The Jeffery Pine

Jeff/fotog · Sep 24, 2005

Jeffrey Pine, Yosemite

eydryan · Sep 24, 2005

looks rteal good. well, the tree does

and the pic but it seems to me a little too tightly cropped left and up and the light is way too harsh. maybe you can tone it down a bit in photoshop. or maybe just darken the whole frame... i dunno, that's how it looks on my screen. and it's decalibrated now towards the darker end. so... darken it.

Jeff/fotog · Oct 1, 2005

Being new to this forum I FAILED to talk a little about this image. This is shot at the top of Sentinel Dome at Yosemite. The altitude is quite high there and the light is very harsh. Unknown to me at the moment of making the image, this tree had been on the cover of National Geographic in the early 1900's and Adams had shot it as well. Rather puzzling, though, of his image, as it was taken quite a distance away, losing the drama of the imposing tree.

The thing about this tree is its scale. It is huge. Over the years, based on the evidence which I have now found, hikers and vacationers have not been particularly kind to this single tree, perhaps challenging its very existence. Many people sit and climb on it.

Surrounding the tree are many little bowls scraped from the granite, used to set fires to send signals across the Yosemite valley. You can put your hands on them.

Oh, the image was originally shot on 4 x 5 with a Deardorff (after climbing up a dreadfully steep granite dome without anywhere to go but DOWN). The image you see is a digital copy of the analogue print.

www.jefferyraymond.com

eydryan · Oct 1, 2005

very nice story, but why did you not shoot with a tourist on top of it? to give a sense of scale...

Jeff/fotog · Oct 1, 2005

I guess my limitation is that I am an old school photographer...'Straight Photography'...an academic approach and wouldn't want it to look like a 'tourist shot.' That may not make sense, but at the moment, I was responding simply to the stark image of the tree.

Thanks for your comments and interest. www.jefferyraymond.com

eydryan · Oct 1, 2005

it's nice but you have to realise that in that moment there is more that impresses you about that tree than the camera can capture, and you must convey that feeling using limited resources. it's not easy but it is doable.

mentos_007 · Oct 1, 2005

wow very dramatic! I do like how the branches "frame" the picture!!

Jeff/fotog · Oct 3, 2005

Thanks for your comments...I had never thought about the image actually being the frame. It's great to learn more about your own images from those who are seeing them for the first time!

LaFoto · Oct 4, 2005

It is a pity that you present us this oddly shaped, old tree in such a tiny photo only, I would like to see it a bit larger, then I could appreciate the stark contrasts that you chose for this photo a bit better, I guess. Not that I did not enjoy the photo as it is. I would have liked for the tree to have a bit "more room above", though, but that is all. I definitely would NOT want to see anyone sitting on that tree. It would make a joke out of your photo, and I am sure that is not what you wanted to create, right?

Jeff/fotog · Oct 4, 2005

Thanks LaFoto: The original print, of course, is huge, and I scaled it here to fit into this forum.

What I learned from another critique of my work is that I tend to create triangles in the geometry of my composition which this person said was a good thing. I don't know if it is or not, but after that critique I went back and looked at many of my images www.jefferyraymond.com and found that to be true.

This composition certainly has a lot of them. Not sure where this came from, but, guess it's just my style, how I see things.