Henry Heerschap
November 2024 - Bristlecone Pine
Original
About the Image(s)
We were in the Eastern Sierra of California for a workshop recently. One of our outings was to climb up to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest where we saw these amazing survivors of extreme conditions. Some of them are thousands of years old. This one was not a survivor - it had fallen over some years ago. The weathered roots made for an interesting subject, particularly in black and white.
Sony A7R V, Sony 24-105 lens. ISO 1600, 24mm, f/16, 1/320 second. Camera was on a tripod. I needed to crank up the ISO to increase shutter speed due to the very windy conditions.
Black and white conversion and most of the processing was done in Lightroom Classic after first running it through DxO PureRAW 4.
7 comments posted
Henry, I like the picture! The tree stump has an interesting shape. Why did you brighten it up? It would be interesting to see, if this part is much more darker, silhouetted by the sky. Posted: 11/11/2024 09:15:07
Thanks, Peter. I was playing around with the underlying color sliders in Lightroom and ended up with the lighter color. I will have to go back and take another look. Posted: 11/15/2024 18:09:25
I like the image, interest and composition. A minor suggestion is to straighten the two trees in the background as they seem to me to be tilting inward. Posted: 11/12/2024 16:18:08
Thanks, Jim. Good thoughts about the trees. Posted: 11/15/2024 18:11:28
The ancient Bristlecones have beautiful twisted details in their trunks and branches. You found a good one, but the image could use some contrast. It would help to bring out those details. I really like the composition. The companion trees might actually be tilted? Posted: 11/16/2024 18:29:33
Thanks, Darlene. I agree about the contrast. Whether the two trees are tilted in real life, it might be worth me tweaking them, especially the one on the left. Lots to think about. Posted: 11/16/2024 19:47:58
Henry, there's always more than one way to ......(fill in the blank)! Right??? Posted: 11/16/2024 20:15:57