[gmans]

These trees Antarctic Beech(Nothofagus moorei) are scattered through out Barrington Tops. They are so different to the Gum trees of Australia, thought they make good photo, tried PP into BW and with comparison to colour. The BW was just colour de-saturated, contrast and sharpened in iphoto. your thoughts would be appreciated.

Attached Images

   

[wildman]

Magnificent!
Makes me think of a time before over population, global warming and man himself.
With warming I'm afraid their days are numbered.

[Gregory_51]

HI
Interesting trees. They look very different from the trees we have here. It's hard to get overall shots in a forest with so many bits and pieces sticking into the frame. I like the composition you chose. The b&w and color versions each have advantages. The b&w emphasizes the form and textures while the color one reveals the moss which is lost in the monochrome version. I don't know what software you have but desaturating to make a monochrome isn't the best way. You can have more control and get better results using different techniques or using a plugin. If you do a lot of black and white TOPAZ B&W effects is flexible and reasonably priced. I might rework the initial processing to get some of the details back in the leaves of the trees if you are doing a straight version. Also in the color version there are some CA showing up and would remove that.
I find the monochrome rather dark and contrasty, reworking the pp would reveal more detail in the tree trunks which is the subject of the photo. I played around a bit to see what I could come up with. To me it seems like the sort of image that might be open to a stylized treatment. I did a conversion from the color image. The first one I added a bit of a light vignette and blurring to the edges, the second went a bit further. Just a couple of ideas you may or may not like. Posted it here A couple of alternate edits on right of photo by gmans | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Just my 2 cents.
Regards
Greg

[baro-nite]

Forest trees are typically challenging subjects for photography. Usually you have a limited choice of viewpoints due to other trees/branches/brush. The small branch coming down from the upper right corner is not helpful. Also on a sunny day if there is any sky in the shot you have a huge dynamic range. Exposure bracketing is one way to deal with this, but this kind of complicated pattern of light and dark areas is difficult to pull off when combining exposures.

For me what's most interesting about this shot is how the dark shaggy moss and old tree suggests a dreamlike image. Faced with this scene I might try some closer shots to capture the textures while avoiding the brightly lit areas. But given this exposure I'd try to enhance the dreamy qualities, like so:

Attached Images

 

[gmans]

Magnificent!
Makes me think of a time before over population, global warming and man himself.
With warming I'm afraid their days are numbered.

Cheers Wildman, never thought they might be endangered, hopefully it will take a few generations and there may be a reprieve.

[gmans]

HI
Interesting trees. They look very different from the trees we have here. It's hard to get overall shots in a forest with so many bits and pieces sticking into the frame. I like the composition you chose. The b&w and color versions each have advantages. The b&w emphasizes the form and textures while the color one reveals the moss which is lost in the monochrome version. I don't know what software you have but desaturating to make a monochrome isn't the best way. You can have more control and get better results using different techniques or using a plugin. If you do a lot of black and white TOPAZ B&W effects is flexible and reasonably priced. I might rework the initial processing to get some of the details back in the leaves of the trees if you are doing a straight version. Also in the color version there are some CA showing up and would remove that.
I find the monochrome rather dark and contrasty, reworking the pp would reveal more detail in the tree trunks which is the subject of the photo. I played around a bit to see what I could come up with. To me it seems like the sort of image that might be open to a stylized treatment. I did a conversion from the color image. The first one I added a bit of a light vignette and blurring to the edges, the second went a bit further. Just a couple of ideas you may or may not like. Posted it here A couple of alternate edits on right of photo by gmans | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Just my 2 cents.
Regards
Greg

thanks Gregory 51, do not have much in the way of software, appreciate your work and tips.
Regards
Glenn

[dagray]

Gmans, when I looked at your BW conversion I felt like something was missing. I couldn't pin whether it was detail in the trees, if the back light was too bright. When I saw Baro-nite's edit I think he nailed what was missing as his has more detail.

Now on his I would like the trees to be a bit darker (maybe if he turned up the blacks a bit). Overall I say you have a magnificent photo and as it stands would print to fabric (canvas, muslin, linen).

I would invest in at least photoshop elements and the Topaz labs suite as between those two a whole new world will be opened to you.

Dave

[gmans]

Forest trees are typically challenging subjects for photography. Usually you have a limited choice of viewpoints due to other trees/branches/brush. The small branch coming down from the upper right corner is not helpful. Also on a sunny day if there is any sky in the shot you have a huge dynamic range. Exposure bracketing is one way to deal with this, but this kind of complicated pattern of light and dark areas is difficult to pull off when combining exposures.

For me what's most interesting about this shot is how the dark shaggy moss and old tree suggests a dreamlike image. Faced with this scene I might try some closer shots to capture the textures while avoiding the brightly lit areas. But given this exposure I'd try to enhance the dreamy qualities, like so:

The small branch was noticed, but could not remove it. The mossy and lichens of the forest gave the place the dreamy (Tolkenese feel) shall have to get back up in wet or foggy weather. The forest is very dry at the moment. thank you for your rework and comments. Cheers.
.

[wildman]

The mossy and lichens of the forest gave the place the dreamy (Tolkenese feel)

Yep you nailed it - a place like that is magic.....

[imaspy]

the B&W version leaves me feeling a bit lost due to the fact it was just desaturated. i think you need to invest in some kind of better software (as others suggested) to get more control over the conversion. the colour one grabs me more at this point, because it helps me identify what is green and what isn't, etc, and makes it easier to 'understand' what i'm looking at. however, the colour version really irks me with those major CAs through the tree canopy! :P definitely look into getting Topaz, it will help you heaps.

[gmans]

Gmans, when I looked at your BW conversion I felt like something was missing. I couldn't pin whether it was detail in the trees, if the back light was too bright. When I saw Baro-nite's edit I think he nailed what was missing as his has more detail.

Now on his I would like the trees to be a bit darker (maybe if he turned up the blacks a bit). Overall I say you have a magnificent photo and as it stands would print to fabric (canvas, muslin, linen).

I would invest in at least photoshop elements and the Topaz labs suite as between those two a whole new world will be opened to you.

Dave

dagray, shall look into the software you mentioned, I assume the software would run on a Mac was thnking of giving Aperture a go, because of affordability, but not knowing much about the various photo software suites, it is much appreciated any tips and insights. Thank you for your assistance and comments.

[Gregory_51]

I'd take a look at PSE. You can do a lot with it and there are tons of tutorials on YouTube and other sites. It also has a cataloging component so you can tag, rate and most importantly, find your images again when you go looking for them and lots of built in help when you're learning the program. It lists for about $150 but often will go on sale for half that price. Here's a couple of links from Adobe.
http://www.adobe.com/ca/products/photoshop-elements/features.html
http://www.adobe.com/ca/products/photoshop-elements.html

[gmans]

Yep you nailed it - a place like that is magic.....

Wildman, well done on the edit, to remove the small branch and which software did you use if you could let me know/. Cheers.
Glenn

[gmans]

the B&W version leaves me feeling a bit lost due to the fact it was just desaturated. i think you need to invest in some kind of better software (as others suggested) to get more control over the conversion. the colour one grabs me more at this point, because it helps me identify what is green and what isn't, etc, and makes it easier to 'understand' what i'm looking at. however, the colour version really irks me with those major CAs through the tree canopy! :P definitely look into getting Topaz, it will help you heaps.

imaspy, the CA is it in the central portion, I did not recognize this until you mentioned it, was thinking it was just blown highlights. Topaz is it a plug in for PSE or stand alone software, excuse my ignorance.
regards
Glenn

[gmans]

I'd take a look at PSE. You can do a lot with it and there are tons of tutorials on YouTube and other sites. It also has a cataloging component so you can tag, rate and most importantly, find your images again when you go looking for them and lots of built in help when you're learning the program. It lists for about $150 but often will go on sale for half that price. Here's a couple of links from Adobe.
Picture editing software | Adobe Photoshop Elements 12 - Features
Picture editor, edit pictures | Adobe Photoshop Elements 12

Thank you, for the tip on PSE and links. checked it out and sounds good.
Glenn