Almond Trees (reprinted)
blackmelas

Almond Trees (reprinted)

Having a second go at this one. The whites are a little lighter and the blacks darker but I'm stuck on the contrast. I split filtered this one: 7 sec @ #0 and 16sec @ #5 for the base exposure (held back and burned some from these times). I'm aiming to get some true white in the clouds but I cannot without completely losing tone in them. I've thought about bleaching locally. Does anyone have any ideas?
Location
Siatista, Western Macedonia, Greece
Equipment Used
Bronica SQ-A
Exposure
1/4sec, f22
Film & Developer
Delta 100 and Ilfosol 1+14
Paper & Developer
WTFB, Multigrade and Selenium toned
Lens Filter
Yel Grn
Very nice one. What if you played with high grades to get the low tones of the sky darker while not affecting the clouds? I am learning split grading myself, so I can't be too much of help.
 
I think you are at the point where it is hard to comment without seeing a real print. By the look of it, the clouds are plenty bright enough. I prefer this one greatly. I might add a burn on the lower left grass, just to take the edge off this area. For me the image has something about it depite being very simple in nature.
 
Absolutely, positively, stunning. There seems to be just the teensiest bit of flare above the fartherest tree on the left, but I had to look closely to notice it. This shot is fantastically visualised too. Exceptional.
 
Thanks to all of you for your comments. And yes there is a little flare in the center tree as well. I tries my best to shade it with my hand but... good eye, Colin.
Best regards,
James
 
This is very nice, but the plants sticking up in the foreground bother me. I think it looks better with the foreground cropped out, making it more about the trees, rocks, and sky, than about the grass slope, (but cropping is always a matter of personal choice.) Also, I don't think you want so much contrast that the trees become black logs (or maybe you do depending on the mood.) Maybe I'm imagining it, but the burn in on the lower sides/corners seems very visible. Especially on the right. The right side of the photo is a lot darker than the left on the whole, and it might help to balance out the whole thing. Cropping out the bottom would accomplish that too. I do like the composition as a whole. And the subject matter is great. Very nicely done.
 
Thanks for the critical look, Will. Unfortunately the negative has no detail in the shadows of the two larger trees on the left due to misjudging the exposure. As far as its effect on the composition of the print I'm fine with the detail on the right most tree. To me this gives the composition focus. I was more bothered about the dark right side that you noticed. Its not burning, but its in the negative and enhanced by a shadow on the ground. Do you think it might be uneven development in the tank or an effect of the circular polarizer (oops, I should have mentioned that above)? I ruled out the polarizer because the effect doesn't seem greater at the corners.
James
 
I actually like it the way it is.


-Sino.
 

Media information

Category
Critique Gallery
Added by
blackmelas
Date added
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Comment count
9
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Image metadata

Filename
2509almonds2selenium.jpg
File size
135.7 KB
Dimensions
650px x 530px

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