Garden Plum #1

Gallery: Man & NaturePosted April 20, 2010111 views7 comments

I found this plum tree blooming in the Garden of the Gods a few years ago. Its not in the most convenient spot for compositions with a parking lot to the Southeast and a road to the North, but its got a great form and is backed by a giant sandstone tower. Every spring I try to catch some new shots of this tree during the brief period when it blooms. This year I found quite a few additional wild trees blooming in odd spots throughout the park, so I'll have some new subjects next year.

If I have any luck, I'll be getting the 4X5 shots back next week. This one was shot on my LX3.

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on April 20, 2010 at 1:26 PM

Very nice, Mel. A bit dark for my tastes, at least on my monitor.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Mel Ladewig on April 20, 2010 at 2:07 PM

Thanks for the feedback Phil.

The bark on this particular plum is quite dark, but I also increased the contrast in that range to accentuate the sweeping graphic form. I wanted it to appear almost black while letting the magenta tinged white blossoms contrast against the orange sandstone. I'll check when I get home to make sure its displaying the way I intended on my calibrated monitor.

Mel-

Registered on July 24, 2005, 114 Posts, 1205 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on April 20, 2010 at 2:51 PM

This is beautiful color and the comp is very nice. Looks really good on my monitor. Nice work, Mel. Would like to see one of the 4x5 shots also.

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Joseph Kayne on April 21, 2010 at 3:36 PM

This is excellent!!!! I would reduce the contrast ever so slightly... Joe.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 573 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by Larry Gloth on April 22, 2010 at 11:29 PM

Beautiful image. Love the composition and light emanating from behind. Graceful, sweeping curves go well with the delicate blossoms.

Registered on August 29, 2007, 96 Posts, 1003 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on April 24, 2010 at 11:31 PM

Very effective "as is" for me Mel. I like the stark contrast of the the trunk and flowers and background rocks. I used to visit CO frequently back in the mid to late 80's on business related travel. Garden of the God's was always on my list of places to must see when there but it was always in the middle of summer. This spring view is wonderful.

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by Floris van Breugel on April 29, 2010 at 4:12 PM

This is really sweet with the blossoms and redrock. Did you get any comps without the fence post? Admittedly it looks a bit hard to work around it, and I guess it's just a personal bias

Registered on December 19, 2008, 306 Posts, 4840 Comments