The Tones of the Everglades

[Allen Maestas]

been a while since I've posted on here, how is everyone?

This is an image I took in late April of the year. I had to be down in Miami for business, and luckily we were able to get out and enjoy a bit of the Everglades.

Al


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3020/2558020049_479cfb0c55_o.jpg

[Asher Kelman]

Hi Allen,

A fine picture of the everglades. It's good to have you post and this B&W photograph is impressive. How did it get this way? Is this digital or film and what was the pathway to this final image. I ask because I see a very beautifully rendered sky and detailed foreground. The middle seems less important and so I was wondering whether there was a version that was bolder in that region.

If the picture is cut horizontally at the point where the diagonal foreground meets the left border, the photograph is now well balanced to my eye.

Now, having said that and rewinding the movie and going back to the photograph as you have made it I wonder how valid my suggestion would be. I feel that the more than expected foreground of vegetation in the water is really what represents the continuity of the Everglades. This in fact may be the important feature which provides a feeling which a perfect panorama would miss. The latter would convey a broad sense of tranquility. However, the Everglades are not that. looking ahead, it does seem to stretch for ever with hidden risks and hazards. So maybe, after all, the tension of this foreground heavy composition does the job.

Thanks for sharing!

Asher

[Allen Maestas]

Thanks Asher, I always enjoy your comments :) This is a digital capture on a Canon 40D with my (now sold) 12-24 Tokina lens. I processed this frist as a color image and then later converted to B&W using PSCS3's B&W tool, then adding some selective dodging and burning and a slight curves adjustment. I liked your idea of a pano crop, but I was happy with it as is :)

Al

[Michel BRAUD]

Concerning the Everglades, you probably know a man who soak his feet into the swamp with his Deardorf braving crocodiles.
I visited him in Venice few years back, his name is Clyde Butcher, he makes giant prints out of his negs, really impressive.

http://www.clydebutcher.com/

I suggest you clic on the technical tab..... to get an idea !!!!


Michel

[Mike Shimwell]

Allan,

I love this. When I read the first part of Asher's comment I was prepared to disagree, as I like the extra foreground, though Asher then offered an alternative critique. Also, I think the low key treatment of the midground serves the image well. The key messages for me are the semi-abstract vegetation detail and the space (and implied heat) revealed by the sky. To bold a mid ground would close the view, limiting the sense of space.

Thanks,

Mike