex OBrien  We've just got to keep trying! :)
aicardi 3 years ago
Dream like quality. Just lovely.
ifdefelseif  Thank you so much! I'm so flattered you like it!
Kiki 3 years ago
very nice!
ifdefelseif  Thanks so much, Kiki, and thanks for adding this to your favorites--I'm flattered!
BRIAN ZINGLER 3 years ago
Outstanding photo! after looking at this I realize how much I don't know and how just much I want and need to learn. The light is fantastic, I really enjoy that we can't recognize anything beyond what is in front of us. The light, the frozen haze, just awesome. Thanks.
ifdefelseif  Thanks so much Brian! If it's any comfort, I have a ton to learn too! :)
MORFI 3 years ago
Beautifull..!:)
ifdefelseif  Thanks so much! Your work is so amazing, I'm flattered if you like this!
alabama 3 years ago
i think this is incredible. i love the tone. i love the composition itself. you know if you did consider cropping, it should only be a minimal amount... just a clipping of side and bottom. the fussy branches of ice lead the eye nicely into the main subject.

amazing work.

i feel exactly the same as you about this site. i'm here to try and learn and i love the open, honest critiques. i was on a site similar to flickr and it has its place, but this site is a challenge. it's like school.
ifdefelseif  Thanks so much--I'm glad you like it! Yes, I thought just a little off the bottom, slightly more off the left. As I look at it more, I feel like there's just too much bush on that side.
alabama  either way, it works!
Fernand Hick 3 years ago
Very nice shot, but if I may, I personally find that a little crop in the bush (distracting from the so nice trunks) on the left and below would give a little more impact to this shot. Nevertheless a very pleasant picture.
Best regards, Fernand
ifdefelseif  Funny you should say that. I've been looking at this the last couple of days and thinking the same thing. I sort of wondered if I was just overthinking it, since composition didn't seem to be a problem for the screeners. It's so nice to hear your opinion--thanks!
measekite 3 years ago
One of the nicest. It would be helpful to others to know how the photo was taken. Like having complete exif data including the focal length and the lens that was used. It appears that this was a color photo that was desaturated in an photo editor but could have been b/w set in the camera. It looks like a foggy day. Where was this taken?

I think you should not have been surprised to have this published. If I took something like this I would have expected it. Again, real nice!
ifdefelseif  Here is the exif data:
Shutter speed: 1/1600
F-Stop f/4.0
ISO 400
Focal length 25 mm
Metering mode: spot
measekite  Thanks,

I read a litle about you on your profile. I find it amazing that you have not been at this for very long.

I have been using (not anymore) a Nikon F2A and a Canon S5 Long Zoom. I have a desire to get a Nikon D90 and a few lenses but I need to put that off for now.

The main point is that I try to take many day trips into parks, forests, and other places of interest and just do not see what you see to get a photograph like this. I also have not been (seriously) at this for too long.

My main question is how did you lean to see the type of things in this photograph and how did you learn this type of composition to create this mood?

I have taken many photos of trees, branches etc in the forest but have never had this kind of mood. What camera produced this? I need to keep my ISO down below 200 so I may need a tripod for something like this.
ifdefelseif  I think the first thing you need is a love of the outdoors, which I assume you already have. :) The way I learned what little I know is that I started out just taking hundreds and hundreds of photos and then coming home to look at them on the computer. I think the most important thing I learned in those early days is that the human eye does a tremendous amount of filtering of information on site that it doesn't do for a photograph. It would be interesting to know why, but it is definitely true. I would see a beautiful scene in the woods and a chaotic tangle of branches in the photograph. Sometimes I'd be surprised at something really large and obvious in the photo, like an old tire, that I hadn't seen on site at all. Gradually, you get better at really seeing what's in front of you. Another thing I learned is that you can fix a lot of imperfections with software, but you can't fix a bad composition. For me, that's fundamental. If you've never taken art classes, it's worthwhile to read something about composition. Studying art history with an eye to composition is good too. If you remember that painters have the placement of every element entirely in their control, you can really see the ideal in paintings.

In landscape photography, we don't have that luxury. Things are as they are. I usually try to frame my photos as well as I can, given the constraints of where I am in relation to the scene, but if I find some scene that's particularly compelling, I often take several, framed slightly to the left, to the right, up, and/or down. That way, if I find I need a bit more than I have, I can combine two shots to give me a little more. I also am willing to clone out certain elements, and I've learned from experience what I will probably be able to clone out successfully. There was a power line in this photo and cloning it out was by far the majority of editing time.

Even though I think I've gotten better at seeing, I still take lots of photos that will never see the light of day. I like to leave a folder for a few days and then go back and glance through to see what looks okay. It's interesting to me to start with thumbnails only. You can often get a better feel for overall composition from a thumbnail because it doesn't let you see the details that distract you from the dominant shapes and lines. Then I usually run a slide show to see what looks good large. In the best of scenarios, you'll find a photo that looks good both small and large and that's a good candidate for further work. :)

I'm sure you already know that beautiful light is another thing that makes a photo beautiful, so try to choose the time of day that gives you the best light for whatever mood you want to create. The long shadows, side light, and golden or silvery hues of light early in the morning or late in the afternoon are almost always interesting.

I've also spent a lot of time looking at other people's photographs, especially people on sites like Flickr or 1x where I can actually contact the photographer to ask questions. Clearly, you've already figured that out too. :) It's not enough just though just to look and think that you really like something. You have to be thoughtful about it. Ask yourself why you like a particular image. I don't always do this, but when I have time, I like to leave a comment that says something about what I've discovered that makes a photograph work so well.

One of the main reasons I joined 1x was for the critique section. Critiquing makes me really think about a photograph, often more objectively than I would otherwise. The great thing about 1x is that even the rejected photos are usually pretty good, and sometimes (at least to me) really great. It's interesting to critique the ones I really love and try to see why they don't work for others. I also am learning a lot from reading the comments that others leave on the critique page and I think it's making me a lot more thoughtful about my own work.

Finally, I think it's rare for a strongly moody photograph to come straight from the camera. When people can manage that, I'm truly in awe. Usually mood requires a little help either from traditional darkroom techniques or photo editing software. I think the mood in this photo comes from the strange contrast of the dark sky and the strong light along with the almost complete desaturation of the colors. The original had a hint of that, but editing emphasizes it.

My camera is a Canon XSi with the 18-55mm lens that comes with it in the kit and I didn't use a tripod. I shot with an old 4 megapixel Olympus point-and-shoot for about 8 months before that and I got some good pictures with it. The Canon lets me take pictures I couldn't take before, but I don't think it lets me take better pictures. Taking better pictures will require practice, brain, and heart, not a better camera. :)
measekite  Thank you for your reply. It was most helpful and revealing. As yet I do not have a DSLR. I am shooting with a Canon S5 IS EVF Long Zoom. I did like it until the replacement Canon SX10 came out. The new model has a much clearer viewfinder for composition and a wider 28mm and longer 560 or so zoom range.

I am considering either a Canon 50D or a Nikon D90. For now I am more partial to the Nikon because there is a button for all everyday settings while the Canon one has to drill down a bit in the menus. While lenses are about equal it seems Nikon has more choice of lenses (DX like EF-S) for the APC sensor. What I do not like about the Nikon is the LCD does not turn off automatically when you hold the camera to the viewfinder. Maybe the next model.

Like you, I hope to learn how to compose really good photographs before I invest in a DSLR and think the Canon S5 should be able to do that. Then I will get a DSLR and a 17" wide printer to make large prints. That is my goal.

You mentioned that you did some editing to get the mood of this particular photo. Would you tell me the details of what you did and what editor you used. I switched from Windows to Linux (Ubuntu) and now use Gimp. I find that Gimp is not as good as Photoshop but as I get better it seems good enough. At least my abilities have not outmatched the capability of Gimp. I do find that many of the algorithms in PS are better and I do miss adjustment layers but Gimp is pretty good and free. There is also a Gimp version for both Windows and Mac as well. The Windows version had an issue with printing but that may have been fixed by now.

Again thanks for your reply.
ifdefelseif  Thanks! I seem to have lost the exif data when I uploaded a sharper replacement version. I'll get that information for you when I can get the original file. In terms of editing, I really did much less than you might think. I duplicated the original color and did a b/w conversion on the second layer. Then I lowered the opacity to about 88% so you get just a hint of color. I like to use the second layer as a general practice because I can control how much color I let show in different parts of the image. In this case, I don't think I did any local adjustments though.
It was a sunny, snowy day, but I shot with a polarizing filter, so the sky came out fairly dark and I emphasized that in the b/w conversion. What you're seeing that looks like fog is in fact a low cloud on the horizon.
Anders Å 3 years ago
You have capture a fascinating, moody, dark and mystical light. Well done!
Greetings, Anders
ifdefelseif  Thanks so much! :)
nice one ... and great with that tone
ifdefelseif  so kind of you, Rosalinde!
Beautifull, mistery forest!
ifdefelseif  I am so in awe of what you do--your kind comment means a great deal to me!
Jure Kravanja 3 years ago
very good
ifdefelseif  so flattering, coming from someone with so much talent! Thank you!
RamonaG 3 years ago
.fine!!!
ifdefelseif  thank you so much! You have such a lovely portfolio!
Cupcake 3 years ago
Good mood~~~
Valdor 3 years ago
It has good mood! Congrats.

In my opinion it could use some slight sharpening and a contrast tweak.
ifdefelseif  Thank you so much! I really appreciate the suggestions! I've replaced the original with a sharper version. I played with the contrast a bit, but I wasn't able to get anything I liked much better. I'm still trying to learn how to control contrast with curves.
marius grozea 3 years ago
I like it!
ifdefelseif 3 years ago
This is the first photo I upload to 1x and I'm surprised it was published! I expected it to be rejected and then I could have asked for a critique. I'm sure not everyone voted for this, so I'd really appreciate knowing how I could improve.
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Equipment
Canon XSi
Date
20090109
Unique views
7601
Comments
18
Category
Landscape
 
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