An old monarch

Critiques [Translate]

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• extramundi (12818)
• [2006-06-03 17:14]

Hi Gerhard, always a pleasure to see your lanscapes. I like very much the gradients with saturated colours and the birds in the sky. It looks calm, but hot.
I will have to post a dead tree for you, I also like them very much. They have a strange mixture, decadent but elegant.
Nice to meet you again, my friend.
Best regards from Spain.

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• mogens-j (20)
• [2006-06-03 18:18]
• [+]

Great landscape capture Gerhardt. Wonderful warm colours. I like the way they turn from yellow in the front of the picture to soft purple in the horizon and end up in a light blue in the top of the sky. The shape of the tree is like a dream - or could it be a hand reaching out from the ground.

A very simple and strong composition - well done my friend.

By the way - I fully agree about Don's pictures I just don't have the energi do go into these discussions. I think the best way is to stop comments on his post and he will read the message and vanish all by himseld.

Mogens

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• aido (4046)
• [2006-06-03 18:55]

Hi Gerhard,
I have to agree, the form of dead trees is quite beautiful and often dramatic. A lovely shot, perfectly framed and excellent light. Good warm colours and the flock of birds in the background is perfect. Great shot.
Regards,
Adrian

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• Fisher (8915)
• [2006-06-03 19:22]

Hi Gerhard,

Excellent shot and well done on the composition. This one in color works well. Also, these subjects make great balck and whites. In this scene, the colors are complimentary to opposite according to the color wheel, very interesting to see this together, beautiful.

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• lovenature (5067)
• [2006-06-03 20:32]

Hi Gerhard, A unique look at this once stately tree. I love the colours, warm and yet sad for the tree who lost his all his leaves. Maybe the flock of birds in the background will visit the tree. TFS, Janice

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• Evelynn (14396)
• [2006-06-03 20:51]

Hi Gerhard,

This is a beautiful image. I like dead trees because they can be so dramatic in a simple composition as yours. As a painter, I would call these colors, more "analagous" than "complementary" as they are pretty much neighbors on the pigment color wheel (not to be confused with the RGB light spectrum ). It is what gives this image so much harmony. "Complementary colors" are opposite on the color wheel and are called such because they are "complete"; that is they comprise all three primary pigment colors (red, yellow and blue). The complement of orange is blue and the complement of red violet is yellow/green. Putting such complements in a photo can really make it pop. I don't see those complements here.

Thanks for sharing a wonderful photograph. A+

Evelynn : )

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• loot (10031)
• [2006-06-03 23:44]
• [2]

Hi Gerhard
What a lovely colourful photo showing this dead tree and the accompanying notes is fascinating, well researched and presented.
Your composition is great with the old giant forming the right frame and reaching into and all across the photo towards the left. I called it a giant not because it is a particularly large tree, but looking at this Free State landscape it seems there wasn't anything taller in the surrounding area, not even the telephone poles in the far distance. It seems like you even caught a bonus LBJ in the top left leaf. The colours are amazing and the exposure was on the button.
Very well done and TFS.
Loot
PS. Nice to have heard of you again and thanks for the great support on the forum. I really needed that.

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• carper (8424)
• [2006-06-04 3:18]

mijn goede vriend Gerhard,
tijd geleden. Mooie foto zoals we van U gewend zijn, mooie compositie, goede sfeer in de foto, uitstekend werk.
gr. jaap

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• TAZ (10926)
• [2006-06-04 3:23]

What a wonderful and interesting shot that you have well done ! The composition is smart with the lonely tree and great colors. I also appreciate the complementary note... Congratulations Gerhard and thanks for sharing.

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• jmp (8411)
• [2006-06-04 4:19]

Hi Gerhard,
Many things are excelent here, making problematic to comment the shot in right order. Composition, red light,... but I like specially the telephone poles and electrical towers that "grow" where this big tree has no offspring.
Your notes are very good too and the cursives are very interesting and intriguing, to my opinion.
TFS, José M.

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• shazzy (152)
• [2006-06-04 8:42]

I like the colour of this.

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• Aramok (4931)
• [2006-06-04 9:16]

I really like the light in this pictre (as well as the tree), but find the spots (assuming they are birds) a touch off putting for some reason. Wonderful gradient of colours though.

TFS

Emma

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• marhowie (302)
• [2006-06-04 9:32]

Lovely capture Gerhard.
I like the color graduation seen throughout the sky & and landscape..Starkly beautiful.
An excellent comp. in the vertical.
Very nicely done mf.

PS just bought a tiffen color grad ND 0.6 filter..hopefully that special sunrise/sunset is in my future :)

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• SunToucher (10175)
• [2006-06-04 13:27]

Hi Gerhard,
Your fans have given you all the best already, so what else can I add then that I really like the colors and light in this perfectly composed photo.
TFS,
Niek

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• red45 (30243)
• [2006-06-04 15:31]

Hi Gerhard!
Fully agree! Dead trees are also beautifull, especially when they're part of African landscapes like this one! Some kind of orange nostalgia, sadness but also hope? Colours/light are superb. Almost perfect :-) Why almost? I'm not sure, but I think I see somethink like power lines on horizon :-)

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• BeBe (917)
• [2006-06-04 20:37]

Hi Gerhard, excellent composition and combination of colors, Juan

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• scottevers7 (12267)
• [2006-06-04 23:34]

Hi Gerhard,
I love this composition in the portrait framing. Great quality light here. Beautifl gradient of color in the sky. This had a great sense of depth in it. Excellent work!
Scott

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• manyee (21048)
• [2006-06-05 1:26]

Hello Gerhard,
It is so nice to see you. I love this picture, mostly for the mood.
But I also like the shapes of the tree, the colors and the light.
A very beautiful landscape, for sure. Interesting, yet serene.
There is a lot of dignity to the tree.
TFS. : )

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• soccer (1965)
• [2006-06-05 3:15]

Gerhard,

A very well composed pic with the tree well of centre. The soft light showing some excellemt colours and the composition and placing of the horizon in this vertcal shot is very good. TFS,
Sheriff

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• coasties (27714)
• [2006-06-05 4:50]

Hello Gerhard

This is a magnificentr landscape shot and the tree certainly has charachter. The soft graduated colours are stunning. Very pleasing to view. Nice to see a post from you! :-)

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• sAner (4744)
• [2006-06-07 14:11]

It's great to see you posting again my friend! Wonderful colors and nice light on this one. The dead tree is an awesome subject for sure. Love the composition.

Regards,
Pieter

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• Luc (14729)
• [2006-06-09 5:52]

"Oh! A ghost of a tree!"
A child said that once and I will never forget it.
Your photo reminds me that.
Dead trees are good ghosts.

I like yours. A tree with experience...

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• OdetteVN (384)
• [2006-06-11 11:26]

Hi Gerhard

This is a great shot. The colours are superb. I like it. Well done.

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• thistle (9272)
• [2006-06-13 11:41]

Hello Gerhard,
I just noticed I missed three pictures of yours posted lately! Don't really know how ;-)
Anyway, I love this one. Because of the simple composition with the tree perfectly placed in the frame, because of the huge space in BG, because of the beautiful colours and because of the exceptional mood.
Superp post!

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• PDP (11769)
• [2006-06-15 7:19]
• [+]

Hi Gerhard, good composition and excellent colours, the simplicity is very effective. (there's a sensor spot at the top) Good work.