The Humboldt Redwoods

[Bob k.]

In May I had the chance to do come photography in the Redwoods. The Redwoods are a place of incredible beauty, almost magical to experience. But, it is not easy to get a good photo that captures the essence and feeling of the place. I am posting two images and I would like your thoughts on which represents the feeling of the place better. I would also appreciate any comments on the compositions and technical aspects of the photos as well.

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[Butlerkid]

I know what you mean about being such a magical environment.....AND being so hard to photograph! LOL!

I think both of these work, especially the second one.

The biggest thing missing, for me, is the height of the trees. A vertical pano might work, but only when the sky isn't blown out and/or distracting.

Another thought is to set up with a wide angle lens, eye level and up close with a mass of ferns/vegetation in the foreground and the trees in the middle ground and background.

Also effective are images taken when it is foggy, which evoke a more moody atmosphere.

 

[bleirer]

Number two for me. The path leading in with the dappled light on the trail and the foreground foliage giving a sense of depth.

 

[Woody Meristem]

As a lover of large old trees I've found that the best way to photograph them is to use a vertical format and get above them on a slope in order to reduce the amount of sky in the photo. It might be worth viewing some of Adam Gibbs videos where he photographs old growth.

 

[Charles Loy]

Nice, special nod to the second. Pathway leading in

 

[RugglesZ9]

Nice, special nod to the second. Pathway leading in

The location for the first shot is lovely, but not interesting enough to photograph except to remind you of the memory of the location - there is nothing to draw one into the image so it's just two dimensional sticks and green stuff - I have a lot of those shots. The 2nd is very good; it has a focal point and draws the viewer into the image. The only thing I would do is very lightly brighten the end of the path with a radial filter and maybe the lower parts of the trees the width of the path at that location for emphasis, and if possible slightly darken the hot spot in the middle of the image that stops the eye from moving down the lane. The image is very good, but IMHO needs minor post-processing.

Had you shot the second one in portrait mode, I doubt there would be any improvement, and would detract from the focus point, which is the path through the forest.

 

[Bob k.]

Thank you all for the comments, I appreciate the feedback.
Karen and Woody, I really appreciate your ideas on needing to show the height of the trees and the vertical panorama would be a good way to do that. As you said Karen, keeping some interest in the foreground is the challenge.
RugglesZ9, great suggestions. I will work on bringing more light to the areas at the end of the path. I worked on reducing the hot spot on the path but I agree it needs more attention so I will take another crack at in.
Thanks again to everyone for your comments.

 

[NorthernFocus]

Others have already made the most relevant comments. It is very difficult to capture the sense of a place like that. My own attempts are rarely successful. The only thing I haven't seen already mentioned is to try creating a sense of scale by including a person in the image. I typically try to avoid having people in landscape images but sometimes it helps.

 

[Bob k.]

The location for the first shot is lovely, but not interesting enough to photograph except to remind you of the memory of the location - there is nothing to draw one into the image so it's just two dimensional sticks and green stuff - I have a lot of those shots. The 2nd is very good; it has a focal point and draws the viewer into the image. The only thing I would do is very lightly brighten the end of the path with a radial filter and maybe the lower parts of the trees the width of the path at that location for emphasis, and if possible slightly darken the hot spot in the middle of the image that stops the eye from moving down the lane. The image is very good, but IMHO needs minor post-processing.

Had you shot the second one in portrait mode, I doubt there would be any improvement, and would detract from the focus point, which is the path through the forest.

Thanks for the suggestions on the trail end and the hot spots. Here is my efforts to deal with the issues in LR. In the image I am posting there is some blurring that is not present in image in LR, maybe due to reducing the size of the image for posting.

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[Bob k.]

Others have already made the most relevant comments. It is very difficult to capture the sense of a place like that. My own attempts are rarely successful. The only thing I haven't seen already mentioned is to try creating a sense of scale by including a person in the image. I typically try to avoid having people in landscape images but sometimes it helps.

Great suggestion. Like you, I typically try and avoid having people in the photos but it would help to show the scale of the scene.

 

[Whiskeyman]

The best shot of the California Redwoods I ever came across, at least to me, was one taken with a wide-angle lens, with the camera pointed up into the canopy ( probably 45-60 degrees.) It was a somewhat misty/foggy morning and the light was just spilling into the grove, providing illuminated shafts of rays interspersed with the trunks of the trees. I always wanted to try that shot but never did work it out logistically. The enhanced perspective of the tree height resultant of the wide-angle lens made the trees appear to go forever up into the sky.

 

[Bob k.]

After thinking about the comments from the group I went back to the pictures from the Redwoods and I think I found one that incorporates many of the elements that have been suggested. This one shows more the height of the trees, the path leads into the picture in a nice s curve and I added a little light to it. I have tried to tame the hot spots. (Sorry Dan, I wouldn't find a shot I liked with any people in it.)
I think this is stronger than either of the first images. I would appreciate your thoughts, comments and suggestions.

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[DRwyoming]

I would appreciate your thoughts, comments and suggestions

They're all nice shots in different ways. Personally I like the reworked shot a couple of posts above best.

One area you might play with is how you emphasize either the foreground or the trees to make one or the other stand out. Most of these shots give roughly half the frame to the foreground and the rest to the background which is balanced but also is a pretty normal eye level view and doesn't do much to make one or the other stand out. Something you might experiment with is trying to find positions, heights and shooting angles that either make the trees the dominant image element for instance shooting with a relatively wide angle lens from a position down low and closer to the trees but tilted up to make the trees seem even taller would emphasize their height and size. Yeah, that would also make the trees appear to tilt in towards one another unless you shoot with a tilt shift lens or do perspective correction in post but it's one way to make the trees jump out as the dominant image element.

Or take it the other way and try to find a higher perspective and tilt down to make the foreground and all that ground cover loom large with the path leading back towards the somewhat diminished forest. But one way or another I'd try to figure out what you want the viewer to really focus on and choose perspectives and framing that leads the viewer to those image elements.

There's no right or wrong and to me the images you posted speak of tranquility and balance which is fine and especially in really good light (e.g. early morning misty light in the forest) that could make a really strong image. But I'd encourage you to play around with varying perspectives, trying things from low and high positions to see what you can do to emphasize the things you really want the viewer to look at.

Similarly if this or another area that's interesting to you is close to home, visit often in varying weather conditions and varying times of day as changing light and weather can make huge differences in landscape photography. If this particular area isn't close to home then see if you can find somewhere closer to home that you can visit often to experiment with light, weather and even seasons as that can help you develop your own creative vision and figure out when the best conditions might be to visit someplace special.

Don't get me wrong, these are all nice images and well shot but as you're looking for suggestions I'd suggest mixing things up a bit and trying alternative views of common scenes and playing around with the idea of emphasizing some image elements over others to help your viewers see what you want them to see.

-Dave

 

[Bob k.]

They're all nice shots in different ways. Personally I like the reworked shot a couple of posts above best.

One area you might play with is how you emphasize either the foreground or the trees to make one or the other stand out. Most of these shots give roughly half the frame to the foreground and the rest to the background which is balanced but also is a pretty normal eye level view and doesn't do much to make one or the other stand out. Something you might experiment with is trying to find positions, heights and shooting angles that either make the trees the dominant image element for instance shooting with a relatively wide angle lens from a position down low and closer to the trees but tilted up to make the trees seem even taller would emphasize their height and size. Yeah, that would also make the trees appear to tilt in towards one another unless you shoot with a tilt shift lens or do perspective correction in post but it's one way to make the trees jump out as the dominant image element.

Or take it the other way and try to find a higher perspective and tilt down to make the foreground and all that ground cover loom large with the path leading back towards the somewhat diminished forest. But one way or another I'd try to figure out what you want the viewer to really focus on and choose perspectives and framing that leads the viewer to those image elements.

There's no right or wrong and to me the images you posted speak of tranquility and balance which is fine and especially in really good light (e.g. early morning misty light in the forest) that could make a really strong image. But I'd encourage you to play around with varying perspectives, trying things from low and high positions to see what you can do to emphasize the things you really want the viewer to look at.

Similarly if this or another area that's interesting to you is close to home, visit often in varying weather conditions and varying times of day as changing light and weather can make huge differences in landscape photography. If this particular area isn't close to home then see if you can find somewhere closer to home that you can visit often to experiment with light, weather and even seasons as that can help you develop your own creative vision and figure out when the best conditions might be to visit someplace special.

Don't get me wrong, these are all nice images and well shot but as you're looking for suggestions I'd suggest mixing things up a bit and trying alternative views of common scenes and playing around with the idea of emphasizing some image elements over others to help your viewers see what you want them to see.

-Dave

Great suggestions Dave, as I look at the images I spit them nearly in half on each shot. As I think about the day I remember getting low for many shots but obviously not in the pictures I posted. Your point about returning to a location multiple times to get some variety of weather is also a good one but the Redwoods are a good 10 hours drive for me so I don't get there often.

Thank you all for the good suggestions. Many of the suggestions seemed very obvious, once you pointed them out and I don't know why I couldn't see it before. I guess that is the benefit of getting feedback from other people.

 

[MorganP]

I like your shots. My thoughts are don't be afraid of shadows they add depth and interest. The first shot is nice but it doesn't have s subject . I don't know were to look. The second shot has the path that draws my eye into the shot and creates interest. The best for last if you like the shots that's all that maters. My 2 cents.

 

[Bob k.]

I like your shots. My thoughts are don't be afraid of shadows they add depth and interest. The first shot is nice but it doesn't have s subject . I don't know were to look. The second shot has the path that draws my eye into the shot and creates interest. The best for last if you like the shots that's all that maters. My 2 cents.

Good suggestion on the shadows. I agree that a lot of photography is personal preference but I do learn a lot and see things I didn’t recognize based on the observations people make.

 

[Wink Jones]

I like both of the shots. I LOVE the advice you have been getting from some of our experienced members. I am taking notes, mental and otherwise.