Backlighted oaks, a photo from Portalegre, South

Photographer's Note

Here you have another one with cork oaks. It was shot facing the sun, which is somewhere near the center of the image covered with the trunks.

On my first post featuring cork oaks I have so info on the tree and its economic importance. Actually that was one of my TE posts and it was shot obly a few hundred meters away from this one.

I don't know if I prefer this B&W version to the colour one. I posted the latter as a WS, maybe you can let me know your opinion.

jmcl, nadine432, cobbydale, jwmunro, jhm, sufi, leonorkuhn, pboehringer, xuaxo oznaczył to zdjęcie jeko użyteczne

Critiques | Translate

jmcl (14535) 2007-02-21 19:56

Hi Jose.

Wonderful wonderful image .. I think the black and white is better .. the light feels more under control .. the trees are already in silhouette .. the tones on the ground are nice but don't add as much as you gain with the conversion .. the shadows .. and especially their direction coming towards us really adds a great deal to the beautiful impressive trees ..

take care,

John

[2]

Dpbours (222) 2007-02-22 0:49

Hi Jose!

The picture surely has a lot of potential! And I agree that the black and white version captures it the best.

Point of view nice, but I'm just wondering about the over-exposure. The color as well as black and white both seem overly sharpened and a bit over-exposed. You unfortunately see it mostly in the sky of the black and white version.
Did you desaturate the 200Kb version of the color, or the original. Seems that a lot of information got lost in the resizing and desaturizing of the picture.

But the composition is nicely choosen!

Cheers, Dennis

UnTrained (0) 2007-02-22 1:41

Olá José,
like John the b&w is more attracting for me and my impression on that is very similar to his. In the coloured one I miss any texture, detail of the trees. This is not the fact in b&w. Very pleasant "main" tree for that capture.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

nadine432 (1128) 2007-02-22 1:56

bonjour josé,
belle composition, j'ai aussi comparé ton ws, je n'arrive pas ŕ choisir, pour moi les deux sont bien
Nad

feather (51130) 2007-02-22 6:13

Every time I see a B&W image I have to challenge my own views. My instinct is always with colour. In this case I'm not so sure (And others lately). The over-exposure could be a problem that in B&W is not such an issue here, as it gives an almost abstract scene. Why not go the whole hog and make it totally abstract by cropping all the foreground. Just an idea for an alternative.
Kath

paura (25802) 2007-02-22 10:55

José,
Singela e bela fotografia. Muito bem composta e executada.

paulo

cobbydale (1958) 2007-02-22 16:45

Hi Jose, I definitely prefer the B&W version. I agree with Kath about the over-exposure - it does create an artistic effect in this particular shot which works well.
cheers, Leon.
PS have been working away all week, so just catching up on TE :-)

jwmunro (286) 2007-02-22 20:38

Hello Jose -

I really am not sure about this image. IMO it is a toss up between the two - I think I might have passed on this one. I see the image is over sharpened - the halos are really noticeable around the leaves.

These type of shots are very difficult IMO. When I have tried them I always try to get the leaves to glow with the back light rather than trying for a silhouette. To do this I usually focus on a branch or cluster of leaves rather than the whole tree. It is really kind of a toss up technique - sometimes it works and sometime it doesn't.

Thank you for sharing

John

superpau (1464) 2007-02-22 23:23

Hola Jose,
Coincido con John y con Dennis, sobre el ruido que hay en la version en B&W, que es muy evidente.
de cualquier manera, me gusta mucho mas que la version a color, eso seguro. Es una imagen fuerte, a contraluz, de las que me gustan! :D

Voy a tratar de hacer un WS de la de color, para ver de donde viene tanto ruido!

Beso! Y mejoró increiblemente tu espańol! Felicitaciones :D
Paula.

[workshop] [compare]

jhm (211734) 2007-02-23 8:17

Hi Jose,

This are very difficult picture, dark trees and backlight care for a overexposed, certainly in BW. Maybe not your best of your gallery, but I think you deserve the two point for you effort. TFS.

Have a nice weekend,
John.

sothy81 (9646) 2007-02-23 15:34

Huhhh...excellent one Jose. Very classic. I like the shadow of the trees. And the whole picture is so sharp. Well done. Sothy

Silvio1953 (220697) 2007-02-24 3:28

Hi Jose, wonderful B&W of those great trees, splendid light and shadows, very well done, have a nice week end, ciao Silvio
:) tomorrow

sufi (9588) 2007-02-24 16:22

Merhaba Jose, my friend...
It's a very dramatic composition, indeed. The silhouettes of the trees are perfect... Also perfect light and shadows... The point of view and the perspective are wonderful too...
TFS...
Stay well..
Salim.

leonorkuhn (16237) 2007-02-24 19:11

Olá José,

As árvores estăo lindas, excelente contraste ressaltando o belo rendilhado dos ramos, contra a luminosidade do céu. Uma foto difícil, no contraluz, mas com muito bom resultado. Prefiro esta versăo, pois as silhuetas săo mais nítidas.
Abraços
Leonor

Wanda1 (15142) 2007-02-25 7:52

Hi Jose,
I like this simple yet effective shot. It looks like an ink drawing and you made the right choice to use black and white and you made it nice and contrasty. The shadowsa re great too. I definately prefer the black and white it has more impact than the colour version.
Regards
Wanda

pboehringer (770) 2007-02-27 11:16

... and we're back to the oaks. Wonderful treatment that you gave here and the light and shadow conditions are extremely well explored. Great shot, Jose!
Cheers, Peter

vagabondtravels (6511) 2007-02-28 9:02

Hi Jose

Nice use of light. Very sharp and the shadows make the image for me. Well seen and captured.
Ben

xuaxo (6854) 2008-05-21 6:47

Olá José,
Sem dúvida que neste caso prefiro a versăo a P&B (o que é uma excepçăo ŕs minhas preferęncias gerais). Está um magnífico rendilhado.
Um abraço,
F