Critique please: Broken Tree

[erich6]

I saw this tree while hiking in Pt. Mugu State Park. I thought the way the tree had been split really showed the power it must have required. Do you think the soft focus works for this image? I wanted to add some mystery mood.

Erich

http://hbphoto.smugmug.com/photos/29914076-L.jpg

[adrian_k]

I really quite like the effect.

The picture doesn't convey what has happened- it's a bit busy. I'd try cropping the left 20% & top 10%. And the trunk is so underexposed it's lost its' detail of the lightning strike.
I'm sure someone else could crop it better than me. This focuses more on the structural arch of the broken branch.

You are more than welcome to disagree with my opinions.:D
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/Adrian_K/arch.jpg

[edit] I've cropped too much off the top.

I saw this tree while hiking in Pt. Mugu State Park. I thought the way the tree had been split really showed the power it must have required. Do you think the soft focus works for this image? I wanted to add some mystery mood.

Erich

[Netgarden]

Hi! I agree with Adrian, a little too much information, and maybe the softness has actually eluded the lightening strike, which part does not show up in the dark side of the tree. I like the idea though. If the original could be cropped a bit on the left, and keep the colors but not the too dark areas in the tree, which look a little too black to me. Detail there would be nice, as far as highlighting the fact that the tree was struck by lightening. Hard to tell if its soft. The shadows are nice though around the arch.:thumb

[erich6]

Thanks guys. I can definitely see how the crop will help the composition on this shot. I'll go back to the RAW file and see what I can do to pull up those shadows on the tree.

Cheers,

Erich

[adrian_k]

oooo! RAW. Lucky you.

half a dozen times a year I'll say to myself I could really do with this in raw. And this would be one of those occasions. Then again my camera weighs 4oz and you've got a bad back for carrying around 20lbs of lenses. :D


Thanks guys. I can definitely see how the crop will help the composition on this shot. I'll go back to the RAW file and see what I can do to pull up those shadows on the tree.

Cheers,

Erich

[wxwax]

Personally, I like the wider composition. Two things I don't like: the thin branch poking up, the one Adrian cloned out. And also there's massive areas where I can't see much except black. More detail would make it a more pleasing image, for me. Your toning seems quite nice.