Chan Garrett
October 2026 - Tree
Original
Original 2
About the Image(s)
When is the subject not the subject?
It is my opinion that anytime there is a person or an animal in an image, that person or animal strongly competes to become the subject of the image.
The final image I present here is from my "trees" project. As I set up to photograph this tree, I thought that perhaps adding a few people walking past the tree would add interest. As I viewed the first processed image (Original 1) I saw that the people did add interest, but also became the subject and the tree became the background.
In original 2, I removed the woman, hoping to restore the tree as the subject, only to realize that the man became the subject. It was only after removing both persons did the tree find its rightful place as the subject.
8 comments posted
Ha, nice! What next Gotta remove the birds...... I like the image of the house and tree alone. The image is however very flat and needs processing in the basic and the BW conversion areas. In the BW conversion you can darken the skies by reducing the luminosity of the blues, then season the tree leaves to taste by increasing or decreasing whatever their color is (green I presume). Then add contrast and clarity to the whole scene, while deciding whether the tree or the house is the hero, not both. Posted: 10/03/2026 15:31:23
Will, thank you for your critique. Yes, I would prefer a black sky but have not been able to get to black with the light skies on any of my tree series. I have gotten beautiful black skies with contrasting cloud formations on my Downtown Deland Buildings series, but not with this tree series. Posted: 10/03/2026 19:51:37
Interesting observations about the subject of a picture. I think we are innately drawn to other humans over other objects in the environment, so whenever you put a human in a picture, it will dominate interest. But I think there is still the house to contend with here--if I didn't read your comment and your interest in trees, I would think this is a picture of a house shaded by a large tree. The house is bright and takes up a lot of space in the picture, so it is competing with the tree for attention. But if your goal was to show the interaction of trees with humans (or their homes), then I think you've achieved your purpose. Posted: 10/05/2026 18:46:12
Thank you, Canan. Yes, you are correct in saying that the house (actually a wing of our community club house) competes to be the subject. This image will not make the final cut in my "trees" project for that very reason. I am still working on the project and will search for better tree subjects. Posted: 10/05/2026 19:02:29
Agree with the comments above - all three elements (tree, house, people) in the original compete for my gaze without a clear subject. Agree with Canan we naturally look at other living things (people, animals, etc.), so I understand your decision to remove them. Bits of their sandals remain, although if I did not see your original - I might have thought they were birds or leaves. Even removing the people - I don't think that either the house or the tree are prominent enough. They continue to compete with one another - leaving me a bit uncertain of the photographer's intent. I hope you'll share more trees int he future! Posted: 10/05/2026 21:24:15
Steven, this is the second time that you have looked at my image and pointed out to me a mistake that I overlooked. Thank you!
This is far from the best image in my tree series. I continue to work on the series, and this image will be deleted. I use it as an example of the pull of people in an image. But I should have caught the parts of the shoes that I missed. Posted: 10/05/2026 23:12:04
This is far from the best image in my tree series. I continue to work on the series, and this image will be deleted. I use it as an example of the pull of people in an image. But I should have caught the parts of the shoes that I missed. Posted: 10/05/2026 23:12:04
I agree that the people are best removed, though the house still competes with the tree. Perhaps if you upped the contrast on the tree - made the blacks darker - and toned down the house a bit, it would show your intent more clearly. Posted: 10/05/2026 21:51:56
See my reply to Steven above.
Yes, it is still not clear that the tree is the subject. However, if I were to present this image in a group of tree images, the tree as the subject would be assumed.
This is still not an image I intend to keep. Posted: 10/05/2026 23:16:21
Yes, it is still not clear that the tree is the subject. However, if I were to present this image in a group of tree images, the tree as the subject would be assumed.
This is still not an image I intend to keep. Posted: 10/05/2026 23:16:21