Tree in the Valley

[navcom]

Took this shot in a state park not far from where we have been vacationing. Would have liked to have been here about 2 hours later when the sun was down a bit more but I like the tree. Would appreciate any comments or critiques. Thanks!

Pentax K20D
DA 10-17mm
f/11
1/100
ISO 100

[wulf]

This shows effective use of wide angle distortion. Was the tree leaning a bit anyway or is that all down to the magic of the lens?

I think the weakest aspect of an otherwise well exposed picture is darkness in the bottom left. It is the kind of scene where you could sit and take pictures all days, observing the light and either identifying the perfect moment or blending details from two or three shots together. Whether that is feasible depends on who else you're vacationing with!

It might be worth seeing if there is some detail you can recover over in that patch anyway.

Wulf

[navcom]

The tree was leaning pretty good. That, along with the age of the tree and it's wonderful root pattern, are what inspired the composition.

You are right about the dark area. I never really noticed it all that much until you pointed it out. It was later in the day and the shadows along the side of the valley did a good number on the detail. I will see what I can do with the RAW file when I get back home.

[Trader]

If you have the .RAW file, you should be able to bring out the detail in the lower left of the image. I'd try to add a little fill light first. You may want to mask off the rest of the image because the tree itself is excellently exposed.

It is a nice photo. I would straighten out the horizon line in Photoshop but that's just a personal preference of mine.