Rays of Hope

I've always been a fan of backlit trees and foreground elements, so I can definitely see what drew you to this scene. I think the sun is a bit too hot for the sun star though. I don't think it was hidden far enough behind the branch to give the ideal effect. If it was a bit more obscured by the branch, I think it would give you a better balance between having the sun star, but not blowing out the highlights so fast. Also, I would suggest darkening the mid tones and dark tones a bit. I feel the shadow recovery is a bit too much, and the dark tones lose some of the richness that gives the image a sense of mystery and depth.

I can see what drew you to this scene too, and I know I would have been. The sun does look pretty hot and I think if you could have blocked it more with the tree branches it may have worked better, but still the image is pretty cool looking. I think Ben made some other suggestions that would work well on this too.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Thank you Ben and Nick, very good feedback. I had others to choose from, and realized the sun is a bit bright and I could have done more to block it out better... but I was trying to strike that balance with some light on the FG.