Tricky horizon line

[snapapple]

Is the horizon line tilted?... :D

I kind of like this one. If you look closely, you can see the ground on the left and the orange tree is growing strait up. The horizon in the background is a hill. I really worked on the framing of this one. It's full frame. I kind of like the way the tangerine seems to jump out at you. What do you think?
http://snapapple.smugmug.com/photos/15087929-L.jpg

[wxwax]

I agree. Who cares about the horizon? Great color and light.

[fish]

hiya snappy,

The tree in the background is pretty vertical. If the horizon line bugs you, you could always clone out the sky.

Hope you don't mind a little criticism, but there seems to be some flare over the main tangerine that washes out the leaves. Can that be burned in?

[snapapple]

I agree. Who cares about the horizon? Great color and light.

I appreciate your opinion. I tromped all over the grove looking for good light, an umblemished fruit, and a decent background. I kind of thought that hill added a little quirk to the background. But, the light was what I was aiming for. Glad you like it. :lust

[snapapple]

hiya snappy,

The tree in the background is pretty vertical. If the horizon line bugs you, you could always clone out the sky.

Hope you don't mind a little criticism, but there seems to be some flare over the main tangerine that washes out the leaves. Can that be burned in?

I don't mind at all. Appreciate it. I was worried about aiming straight at that bright sky. I did notice that the leaves seemed a bit wash out by the light. I wasn't sure what to do about it. I could try burning it in if you think that's the answer. The fruit itself came out well, so I didn't want to mess it up. I'll try it if you'll be kind enough to come back and look tomorrow to see if I mess it up. :D

The horizon line doesn't bother me. I kind of thought it was a puzzler though. The trees are on a narrow terrace on a hillside. I'll work on those leaves and post again tomorrow. Thanks for the critique.

[fish]

I could try burning it in if you think that's the answer. The fruit itself came out well, so I didn't want to mess it up. I'll try it if you'll be kind enough to come back and look tomorrow to see if I mess it up. :D You won't mess it up and there's no one right answer. Give it a try with about 35% exposure in the midtones and hit the top 3rd of the tangerine down to about 4 o'clock. See what happens. No harm no foul, but it might perk it up a bit. After you're happy with the burn, you might want to bump up the contrast 8 or 10 to give the entire image a little punch.


I didn't spend a lot of time on it, but here's what i'm thinkin'...

[David_S85]

Reminds me that I need to eat more fruit in the morning.

I'd have to admit that to me at least, the horizon poses a bit of a visual problem. You could always title the pic "Oranges on the Hillside." :D

That said, there seems to be O.O.F. objects in the background that could suggest either the shot is tilted or that it isn't. The lighting is also ambiguous to either orientation. Is this shot a crop, or F.F?

One thing is sure - oranges taste good at any angle!

[Angelo]

I don't mind the leaves... adds to the depth and texture of the shot in my humble opinion. Great picture!

I don't mind at all. Appreciate it. I was worried about aiming straight at that bright sky. I did notice that the leaves seemed a bit wash out by the light. I wasn't sure what to do about it. I could try burning it in if you think that's the answer. The fruit itself came out well, so I didn't want to mess it up. I'll try it if you'll be kind enough to come back and look tomorrow to see if I mess it up. :D

The horizon line doesn't bother me. I kind of thought it was a puzzler though. The trees are on a narrow terrace on a hillside. I'll work on those leaves and post again tomorrow. Thanks for the critique.

[snapapple]

I appreciate your input. Thanks for the comments. The picture is full frame. I wish I had not come in quite so tight, but that's all there is. I purposely tried to get the branch coming in from the top right corner and the hill to go to opposite corners diagonally. All this while avoiding having the sun shining in my lens, and crouching under the tree with thorns poking in my head. :wink

[snapapple]

I like what you did with the picture.

I tried the burning. I guess I used a brush that was too small because it started to look blotchy. So, I figured that raising the contrast might help. This made the bottom of the tangerine too dark.

What I ended up doing was creating another layer and doing the adjustments to that. I darkened the whole thing a little and then increased the contrast. Then I erased the layer from the horizon line down to the left corner and all of the main tangerine. This left the leaves above the tangerine darker without having to burn them in. I did go back and burn in the tangerine on the top and down the right side where it was dull. I could have left some of the layer there, but I couldn't see where to erase. I have never used a "mask", so I don't know how to do that yet. I'm still reading the manual. :D Is this better? Does it need more work? It's funny that I have trouble seeing these things for myself. I appreciate your help.

http://snapapple.smugmug.com/photos/15117646-L.jpg

[fish]

Better snappy! :thumb

Definitely need to use a very large, fuzzy brush when burning, and work it like you're spray-painting something, starting off the image continuing through and ending off the image on the other side. Clicking on the image makes it blotchy.

I like it tho.