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Burl Forest
Photo posted by Vance Gese in the Landscape gallery on 10/26/17 at 12:54 am EST
Registered on 11/13/08, 298 Posts, 6629 Comments
Post last edited by Vance Gese on 10/29/17 at 01:28 am EST

Found along the Olympic Coast of Washington, this Sitka Spruce Forest is quite unique for the number of trees with large and often multiple burls.  The forest is on a bluff right above the coast and so is beautifully lit at sunset.  Having scouted this area the evening before this past July, I was able to compose and watch the light playing on these trees and optimize the exposure of the film. Still, the resulting transparency was a real challenge to scan and process.  Would appreciate your thoughts, comments, suggestions on this image.

4x5, 210mm, Provia 100F, no filters.  M1 scan, Tony Kuyper's masks and other techniques.

 

Large size image provided.

 

Thank you.

  
Vance Gese
Vance Gese Photography
Quilcene, Washington
I was merely there, a small, puny, awestruck man,
praising Almighty God, with camera in hand.


Make a few images, well.

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Comment posted by Paul Breitkreuz on 10/26/17 at 09:06 am EST    
Registered on 02/25/06, 525 Posts, 8448 Comments

Vance, interesting to see the scattered July evening light this deep into the trees as thick as the growth is here. I assume the lack of greenery at the lower limbs we see is a result of that lack of light too?
Those "burls" you've mentioned are huge compared to most I've ever seen. To me these deep forest scenes are always extremely hard to provide what might be considered an open "clean" shot as the density of growth & the amount of projected light depth is really what the image winds up being all about. At this site the density is quite visible with the small amount of sky breaking through here and there. The 4x5 provides some excellent detail even at this low light with the Provia usage.
btw: my 210mm lens is my favorite on 4x5.......sad

  
Paul Breitkreuz
Corona, California
Trailimages.com
NPN 2326

"Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care."
- Theodore Roosevelt -
   

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Comment posted by Lon Overacker on 10/26/17 at 12:25 pm EST    
Registered on 11/24/06, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Vance,

You sure maximized the light here.  I can imagine the experience of being there.  Nice job showcasing the burls, but the story of course is about the late light.  I kinda chuckle at the thought now what Velvia 50 would have done here (or more accurately, couldn't do... )  But you've done well with this scan and processing.

Don't take this the wrong way, but I have to mention a reaction I'm having.  Animation.  A quick glance and I can imagine Shrek... or the Beauty and the Beast or any of the Pixar films....  Not sure if that makes sense.

Agree with Paul on the density of the forest here.  I do think you've selected a great scene within that forest considering the difficulties of crafting coherent comps from these places.

I'm not sure about the broken limb at the bottom.  On the one hand, it's less conspicuous because there isn't that warm light striking it, but for the same reason, it almost seems misplaced.  The good news is, it's not terribly distracting.

Great job with this one.  

Lon

ps. Is there anyone? still shooting 4x5 and posting on NPN?  I know Paul is still using film, Ian, but MF.  Good on  you for hanging on!

  

Lon Overacker
Livermore, California

Capturing Moments in Time

 

 

     

To photograph is to hold one's breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality. It's at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy. -Henri Cartier-Bresson
 

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Comment posted by Paul Breitkreuz on 10/26/17 at 1:30 pm EST    
Registered on 02/25/06, 525 Posts, 8448 Comments


ps. Is there anyone? still shooting 4x5 and posting on NPN?  I know Paul is still using film, Ian, but MF.  Good on  you for hanging on!


Lon, along with Vance & myself still using 4x5, I think there are a couple holdouts on NPN. Stuart Williams and Michael Hardeman as I recall. I've not seen Ben Horne on here in quite sometime, but I know he still produces a lot of Youtube's using 8x10.

  
Paul Breitkreuz
Corona, California
Trailimages.com
NPN 2326

"Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care."
- Theodore Roosevelt -
   

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Comment posted by Mark Seaver on 10/26/17 at 1:43 pm EST    
Registered on 01/23/11, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

The mass of glowing trees looks great, Vance.  Then, I see why it's named.  That burl on the left is especially interesting, while the massively wide trunk on the right adds balance.  I wonder if some subtle dodging of both burls would let them play a stronger role. 

  
Mark Seaver
Burtonsville, MD & Emigrant, MT
seaverphotos.com
Weekly Challenge Moderator
Macro/Close Up Moderator
   

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Comment posted by Ed Williams on 10/26/17 at 3:32 pm EST    
Registered on 12/28/10, 636 Posts, 3499 Comments

I'm with Lon on this one Vance. I am seeing tree ogres in freeze mode here. Love the light and the dense forest. The shapes add so much character too.

  
Ed Williams
www.chasindaylight.com
La Habra, CA
   

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Comment posted by Igor Doncov on 10/26/17 at 3:53 pm EST    
Registered on 11/22/14, 189 Posts, 2733 Comments

This image shows how the coastal woods look on the way back from a sunset. It's a special time that passes too quickly but I always enjoy it, but have never captured it. I'm talking about the area from Salt Point to Point Arena. I know this is supposed to be about the burls but somehow they don't throw themselves at me. What is very noticeable is that angled dead branch. Personally, I like it. I like it because it's the exception to all the up and down and you know what the French say, "vive la differance".

"If you want to make more interesting pictures, become a more interesting person" - Jay Maisel. 

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Comment posted by Harley Goldman on 10/26/17 at 5:31 pm EST    
Registered on 11/19/03, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

This one is really not working for me. I find my eye wandering around, looking for something to lock onto. I find the warmly lit trees in the back very engaging, but I have trouble working my way back there, if that makes any sense.  Processing looks good and I am surprised at how well you did with the deep shadows and Provia. 

  
Harley Goldman
Harley Goldman Photography
Landscape, Man & Nature and POP Galleries and CANP Forum Moderator
   

"You were born an original. Don't die a copy."
- John Mason

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Comment posted by Vance Gese on 10/27/17 at 12:09 am EST    
Registered on 11/13/08, 298 Posts, 6629 Comments

Thank you everyone for your kind comments.  Really appreciate it.
Paul, the lack of foliage on the lower limbs is most likely due to lack of sunlight as well as the unrelenting onshore wind that buffets this coast, which fortunately for me was quiet this evening.  The 210mm is my favorite lens as well.
Lon, I almost took that limb out of the scene but then decided against the idea, as I did not want to trample that undergrowth.  Have mixed feelings on it.
Mark, I actually did try to increase the luminosity of the burls/trees you mention but did not want to take it too far and have it look odd.  May try again though.  Thank you for the suggestion.
Ed, Igor, thank you for your comments.  Appreciate your insights.
Harley, thank you for your honesty which I very much value.  trying to get a meaningful composition with nice eye leading lines was quite difficult in this forest.  The Provia did better than I thought.

Thanks again, everyone.

  
Vance Gese
Vance Gese Photography
Quilcene, Washington
I was merely there, a small, puny, awestruck man,
praising Almighty God, with camera in hand.


Make a few images, well.

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Comment posted by Genny K. on 10/29/17 at 9:08 pm EST    
Registered on 06/05/06, 132 Posts, 2001 Comments

I think you did a great job of controlling the how the light, shadows, and colors came through in this.  I can only imagine how difficult that is with an image taken in this light, and in a forest, with all those shadowy spaces.
The warmth of the evening light does come through.  It's an interesting contrast between that warmth and the feeling of mysterious darkness in amongst the trees.  Good handling of the bit of sky in the distance, too.
Yeah, it kinda feels like an elf or a dwarf or some sort of ogre is going to come out of those trees.  I think the misshapen trees adds to the mysteriousness here.

Genny K.
Alaska, USA

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Comment posted by Bill Chambers on 11/01/17 at 11:02 am EST    
Registered on 04/10/05, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

What great light, Vance.  You're still a 4x5 hold-out, huh?  Good for you.  I like the way this image fades darker as you look upward in the frame. Nicely done.

  
Bill Chambers
Gulf Breeze, Florida
Please visit Enchanted Light Photography

"You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.” - Ansel Adams
   

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