Weekly #838 - Other Trees Competition

Winner Chosen - please stay tuned for feedback / comments...

The Honywood Oak - MHOL190246
Quite a beast of a tree this, so much so that it looks to have been difficult to get the whole thing in… The light in the leaves has been captured well, however I think more could have been made of that fantastic trunk by using a tighter composition and loosing the sky to the left of the frame.

Boggard Lane - Garethjmorgan
This image has a great old world feel, I enjoyed the contrast and patterns in the trees. The sepia tone, the edge used, and the slightly soft focus has helped this old world feeling. I would like to think “the boggard” is a mythical beast whose spirit and face has been captured in the second tree from the left. I am sure there are more faces to be found in this image if you look.

Les pieds dans l' eau - The feet in water – Francisbd
A striking reflection image that works fantastically in mono, the trees certainly have their feet in the water, hopefully the photographer (and camera) remained dry. There is some Lovely detail in the landscape behind the trees, and I could look at this image for ages. I suspect it would have been difficult if not impossible to get a viewpoint without the shrubbery in the foreground. I think I would clone out what is overlapping the reflection of the tree in the left to give it some more space, think it would help the image.

River Paddle – Nigelk
Nigel is obviously someone who is not afraid of getting their feet wet in the pursuit of a picture. The light in the trees and particularly the reflection is gorgeous. The bank of the river leads nicely to a bridge that I did not notice a first. It’s a shame the light did not manage to highlight the bridge at the end as this would have given more of a focus point. I liked the foreground interest of the green weeds too.

The Oak Tree – Davidwozhere
Lovley use of negative space here, the position of the main subject, the tree is spot on. The shape of the tree interested me as there appears to are quite a number of branches lower down the trunk. I liked subtle light and shadow on the ploughed field, although personally I think you could lose the patch of grass bottom right and the two bits of long grass sticking into the frame…

Autumn in Glen Docherty – David Trout
Some fantastic Autum colour in the trees that are the foreground interest and more than a touch of winter in the background mountains. Two seasons in one image!

Reclining Beech - Golitha Falls – MikeinDevon
Some fantastic detail and light on the contorted trunk of this tree. The exposure is spot on too, I think this is one of those images that would work really well in mono. Quite a bold bit of composition with the bulk of the trunk being in the centre of the picture, yet we still get a an idea of the reclining nature thanks it curving towards the bottom right corner of the frame.

Still Standing – Flan
A street tree I assume, that has very much been through the wars, there is the hint of a building in the frame but maybe seeing a bit more of street (assuming I am correct) would help the story telling aspect of the image. The exposure and the point of focus on the scars from lost branches works well.

Brrrrrrr Chilly Trees – dewsburya
Quite a chilly winter snow scene captured on a golf course, maybe this explains the planting which seems to be in a very orderly row. .The colour temperature I think is good but I did think the exposure could do with lifting very slightly as on my screen I did find this a bit dark. Its interesting that only one person has chosen to photograph the next generation of trees, with most going for mature specimens, so well done for considering this

Feeding the Sheep! Drofmit
I am not much good in the mornings so I appreciate sun rise or early morning shots. I really enjoyed this image the early morning light and mist have created a wonderful atmospheric scene. The inclusion of a person also gives us a good idea of the scale of the main subject, which is also nicely positioned in the frame.

There's always Pine Forests~ - Noelcmn
This is the tree equivalent of the work house, all the trees crammed in so close together so they have no option but to race uniformly and directly up to the light with no room for individuality. So in a way this is quite a dark and oppressive image, which the colours an contrast captured in the image go some way to support.

Line of Trees – Retsoor
In a way this is similar to the last image but the space between the rows makes it seem less oppressive (to me anyway) and it has given us more depth in the picture. It’s a bit of a shame there is not much of a focal point at the end of the row, or maybe if it continued on further it would work better.

500 Years – Johnriley
Another tree that is standing the test of time. To me the main subject if this image is the building an the tree sees to be the supporting act, despite being there first! I think cropping the left wing of the building off would give the tree more prominence in the image. Unfortunately this would lose the low flying duck but never mind! I did enjoy the misty atmosphere in this image, it suits the subject well.

1st Place – Feeding the Sheep
2nd Place – The Oak Tree
3rd Place - Les pieds dans l' eau - The feet in water
HC - Reclining Beech - Golitha Falls

Thanks for all the images, really enjoyed reviewing them and the standard was such that it was quite challenging sort the places. So congratulations to every one who took part!

Well done to Drofmit for first, I liked also and to the runners up of course.
A big thanks to Stephen S, for the full monty mode in critique and comments

Thanks to Stephen for the subject and detailed comments. Congratulations to Tim on wining and to the runners up.
David.

Hi Stephen, many thanks for the HC I'm chuffed! A stong selection of images, great winning image a lovely bucolic scene congratulations! And also to the runners up. And thanksyou for the competition and judging comments.

Regards
Mike

Some beautiful trees here. Congratulations Tim and Francis and thank you for the coveted 2nd (no work to do). Good, timely, concise feedback so thank you for that too Stephen.

Thanks for the podium placement and congratulations too to David and Francis....
A lovely set of trees to look at Stephen, thank you for that and the choice of subject.
Writing as an ex-forester, I hope they leave that Stump in the Gap be.... sycamores are a maple family tree and coppice well... in fact, the coppiced or pollarded sycamores were grown as such to provide wood for spindles and reels for the weaving industries opp'North.
It'll come away again and can be allowed to form a different version of the Sycamore in the Gap.... let's face it.... next to some other well known solitaries, it must be one of the most photographed trees in the UK.
I shall sleep on the subject and put something up in the morning!

Thanks for the competition, I appreciate your comments, congratulations to the winners

Thanks Stephen for the judging and comments. Well done Tim-a good photo. Well done also to the other places with some good entries.

Excellent winning shot, me thinks Mr Constable would heartily approve! That neighbor just adds a lot to an already wonderful image! Congrats drofmit, worthy winner. And congrats extended to Davidwozhere and Francisbd and not forgetting the HC MikeinDevon. Thanks and appreciation to stephen-s, for the challenge, judging and C&C's - as always much appreciated.

Noel, you spotted the spalsh of red!