Creepy Tree C&C Needed

[DogGoneGood]

A friend at work requested that I go photograph this tree that she's loved since she was little, and print out a 5x7 for her.

The photo has a TON of busy streets and cars and power lines no matter what angle you shoot from, so I had to heavily edit it. It was also cloudy and about to rain, so the sky came out almost solid white. I'll post the original, and then I'll post my 4 different edits. I'd like opinions on which edit is best, and if there's a better/different way to edit them that may have a better result. She says she's loved the tree because of the "eerie" and "creepy" look it has.

I'm not quite done cloning on the edits, as you can see from some black smudges still on the pics.

The original straight out of the camera:

The edits:

1.

2.

3.

4.

 

[pwrstrk02]

what a wild tree. i see people jumping off, people climbing up, i see people hanged, i see animales hanging upside-down.

 

[MissCream]

I'm on my phone but from what I can tell I like #3 the best.

 

[Ryan L]

what a wild tree. i see people jumping off, people climbing up, i see people hanged, i see animales hanging upside-down.

hmmm... Not seeing that! Sounds a little morbid. Lol to each his own.

 

[GrantH]

I think (in my limited knowledge of anything photo related) that if you cropped from the top of the building down, that you still get the effect and such of the tree without all the editing.

 

[DogGoneGood]

I think (in my limited knowledge of anything photo related) that if you cropped from the top of the building down, that you still get the effect and such of the tree without all the editing.

It'd work if it was just the building. But there's a brick house, a big red stop sign, several power lines, a truck trailer and a bunch of other distractions.

So far I'm pleased with the edits. She wanted me to convey it's "creepiness" in the photo, she said it always looked like a tree from a horror movie.

I need to read about the history of that small square lot where it's at. There's an extremely old iron fence... what's left of it, and two iron pillars with ancient looking steps that lead into that vacant area. It was something at one time... with that dead tree right in the middle.

Here's my final edit. I noticed a few smudges left after I had already submitted the 4x6 to be printed at Walmart. Obviously not the best photo ever taken, but it was really just meant as a snapshot for my co-worker. She doesn't have a camera or computer, and really just wanted a nice creepy photo of her favorite tree.

 

[ayeelkay]

The edits make the photo look a little odd. But I do prefer 3 as well.

 

[Ryan L]

If you have cs5 I would use the refine edge tool to fix that grass. You can really tell that you used a soft brush to erase the areas around it.

 

[Bram]

Reminds me of the movie 300. Not a bad photo Edit #3 is your best. The first edit isn't great you can see where you brushed over.

 

[kelbow]

I recommend no glow at all. The last three photos as well as the re-edit utilize the "feathered" look which is very tacky - especially in the re-edit and #3. The photo would look better with less editing. Perhaps cutting the building and right tree out with a harder brush/feather at 0 would produce a photo with less Photoshop evidence. The grass should not "fade" as this does not happen naturally.

 

[sobolik]

Make the house on the right disappear by making it a part of the foliage on the right. Clone and paste the present foliage.

Remove the house on the left but not making a flat nothing above the horizon result. Take your ques from the tree above the house.

Keep it color.

 

[CapM]

I like the ones where you can see the grass (not the green one though) on the bottom, giving the tree scale. You know you are looking at the entire tree, and not just the upper portion of one.

 

[bazooka]

If it were me, I'd go out at night or after sunset and shoot a hard flash to the side or behind it. I would have only black background, it would be dark and dramatic, awsome texture, and no clutter. Better still, no editing. You could even gel the light to make the sky different colors... purple, orange, blue, whatever you want to increase the creepy feeling. Or if the moon is out, use that, although it won't give you two planes of color control.

 

[bazooka]

Something like this... (not mine)

Lonely tree at night -- 01/12/09 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!