Trees

[Gordon Bain]

These are just few shots from around my neighbourhood to give you folks an idea what I look for. I do like trees and feel most have some kind of personality. I try to bring this out in my shots. Alternatively, I might be mad. See what you think.

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All shots captured with my Nikon D80 and various lenses. PP is present in all to varying degrees.


Enjoy,

Gordon

 

[Asher Kelman]

These are just few shots from around my neighbourhood to give you folks an idea what I look for. I do like trees and feel most have some kind of personality. I try to bring this out in my shots. Alternatively, I might be mad. See what you think.

this first one has a most interesting composition. It has drawbacks of losing sharp focus of the dog, (is it indeed a dog?) and the center of the tree is hardly defined. It could be that you have another version or could lighten the center to bring out detail of the leaves and branches.

This picture is wonderfully made. The placement of the trees is highly agreeable. There are sufficient clouds with presence but not oppressive. The grass has shadows making it dimensional and the trees recede to the distance, giving us a connection with what is and what might be. Altogether a well made picture and reminds me of John Constable's Deadham Vale for its esthetics and the fairness he treats sky, trees and ground with almost equal attention.

John Constable: Deadham Vale

Photograph of Oil Painting on Canvas 1802​

Bravo! Of course, your photograph is far cleaner and less romantic and I like it more. You have the lighting on your side. did you only come at this time or you came back just then, waiting for this light?


Asher

 

[Gordon Bain]

Thanks for the critique Asher. The first picture is meant to be kinda dreamy. I think maybe you're right though and I should maybe work with the original image a bit less. It is a dog btw, he's Angus, one of our Cairn terriers. The second is pretty much our back garden. It's only a three minute walk from the house and you're about the timing - that was around 06:00.

 

[Jerome Marot]

Alternatively, I might be mad. See what you think.

I think that one has to be mad to be a photographer.

That wasn't the question?

Your pictures of trees are very nice. I particularly like the harmonious composition of the second and the fourth. The first might be better in a square format, and I am not so sure about the dog. The third could be cropped a bit.

 

[Paul Abbott]

I prefer to see these as B&W renditions to help me concentrate on the lines and shapes of these trees. The colour distracts for me and the animals, especially.

I'm mad too, it's better than being dull and academic!

 

[Asher Kelman]

Timing!

from around my neighbourhood .....................

Gordon,

You are unusually fortunate not only having right by you some of the most distinguished and interesting tree specimens, but also the sensibilities to appreciate and want to turn these into art we all can enjoy by your work. Lastly, you have all the skills to achieve this with distinction. For this reason, your work commands our attention more so than most pictures we see every day.

This scene is one that the greats would return to. The tree shapes you have brought us are exceptional, clustered and formed by the winds to unique form, but that work together as sentinels for the entire landscape. This constitutes 97% of my experience and feelings. I do have, in the remaining 3%, strong reservations about the sky. Why? The main cloud is amputated and the sky so bright and light blue that we are drawn to that corner; then out of the picture!

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The sky in your pictures, as in Constables, demands equal attention, given the space it occupies. The cloud pattern we are brought s broken up in an unsettling way that makes us feel the picture is incomplete. A picture should, in the end, be one entity. When some of the elements are cut as in this case, the clouds being only partly shown, and in disarray, spoils our enjoyment. It breaks the spell your picture must cast on us.

Unless, of course, this is your vision, then it's my job to catch up with you and appreciate your sentiment. Otherwise, this site demands returning as many times until the clouds are right.

Asher

 

[StuartRae]

Hi Gordon,

Nos 2 and 3 are my favourites, especially #3 which has the Scots Pines (?) illuminated by beautiful evening sunlight.

#1 doesn't really do it for me I'm afraid. The tree is rather ordinary and badly lit, and the clouds on the left are, if not exactly blown, rather flat and featureless. As I said above, #3 makes up for it!

Regards,

Stuart

 

[Gordon Bain]

Wow! And wow again. I've never actually had anyone analyze my pictures quite so deeply.

What you guys say about no.1 I've got to agree with. To be honest I suspect if Angus (the dog) hadn't crept into this one it wouldn't really have registered. Strange because I wouldn't have put sentimentality as a feature of my work until now. My bad (as they say).

I think no.2's pretty good to my eye, but it's a bit bland too. There's no drama. It's just what it is, no more. I like to allude to more.

I like no.3 too but not the sky. There's just nothing happening up there. It's also maybe a bit twee. Syrupy (sentimental?).

No.4 I like. It's actually a pretty old image - maybe 2005 or something like that. I've got lots of others of this clump of trees but this one is my favourite. However I think it doesn't do too well on a monitor. It's improved when viewed full screen and the viewer gets up and walks away from the screen. But it looks great when printed and hung on a wall.

Can I post more pictures here for appraisal? Lots of the points I'm reading here are valid and not things I'd thought of before.