Night and Day

Gallery: LandscapePosted April 13, 2017251 views10 comments

Night and Day is actually just a reference to my previous post. These two images are almost literally like night and day. Previous image, darker, soft, diffused light.... and this one, yikes, bold light, hot, harsh, direct sunlight, fairly extreme tonal range, etc. Quite the contrast to the previous image. Not that it matters, but this image was captured about an hour and a half after the previous post.

Like many of you, I will sometimes challenge some of the basic "rules" of photography. One of those being, don't waste your time shooting in mid-day, or harsh lighting conditions. I'm one of those, and my photo compadres can attest, that will shoot all day long no matter the conditions as there is always something you can shoot. If it's too windy, go with it, let something blow and go blurry. If the lights too hot, there's always something that can work.

So the question is, does this one work? The Sun had just crested over the valley wall which was quickly going to melt away the snow on these alders. I was drawn mostly to the patterns of the trees and how the brightly lit trees contrasted against the valley wall, still deep in shade. BTW, here we go with the blue again. I kept the bg blue in hopes of having the warm/cool contrast.

Your thoughts, critiques and suggestions always welcome.

thanks!

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by gary phillips on April 14, 2017 at 12:27 AM

Really nice Lon. I, too, will often shoot when others may not. Of course, that's because I don't know any better. The image doesn't really look that harsh to me. The wind driven snow has perfect detail and I like the comp very much. I trust that you did a mono version. I think it would be killer. The color version also works very well. I have one small suggestion and that would be to clone the three globs of snow middle right in the darker open space between the right and middle trees. Very minor. Awesome work as always.

Registered on October 24, 2013, 185 Posts, 4136 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on April 14, 2017 at 9:41 AM

This works quite well! I like it a lot. I think the dark background really makes the brighter light work just fine. I'm really surprise this only has one comment though. The comments seem to of gone down quite a bit lately at NPN. Rather a shame.

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on April 15, 2017 at 9:38 AM

I think the warm cool combo works fine here, makes the trees really stand out. The snow line is another interesting touch, with the light hitting it. The side lighting adds to the 3-d effect and adds some depth with the zoomed view. A BW would probably work well with the dark background too. Really nice find, capture, and processing.

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments

Comment posted by scott lanz on April 16, 2017 at 4:27 PM

Excellent image, Lon. Excellent use of the light and shadow and nicely composed. This has with a graphic, artisitic quality. I guess this would look good B&W (guessing being my usual practice when deciding which of my own images would look good in B&W), but I like the subtle gray in the light areas and blues in the shadow.

Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments

Comment posted by Vance Gese on April 16, 2017 at 6:01 PM

The wind plastered snow on the trees and the graceful lines of the trees, all against the subtle blues of the background really make this work, Lon. Considering your statement that this was in full sun, I am amazed at how well you were able to control the contrast; one of the definite benefits of digital over film I imagine. The blues are not overdone at all and make for a superb contrast with the warmer light. Wonderful image, Lon. Would not change a thing.

Registered on November 13, 2008, 298 Posts, 6629 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on April 17, 2017 at 2:06 PM

thanks for the comments folks. Yeah, I played with b&w earlier and as a result of the comments, but it's not coming together for me. I think because as the bg grows dark and the contrast increases between the two, it just makes it all about the trees, rather than the relationship with the bg. Less contrast turns it more in to a chaotic hot mess - at least to me.

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on April 17, 2017 at 10:34 PM

Very beautiful. You got the tones perfect here.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by John Williams on April 18, 2017 at 12:07 AM

This works fantastic for me Lon. I love it. The dramatic lighting makes those trees pop, and the blue background completes the lovely. Nicely done. devil

Registered on September 6, 2007, 221 Posts, 5985 Comments

Comment posted by Dave Dillemuth on April 18, 2017 at 9:59 PM

Beautiful intimate scene, Lon. I like this one a lot. The repeating patterns created by the branches have a wonderful abstract quality. In reading your comments I was surprised this was a mid-day image. You did a fine job managing the dynamic range. It's amazing how a little snow can dramatically enhance a scene.

Registered on December 10, 2015, 104 Posts, 1112 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on April 19, 2017 at 12:56 AM

I liked your previous branches image a lot, but I like this one MUCH better. The large version is incredible. Reminds me of Jesse Speer's work (I know that comment may not be very popular considering his situation, but there's no denying his talent).

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments