Life Rays *w/EDIT*

Very ethereal Jimmy. Excellent B&W.

Jimmy,

Now I really know I should have dragged my a** out of bed and met up with you guys - I'm just a mere 30 minutes from here. Maybe I'll have to check this out myself on of these days.

Very fitting title as the rays here are rather enlightening or providing life so to speak. I also like the semi high key approach to this. Curious also about taking this both ways - extending the high key processing even more and/or going back the other direction for a more standard contrast approach. But I do think this works as presented.

Can't believe it's been a year already since we went to Yosemite after Christmas last year! Where the heck does the time go?

Lon

Jimmy, where do you find something like this in Oakland? I like the low contrast look. Good fortune with the beams. I've yet to find my own...

I think the is incredible! Very well done.

Like the sun beams from the forests. I am wondering how the color version looks like?

This is fantastic, Jimmy! Very interesting B&W treatment that beings out the ethereal softness of the light. I'd love to see it in a print.

Guy

I like the comp and love the sun rays and I understand what you are going for in your processing technique but it just seems too flat. I like Lon's idea of either going more high key or backing it down to a more traditional processing. Seeing it in print, though, might make a big difference.

Lovely image as presented Jimmy, and it looks like there are a bunch of different ways you can go with it too. Great!

I feel like dreaming when I look at this photo. It's unusual, kind of majestic. Great stuff, Jimmy!

This has a spirital mood for me. Lovely, Jimmy!

Very pretty, I too am digging the semi-high key treatment.

The color version has a unwanted orange flare that I was able to reduce/eliminate with the bw version. It was a little foggy, too, so that may have add to the less contrasty look. I'll play around with it later today and get another version or two up for viewing and critique. Thanks!

I would echo just what Lon said. Great job!

Very nice b/w, Jimmy. I like that you've tried something different and made this brighter. I like it's soft and gentle mood, it reminds me of the way dreams are sometimes represented in cinema. A beautiful shot with an excellent treatment. Well seen!

Totally works for me. The branches on the upper right are a bit annoying but it's a forest after all. Great exposure.

Works real well for me Jimmy. Looks a little on the light side, but I'm on my work monitor; usually looks a little darker at home. Beautiful composition. Looks like you and Chris chose a great day to be out.

Was black and white premeditated or a response to difficulty in processing a color version. With just tone and no color, I find myself wishing this showed either more or less contrast. Either pulling more shadows down to black or boosting the mid-tones would be my suggestion. Oh, and this is already REALLY nice.

Oh, and what about 4x5?

Very graphic with the strong verticles of the trunks. Could see cropping the right side to make the main trunks a bit off center.

Pretty nice, dude! You were worried about nothin it turns out, huh. I like the direction you are going with it. I might suggest tweaking the contrast selectively. As Kent suggests, maybe darkening the main tree trunks some, and dodging some of the beams just a bit more. Nice!

Chris

How this one with more contrast? I appreciate all your feedback...keep it coming!

Hehe ... very strange that there are so many B&W images at the moment, but I don't mind. These must have been some incredible rays as they are not easy to isolate in color shots and they still shine in the monochrome version here. Awesome job. All the best for 2011, Jimmy!

Beautiful... I just love the soft treatment you used here...not too contrasty, which adds to the dreamy feel.

Repost is better for me. Brings out the rays even more and more detail in the tree trunks but still has that "high key" look to it.

I was going to tell you how much I liked the original, but then I saw the repost. Wonderful!