Play Green for Me

Hey Preston,

After seeing a couple iterations, I think you've nailed this one.  The light, contrast and color are all spot on, and appropriate for the day of light we experienced.

Following the oaks and play of light and shadow bottom to top makes for a pleasing, pastoral landscape image.  The greens handled so very nicely.

I like the play on the title too.  Not sure if you intented, but I can only think of the early Clint Eastwood flick, "Play Misty for Me." 

The last thing that literally tops this image off for me, is the top of the image.  It might be a mystery to some, not being there, but the inclusion of the reservoir adds a little abstractness to the top of the image and just as importantly, some breathing space for the vertical landscape.  Cool stuff, love it.

Lon

This is your best image so far of the recent central valley group. The composition is strong and the dappled light is marvelous. This image conveys the unique sense of spring in that area that i've enjoyed so much. This one has something to say. I think those bluish hills back there provide a great backdrop, especially because the trees on that ridge stand out so well. As a side note, I wonder what are those folds in the earth on the upper right. Old landslide?

I like this, but I much prefer the comp in Hills of Green. I like the way the trees and gullies flow through the image in that one. I have a bit of a wandering eye with this one. As usual, I am the outlier. 

I like this, Preston. Being able to see the lake in the upper bg is an unexpected bonus, and I like the ridgeline in front of the lake. The trees again have great form. Nice work on the processing.

Beautifully done, Preston. I like the interplay of light and shadow throughout the image along with the way the oaks meander about pulling me towards the reservoir in the BG. Great work.

Ed

Thanks for your comments, folks.

Igor, those folds are likely mine tailings from the Gold Rush days in the Sierra Foothills. The folds you are referring to are slumps in the tailing pile.

The foothills are known as the 'Mother Lode'; which includes the counties of Mariposa, Tuolumne, Calaveras, El Dorado, and Sutter. There is evidence of placer and hard-rock mining throughout the region. This spot is in Calaveras county, just over its border with Tuolumne county.
--P

I think you did a real good job with the processing here especially in using the luminosity masks to bring out some of the tonal qualities of the greens.  It's nice to follow this from the foreground to the background.  Good textures and nice detail.

Very nice.  And quite interesting.  Really no place for my eye to focus on and rest, so I keep looking and enjoying.

The light was really getting sweet here Preston. I agree that the top really adds to this image.

A beautiful scene well captured.  I really enjoy the color combinations here of the trees, the green grass, and the bluish distant terrain.  Is Melones Lake in Yosemite?

 Is Melones Lake in Yosemite?

Thanks for your comment, Bill. In answer to your question, Melones Lake is on the Stanislaus River watershed north-northwest of Yosemite. Yosemite is on the watersheds of the Merced and Tuolumne Rivers.

Thanks for your comments, everyone!
--P

Bill, the New Melones Reservoir was one the last dams built in the Sierras. There had been a history of whitewater recreation activity in the area and they didn't take well to the idea of losing it. As I recall, one of them had chained himself to a rock in the canyon daring the builders to start flooding it. From Wikipedia:  

The fight over New Melones galvanized the river conservation movement in California and influenced major water policy changes on the state and federal levels; since its completion, no other dams of its size or importance have been built in the United States.

This is a beauty, Preston. Definitely my favorite of this series. Nice job processing - you seem to have recovered the highlights successfully.