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Photoshop playing...
I took 6 bracketing photos, deleted last two without knowing the left ones were too bright, put 3 together, it looked unnatural.. dropped a crow on the cross, to 'push' the nu-naturalness even further... or more natural? 
Print brush and soft light layer were used to darken the sky.. last minute decision to crop off the top. Thanks for looking. Criticisms are very welcome.
F5; S:might be 1/50,200&400; ISO100.
| Brand: | Canon |
| Lens: | EF24-105mm F/4L IS USM |
| Recording media: | RAW (digital) |
| Date Taken: | 11 Mar 2013 - 3:12 PM |
| Exposure Comp: | 0.0 |
| ISO: | 100 |
| Exposure Mode: | Manual |
| Metering Mode: | Spot |
| Flash: | Off, Did not fire |
| White Balance: | Auto |
| Title: | Tree, cross and ... |
| Username: | 
xwang |
| Uploaded: | 12 Mar 2013 - 6:25 PM |
| Tags: | Cross, Crow, Digitally manipulated, General, Landscape / travel, Tree |
| Votes: | Voting Disabled |
 | Critique Wanted |
| Modifications Welcome (Upload a Modification) |
Comments
Sorry I would love to comment but what i know about PS is absolutely nothing.But you have great depth in your exposure on the tree in front and the representation of death with the Head stone. To top that off the bird also represents death. The out of focus BG just shows off the sharp fore ground. If i was to comment the only thing I would advise is the impact part of your image is very central and I think it can be cropped slightly to enhance the effect...John
A very well seen image but it is the very bright areas in the background that I find distracting. They represent the brightest parts of the image but are not part of the main subject. This is a location I would visit again on a misty day, even in winter. Unfortunately, the crow will be unlikely to be there.
Paul
Thank you very much Paul.
I thought that I would go back again..but I need tripod. Luckily the Joby zoom one just arrived today... i might give a try sometime, somehow.. it was freezing yesterday. 
I'll see what I can do for the background later..
This is by far the best upload from you that I've seen in the CG! Strong, quirky composition, the gaunt, angular lines of the branches with their textures, framing the cross; the crow. I immediately thought of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven.
Within this colour version the only things that I would change would be to slightly tone down the two very bright areas of grass left and right of the cross - particularly the one on the left. And then very slightly blur the upper edges of the roofs on the right.
Nonur is right - there's scope for a good b&w conversion here. I haven't time tonight, I hope someone else will take that up. But I wouldn't crop - I wouldn't want to lose the length of the branches.
Moira
Thank you Nezih. I gave second thought about cropping (square) after I uploaded, but I thought I had cropped it once on the top.. I'm not a great fun of cropping..I try to keep what I see through the camera..maybe too conservative..it could be an option. No, I didn't think about the B&W version. I actually quite like the tree in colour..but I'll give a try of B&W.I'll see if it could limit the bright background that Paul mentioned above.
Thank you Moira. You told me something that I didn't know.. The Raven. Thanks.
The bright area caused by lack of under exposure image when I put the three photos together, I think. I should go back to re-do them again..not far from where I live.. but I need tripod. So I had a play on PS yesterday . This is nearly everything went wrong photo. The edge of the houses were with yellow-ish line, the sky had no colour. I forgot, I replaced the sky, yesterday's sky though and not far away from the photo's location. Thank you for your compliment. I still value photography as pictures come out of camera rather then computer, but I am wrong, a lot of PS work is need, even I feel 'guilty' to mess up the photos too much.
Thank you all again.
Quote: This is by far the best upload from you that I've seen in the CG! Strong, quirky composition, the gaunt, angular lines of the branches with their textures, framing the cross; the crow..Moira
I agree with Moira, in my view by far the best composition and subject matter you have posted in this gallery. This is an image that will stir emotions.
Still a number of technical issues to work on but it will be worth it.
regards
Ian
I only have praise for this, it captures my attention and I love the subject and shapes. I'm not saying not to do a bit more work on it, should that be your choice, but I am tending to like it just as it is. It's interesting to see a tree in a cemetery as the main subject, rather than the gravestones, but with so many crosses in the background, it's still obvious where it is. The bird is a master stroke, just what it needed.
Pamela.
I've come back here because I do love this. I like both the b&w Mods too, they work differently, it's not a case for comparison or preferences. They are simply different pictures.
The thing is, we associate all the crow family with death, decay, foreboding - because they feed on carrion. That's why finding one on a gravestone is so powerful. The bare branches remind me of bones picked bare of flesh.
The eye sees an image, the brain immediately rattles through all the connections, associations, allusions. It's not a conscious process, but it happens.
I mentioned Poe's The Raven. Even better, here is an old Border Ballad, The Twa Corbies (The Two Crows). The language of the original is difficult, here's a modern translation:
The Two Crows
As I was walking all alone,
I heard two crows making a moan;
One to the other did say,
"Where shall we go and dine today?"
"In behind that old turf wall,
I sense there lies a newly slain knight;
And nobody knows that he lies there,
But his hawk, his hound and his lady fair.
His hound is to the hunting gone,
His hawk to fetch the wild-fowl home,
His lady's has taken another mate,
So we may make our dinner sweet.
You will sit on his white neck-bone,
And I'll peck out his pretty blue eyes;
With one lock of his golden hair
We'll thatch our nest when it grows bare.
Many a one for him will moan,
But nobody will know where he is gone;
Over his white bones, when they are bare,
The wind will blow for evermore."
This does what I want an image to do - it makes me think and feel.
Moira
Thank you so much, Moira. It is really wonderful to read some subject related material, Very much appreciated. Educational and enjoyable.
I don't do manipulation much, feel a bit like cheating...but I have to admit that we have more 'freedom' to stretch further on PS than in camera. I could even "free transformed" the crow to make it look like looking for something..
Thank you Nezih for your MOD.
Thank you all for your kind comments. I actually expected more critical comments, because I agree with Ian, there is a lot of technical problems. It all went wrong from the beginning, that's also why manipulation came into "help", anyway, in my case(es).
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