Glenwood Oak

I revisited this great tree this morning, 10 minutes before the rains came, brandishing my new 12-24mm wide angle lens. This was my first attempt with the lens on my D200 and I can see already that I am going to have to look at things differently to get full benefit. I never realized the difference the wider angle would make on how things turn out. I made an attempt at a pano also, trying to get more of this massive oak in the picture but it did not turn out so well. I need to get me a pano head and rail I think and then try it again. This is at the Glenwood Cemetery in Houston, TX by the way. I've posted images from here before, the same tree in fact, but I like the place so much that I keep finding myself going back for more. There is a wealth of subject matter at this beautiful location and I am sure I will return many, many times.

Hi James,

This is a great picture, thx for showing. It really gives me an eery feeling, it is as if in a B-movie. I except any moment the tree to turn into a monster and jump at me ;-).

Is that the Sigma 12-24mm? If so, I have the same one but on my FF Canon 5D. It is a great lens indeed. But you won't be able to do panos with this lens, I've also did a few trials in the past. The reason is the perspective change which is way too much using this wide a lens. Try 35mm or longer for panos. Let us know how you fare pls <smile>

Cheers,

James,

The wider view of this scene pays off! What as the focal length and how many frames wide? The wide angle and perspective of your close position gives the tree this almost alive "reaching out" appearance! This tree impresses me in that it has served generations of gardeners and none tamed it in all this time. In return the tree's branches seem to tender the souls buried there!

This is a great subject and one you can get a lot more out of! For that, not just the composition and angle of view, but the kind of light defines the tree and allows it to haver a real presence on a flat piece of paper.

I'm a devotee to B&W but here the light is flat and so the tonalities don't contribute much to the picture's vibrancy. I would look again at curves and sharpening. Perhaps think of using sunrise and sunset too! That will give you light that sets the scene up in 3D space. That illumination is a must for such a tree in B&W. Then, with that greart light you'll also have great color! So, you have also try to follow Nicolas Claris' first order to look at the tree for what it is in magnificent in color. With the leaves on the ground, now is a great time.

Me? I'd cheat and bring leaves from another tree if necessary to get a full carpet at the base of that magnificent tree! Just my fantasy!

Asher

On a purely techical note, did you use a tripod or is this handheld? What software did you use in stitching, just photoshop or something more specialized? Is the latter, did you try spherical v. rectilinear or cylindrical reconstruction?

Hi James,

This is a more effective picture as you have gone wider and now the limbs seem to be very much alive and reaching out in all directions. Excellent! What focal length and how many frame. Is this a simple PS stitch or in a specialized software. Have you tried different rendering: spherical v planar or cylindrical?

The picture was in the am before rain, so it was likely very overcast and there are no great shadows. This makes for flawless portraits or copying of photographs but doesn't do justice for texture of the tree and stone! The even light here works against making a scene pop out from a flat print! Nevertheless, this even light may also give the place an eerie mood! That is something you'll find out.

I agree the subject is rich for many more pictures both in B&W and color. I have a modest idea. What about a picture from further out and include some great clouds and the leaves (import if needed, I would) at the base of the tree. Color as well as B&W when the light is right!

Thanks again for sharing more in this series.

Asher

Don't want to "me too" Asher, but I'd get a kick out of seeing this one in color. Been on my mind before I saw Asher's post. Great shot, I wanna go there.
-Greg

Thank you all for the responses and suggestions. Once again I was torn whether to even post this because of the obvious problems with the image. Perhaps it would be better placed in the beginner forum and used more for we infant learners. Moving it would not hurt my feelings at all.

Asher, this is just a single image, not a stitch. I shot from a tripod down low, using a remote release, (I forgot mirror up), with my Nikon D200 and new Tokina 12-24mm f/4 lens. Focal length was at 15mm ISO 100 and 1.8 second exposure time. I took a number of different exposures using the excellent bracketing abilities of this camera, but this one seemed to be about the best when I looked them over. Personally I prefer color myself in most instances but when I started working with this image I had so many problems with it that my B&W conversion was more me throwing up my hands in disgust and admitting that I just did not know enough or understand enough yet about the whole photographic and post processing process and trying to just salvage something from nothing. I apologize to all real B&W devotees such as yourself for admitting such an abomonation. I love good B&W photography but in this instance my intent was to show this tree in it's glorious living color as you stated. When I failed at doing that I should have accepted that little failure and tried again instead of continuing on down my path of destruction As I read what I am now typing that really sounds pretty disgusting in itself but I am trying to be honest here. I am not even close to the level that I hope to be at someday and images like this only go to prove that. I read and learn (hopefully) a lot of valuable things here in this wonderful forum from the obviously talented and experienced artists who live here. One of those things is that you cannot rely on trying to salvage or rescue bad exposures, which obviously I really did not learn because I tried doing just that instead of just deleting them all and trying again another day. I am not going to give up though. Learning and then executing the proper procedures to display this wonderful tree in all of its glory to the best of my abilities has become my goal. I am not going to stop until I am completely satisfied with the results. It deserves at least that.

By the way, this tree is really more amazing than I had at first realized. I have been trying to find out how old it is and cannot find any estimates at all. I did find out yesterday however that this tree is the second or third (it's being debated) largest Live Oak in the entire state of Texas. Sorry, I meant to say Great State of Texas. The largest tree is located on Goose Island near Rockport. This Champion tree has been estimated at over 1,000 years old so the tree in my photograph must be somewhere in that range. That in itself is just hard for me to comprehend and makes me want more than ever to be able to give my best efforts in capturing its majesty.

Below is the original, untouched image that my B&W monstrosity evolved from. You can see the steel cables running through the branches that are used to hold the massive limbs and keep them from breaking under their own weight. I cloned them out in my picture but now I wonder if I should have even done that. And Asher, since you brought up the stitching, I also included my little pano experiment so you could see my attempt that I was speaking of. It too has many issues and problems but it is a good starting point and has already served as a learning tool for me to use. I want to try it again only going vertical as well as horizontal to see if I can capture the entire tree. It's hard to capture the entire tree here in one image (with my current equipment) because there are so many other trees in this area that you are pretty limited as to the angle of attack and the distance away that you can get and still maintain a clear shot. This was made from 9 images stitched in Photoshop CS3. I only recently upgraded from CS2 to CS3 and the Photomerge capabilities alone were really why I did it. CS3 is so much better than CS2 in this regard. I also have Autopano Pro demo version that I am looking at. It too seems very good and fairly easy for someone like me to use somewhat successfully. I hope you don't mind these extra images. Thanks. James Newman

PS edit - do you think a GND filter might help with the overexposed sky and the CA around some of the upper branches? Also, would it be possible that the best lighting might actually come when the sun is basically straight overhead in a shot like this? Due to the location and angles and all of the other trees around there just doesn't seem to be a good opportunity for good lighting with the sunrise or sunset. Maybe I just haven't thought everything out clearly yet. I am going back this week to try again because I have a whole week off from work!! I was even thinking of maybe sitting my wife on the bench in the foreground for a different feel. Think that would be unnessecary and corny? Thanks.

Hi James
C'mon! don't beat yourself, your image has plenty enough to be enhanced, but imho some lacks that won't make it a keeper (you can't imagine how many pics i can throw!):

the framing is nice, but you're not horizontal (leaning clockwise)
you should have moved a bit to better place the bigger stone (the one on left) and in general to also use the "stones" position and lines to enhance the general strength (together with the branches)
You could have -may be- turned the camera looking a little bit upward to exagerate the branches dynamic…

The cloudy weather did help you in the way that there is no hard shadows.

On the left hand corner, below the branch, there's a small jar plant disturbing…

Yes, the 15mm is the lens to use there! Have you tried 12 mm but vertical framing? this should be amazing too!

a little PS work does bring colors back and -may be again- from that point a possible B&W converstion, though I'm not thrilled with;-)

Below is an attempt of mine, just to show there is plenty of colors and contrasts, but It has been easier to work on the raw file… I don't even know if it in the direction you wished:

Photographing tree limbs has been intriguing, fascinating, frustrating and rewarding for me for as long as I've been looking through a veiwfinder!

Many times, it seems like the potential turns out to be more than the reality, but in the case of THIS tree - Wow! What potential!

I wonder about this scene in moonlight (or post-processed moonlight look?)...

Nicolas Claris said:

Hi
a little PS work does bring colors back and -may be again- from that point a possible B&W converstion, though I'm not thrilled with;-)

Below is an attempt of mine, just to show there is plenty of colors and contrasts, but It has been easier to work on the raw file… I don't even know if it in the direction you wished:

Click to expand...

Nicolas,

From the point of view of color, a nice job but the mood is lost and I'd blend back a percentage, maybe just 3-15% of the original and perhaps an optimized B&W image in which colors have been assigned to tones to bring out the great detail in the tree, grass and grave markers.

This is like an old man with weathered leathery skin.

Asher

James, thanks for taking the time to post color versions. I'm torn for now.
-Greg

I want to thank you all for your input and advice. This tree has taken hold of me and I cannot stop thinking about it and what I want to do with it. Luckily for me it is fairly close to my home so I don't have to travel far to get to it. I went back this morning, when the sun was a bit harsh really and made a few more attempts. I still am leaning towards using a GND filter to try and avoid blowing out the sky that shows through the upper branches. Would this be feasable in something like this? I don't have one right now but am leaning heavily towards getting one. Not just for this situation but for various other landscape subjects that I find myself looking at but if it might help with this tree that will probably make my mind up for me. These images will give a better idea of what the limbs really look like on this beautiful tree. I really don't know what kind of plant or fern is growing all over the tree but it really adds to the charm of this old beauty. The last is just a silly self portrait that I snapped but it seems to show some of the agony I am facing with this difficult subject. (My loving wife is sitting in the car reading a book while I do all of this I will be back when things look better. I definitely am not giving up now.

Hi James,

I think the viewpoint as in your first and second image is the better position of the ones you have shown. The first shot today has some shadows, so I think that time of day, but from the first position may work well. Grad filters may be useful (they are available with different gradients, of course, maybe you need to get a few, even coloured ones if you want to produce monotone images, you can get a holder so you can stack them). I do not notice the blown sky, there is more interesting stuff in the image, but it will be more important when there are no leaves, and more sky.

Best wishes,

Ray

James Newman said:

I went back this morning, when the sun was a bit harsh really and made a few more attempts. I still am leaning towards using a GND filter to try and avoid blowing out the sky that shows through the upper branches. Would this be feasable in something like this?

Click to expand...

Hi James,

I really like the tonality of the first image. I don't think a grad filter can help you much, all it'll do is underexpose the branches. If you want to convey something more 'moody', I'd suggest you try HDR imaging. When you take a series of bracketed exposures it will alow you to capture meaningful signal in all tones. You can then, after turning the individual LDR images into an HDR image composite, experiment to your heart's content in postprocessing to find the type of tonemapping that works best for you. Alternatively, exposure blending will also work but it depends on the actual contrast which will give the best results.

Bart

Bart's suggestion is a very good one. HDR might indeed help you in creating the mood you were looking for. If you don't know how, just download a trial version of Photomatix and give it a go.
You'll need to take 3 or more bracketed images (have a separation of 2-3 stops in each of those brackets) using a tripod first.

Cheers,

What this "exposure blending" ? Hm?

I assume this is a photoshop technique involving bracketed exposures?

Edward Bussa said:

What this "exposure blending" ? Hm?

I assume this is a photoshop technique involving bracketed exposures?

Click to expand...

Indeed. There is an explanation here:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/blended_exposures.shtml and here:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/digital-blending.shtml

HTH,

Cheers,

Edward Bussa said:

What this "exposure blending" ? Hm?

I assume this is a photoshop technique involving bracketed exposures?

Click to expand...

Yes, as Cem already confirmed, but it is not something restricted to Photoshop. You can also use e.g. Photomatix to do it almost automagically. If I recall correctly, the free version of Photomatix Pro did not put a watermark on the exposure blends, but it did on HDR tonemappings. If that's still the case, it's free to experiment with the blending options. It can (within limits) also work with handheld bracketed exposures, because Photomatix also aligns the images before processing them.

Bart

This tree is one of those beautiful things that is very hard to photograph. I think your most recent attempts are quite decent. I would try very early or very late light. For a different viewpoint I might try laying on my back with a very wide angle or perhaps even a fisheye.

- DL

Well I went back this morning to try again. The first thing I noticed was that all of the lush green fern growth that covered the limbs on my visit just a few days earlier was now all brown and withered completely. I thought that was unusual. This is in Houston so it's not like it was killed off by the first frost or anything. I took a lot of different shots using three different lenses. I used the 12-24mm, 50mm f/1.8 that I just bought, and even my 70-300. I came away with some images that I liked but none were still quite what I am looking to achieve. I guess that just gives me reason to keep going back. I did try my hand at an HDR image as suggested and I was somewhat pleased. It may be a little heavy on the effect for some people's tastes but I really like HDR images that are that way for some reason. To each his own. I'm not too happy with the limbs on the left being OOF however. I just wasn't thinking I guess. I also tried another pano shot but this time using the 50mm lens. This shot is actually 3 rows of 8 images for a total of 24 stitched in Photoshop CS3. I have a long way to go with pano that is for sure. It's a start though.

After the tree session I spent another hour just driving around taking pictures of some of the beautiful statuary that this cemetery holds. It's a gold mine I tell you. Opportunity everywhere. I find something new everytime I go there. I have been putting some of my images into a pbase gallery to make it easier to share with friends and family. I have one gallery there called "LATEST" that holds everything that I brought home from the cemetery today. If anyone is interested or has a couple of minutes to spare, please feel free to have a look and let me know what you think about my new favorite place to shoot. It's at www.pbase.com/jnewmanco1

Hi James,

I had a quick look. If you could get the light pattern as in _DSC1475.jpg but with the view as in the first image posted here, would be what I would like to see. Maybe you need to try it in moonlight, if the sun doesn't go 'that way'. The first one here, the branches come out to pull you into the picture, I do not get the feeling with the others I've seen. Maybe you need to reserve me a plot ;-)

Best wishes,

Ray

Thank you Ray. I will see what I can do. Just once I would like to see the sun come up from the west. I suppose that would cause other issues though. The moonlight shot may be a problem as they close the gates at 7:00pm. Perhaps later, deeper into winter after our time change and shorter days arrive, when the moon is right, I might actually have an opportunity to try something like that.

Thank you again,
James