Redwood Extreme

Comments (6)

1. jacobfox

   15 years ago (August 11, 2011 8:56 AM) August 11, 2011 8:56 AM

   The subject matter and the choice of angle are both nice, as well as the color. The image looks very nice until you blow it up to an average desktop size, then the shortcomings of HDRI+trees becomes obvious. HDRI, as this photo very well illustrates, is not a good choice for trees due to the ever-moving leaves. If Photomatix can't deal with that level of ghosting, practically no other software will either. From an artistic perspective it can be somewhat forgiven due to the virtue of the compression of the subject, but from a technical perspective it's kind of messy. I gave up on shooting trees in HDRI (at least this close up) due to this fact. It was perhaps overly ambitious to maximize the contrast by getting the sun in the shot, but obviously it makes for a more interesting photo.

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2. Damotta

   15 years ago (July 30, 2011 9:29 AM) July 30, 2011 9:29 AM

   I rather like the unnatural look in this picture. It's because the tree bark has such a gnarly, almost alien-like look to it. I live not too far away from California's northern coast and have seen my share of redwoods, so I'm pleased to see a different take on the subject matter.

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3. colindub.com

   15 years ago (July 27, 2011 5:15 AM) July 27, 2011 5:15 AM

   I was waiting to see what you were going to say about this one, Daddy_Gemini! I can't disagree with your review at all. As always, it was constructive and insightful. Don't be sorry for submitting a "bad" review! I like the criticism, and with this one, I was expecting it. Contrasty, vibrant HDR is really a "love it or hate it." I definitely wasn't going for a natural look with this one (which contradicts the subject, adding to the "love it or hate it"). I have "more natural looking redwoods" on my to do list for next time.

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4. Daddy_Gemini

   15 years ago (July 24, 2011 7:29 AM) July 24, 2011 7:29 AM

   I like the idea of this shot, and I live near this redwood forest and have been there many times standing next to these giants. They are a family of cypress called Sequoia Sempervirens, AKA Giant Redwoods, and they live 1,800 years or more and reach heights of almost 400 feet. I don't think this photo truly captures the scale and beauty of these amazing trees. Also, too much sharpness was applied and makes a lot of the surrounding leaves look unnatural, and the lens flare (greenish discoloration) of that bark on the trunk make the tree look sick. These trees are brilliantly deep red, and the over-the-top contrast, heavy vignetting, as well as the lens flare, don't capture that deep natural color in my honest opinion. Sorry for the bad review.

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5. colindub.com

   15 years ago (July 6, 2011 8:24 AM) July 6, 2011 8:24 AM

   Thanks! I don't know how tall it was, but I was right up next to it with at 12mm. So, bigger than your average. There are some pretty large ones in that area and this one was relatively small.

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6. LemonZest

   15 years ago (July 6, 2011 7:17 AM) July 6, 2011 7:17 AM

   everythings beautiful... my new dekstop. how big is that tree? can't tell the scale of it.

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