Winter in Sullivan County, The Five Trees

[gahspidy]

I realize this seems like a dull scene with no real subject, but something about the layout and placement of every element, and the simplicity of it all somehow appeals to me alot.
What do you think?
thanks

[Tyson L. Sparks]

I love the cool color, the pine trees in the center catch my eye. The shed was the first thing I looked at then I followed it to the center pines. Nice smooth snow makeing it easy on the eyes, and the trees coming together in the rear corner are nice. The shadows are not too harsh or over taking either. The subject is some what dull but your focus, comosition and color make it worth a second or even third look.

[Greg McCary]

What I wouldn't give to watch you post process an image in person. What I find more interesting than the trees are the shed, wheel barrel, lawn mower and propane tank. Everything is so clean and smooth looking it almost looks like a scene out of an animated movie like polar express. I really like what I am seeing, You have taken an ordinary scene and have made it into a wonderful picture. I can imagine the guy that lives here looking out the window a saying" What's that guy taking a picture of my shed for honey"?
With all of that said the three things that I see are the sky is slightly blowing out on the right, I would like to see a little more space on the left of the lawn mower handle and the horizon is a bit centered. Great work again. And by the way would you give me a senior discount on "Open Book". LOL
Greg

[Tyson L. Sparks]

The word I was looking for was, flow!!

This image flows, like a sail boat in and mild wind.

Yes it has great flow!

[Ronnoco]

You need to work more on your colour, both on camera and in postprocessing. You should have used a polarizing filter or even in postprocessing improved the sky colour. I did it in about a minutes time. The trees in the snow should at least be a little on the green side and that can be done without saturation adjustments. Again less than a minutes work. The snow is more toward the gold side than pure white. That needs to be back to its original colour as well. The colour of the building and tank can also be improved without saturation either in post processing. All in all, it took me about 3 minutes to postprocess to a better colour rendition.

Ronnoco

[swmdrayfan]

Gary, there's no way I could even think about having anything even slightly critical to say of your work. Considering where you are and where I am, talentwise, I'd look like a fool.

[photophorous]

Gary, this is very good. You seem to be doing just fine with that digital camera. I agree with some of the technical things that have been pointed out, but I don't necessarily think you should change anything. I assume this has been tweaked to your artistic liking, not necessarily for pure accuracy, and I appreciate it the way it is. However, because you mentioned the trees in your title I do want to point out one tiny thing that bugs me. The left tree is too close to the shed. I feel like there should be a little white space in between them. Not a big deal though.

Thanks,
Paul

[KyRain]

Peace and serenity are the feelings that come to me when I look at this. It is
anything but boring; it is very pleasing to the eye--much due to the color and layout.
There is a quiet beauty in simple things that is often overlooked. Not this time.
I personally don't care for the gas tank in there with all the natural elements but I do like the color tone of the tank; it casts a golden glow. The colors in this are especially remarkable to me.

[gahspidy]

Thanks all for the time.
Tyson... I also liked the smoothness of the snow and think it was part of it's appeal for me. Glad you feel the image works well.

Greg . . .I am certainly no master at post processing, but i have developed a flow which I think achieves a specific look that I strive for in most of my shots.I agree with you about wanting a little more space to the left of the lawnmower. thanks. btw, you are no senior citizen, but I would be happy to send you a print if you'd like

Ronnoco. . .I appreciate the fact that the image does not work for you as per the reasons you pointed out. The post processing and results were very deliberate and I was particuliarly satisfied with that aspect of the picture. thanks for the time

John. . . I will completely disagree with you on that sentiment. We are not far apart by any way. I have been inspired by much of your works and especially some of the images you have created into cards. We both have much to offer eachother. As always, I appreciate your time to comment. thanks

Paul. . .Yes, I am lovin the digital capture thing....Just as much latitude and flexiblity as scanned color negatives but without the noise.And then the other obvious advantages. . . .
you are right in that I'm not trying to accurately render the scene exactly as it were but rather use it as a starting point from which to build upon and create. You bring up the most serious concern I have for this picture in that the tree is too close to the shed and the group of trees as a whole would be better more over to the right. This aspect as well as the one Greg mentioned about space to the left of the mower would have been corrected had I stood over to my right further when shooting this. I had nothing in my way and all the room in the county, but did not see that when I was shooting.
Actually, and I really do not like going this far, but I was considering removing the two trees closest to the shed and having just the three in the middle. What do you think?
Of course, I would have to rename this "the three trees" lol Thanks for your time, Paul

KyRain . . . Your descriptions are accurate to my feelings of the scene. Peace, serenity, and a certain quiet beauty. It's what I love about the country in the first place.I am just disappointed in the apparent faults with the picture. I'm glad you feel the colors are working for you as I spent much time getting everything to where I wanted. Thanks for the comments
btw, your bio/statement is very good and gives us a good idea of what and how your seeing things

[readingr]

Gary,

Such a peaceful shot, The tranquility in the image gives it thunderous silence.

My only nit pic is the small tree on the left just touches the edge branches of the big tree. Shame there wasn't a tad more separaton there. But that is a minor nit pic.

Roger

[Overbeyond]

Very pleasing Gary. It exudes fresh air, early in the morning and the whole environment has a virginal quality to it. A great place to go just to cure a hangover. The large tree and the little hut seem to battle for supremecy; in each others way if you like. No problem here with the colouring as far as I'm concerned.
But Gary I think this one is the least interesting one from Sullivan County. What is missing? I'm honestly not too sure. But I do think it's the positioning of the large tree and the hut.
Tom

[photophorous]

Hi Gary,

You could clone out the two left most trees and it might improve the image, but if it were me, I wouldn't go to the trouble. First, the image is great as is. Second, I still don't think the trees would be adequately isolated...which seems to be your goal (not necessarily a requirement). I think for the trees to be effectively isolated, you would need to be higher, so the tops of the trees didn't merge with the background trees. I know you probably didn't have a cherry picker with you (slacker), but if isolating the trees is your goal, I don't think cloning out the left two will be enough. Others may disagree. I think you should just print it, hang it on the wall, bask in the glory, and then move on to the next photo that will make us all look bad.

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying digital. I just went the opposite way and bought a rangefinder.

Paul

[Tuna]

Your signature post-processing elevates the enjoyment of your strictly composed, painterly image.

Bravo.

Tuna