Famous Ash
Or so spoke an old man in an old car, hailing us as we photographed some cows just a corner away. There, he said, was the famous Ash tree, often used in Dales and Yorkshire flyers. That, he says, is the photo that sells. And, just aah, wow, he's right. What a sight.
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Care to share your process in creating this?
All those lovely photos uploaded lately by JD users I was getting a bit jealous. Nothing like a bit of competion to trigger the sences..
It was a CR2 (Raw) photo shot for the purpose of a fine one-shot HDR postprocessing job. I saw the contrast and the beauty of the composition, or at least thought so. And this old man in his old mobile helped me to feel inspired. I did not even know of this tree, photographing beautiful wild'ish cows just around the bend. Hurray for the local folk!
Anyway, I took some 10 minutes, walking around the scene, pondering on the best location. Then I took two sample shots. Deciding on the best location I took foothold and shot another 5 in Raw.
The photo was imported into Photomatics Pro 4.2.1, my favourite HDR tool. A tool made for the purpose of HDR bracketing, but also capable of marvels with single shots. The photo, being single-shot, was poor in contrast, lacking both in sky and landscape. I had taken several shots, but on this one the composition was best by far. Post processing can do a lot, so I decided this one should be the one. Hence, once loaded into the Photomatics software I adjusted and played with it until I got the photo uplifted. From a bit dull it went to rather gloomy, with a lively springtime note in it. Colourful yet groggy, sad and frivolous at the same time. It reflects space, quiet countryside and times of old. Giving away 'trade' secrets here.
Btw. you were my inspiration really, to try HDR. It was on my wishlist a long time, but I really did not believe in it. After your first tries at HDR shooting some tree scapes I got the virus too. HDR rocks, though only (i.m.o.) in contrasty scenes, especially those scenes with difficult lighting. Raw is essensial, with a jpg shot you (read: I) can only go a bit.
Watch a nice movie to get the spirit of the Yorkshire Dales a bit more.
It is a part of England not so touristy in a good way. It was our first time, and we never normally return to the same area on any holiday but this could be it.
@Ferdy: You got a GPS with you on your dream holiday to Madagaskar? Man, we are going to see some pictures, I bet:)
I look a forward to see more of these pictures.
Looking forward to the bike trip btw!