I like this photograph a lot but the tree is a bit too dead centre for me. I think shifting it a little to the side would help it interact with the background a little more.
Masuro'a comment is interesting -- I would have suggested moving the camera slightly to the right and centering the tree even more to heighten the feeling of the tree "trapped" or penned in by the walls. I think it would have also given the bare ground that surrounds the tree more power -- a feeling of strenght flowing down the tree into the ground. Then that strenght would create visual tension against the entrapment by the walls.
A slight move to the right might also have helped to seperate the main tree from the large tree in the far background.
Thank you all for the insightful critiques. I'm very niew to B&W and developing so any assistance is much appreciated. I felt this was a somewhat successful image in that I developed the film and it's didn't have a touch of grain. I rated the film at 200 and developed for 10.5 minutes which I feel worked out well. Thanks again. - Sean
I've seen your color work at photo.net, and it is breathtaking.
My daughter and I went to Fayette to take pictures in late August. We figured a couple of hours would more than suffice. We barely scratched the surface.
I've posted a couple of B&W Fayette pictures here. At photo.net I posted a whole folder of color pictures of Fayette, but since they're the evil digital types, I can't post them here.