post your trees!

[CreationBear]

'pastoral' project.

A lovely, airy photograph--though your chestnut trees make me a bit melancholy since our own, native Castanea has been extirpated for the better part of a century. (On a related note, since your arboreal interests seem to extend to the literary, you might check out Richard Powers' The Overstory which recently won the National Book Award here in the States.)

[Jim Galli]

Another one from me from the same 'pastoral' project.

Whichford Wood, Warwickshire Cotswolds, England
5th July 2019

Chamonix 810V
Nikkor-SW 150 f/8
Ilford FP4+ 8x10
3” f/32
Small amount of front tilt

Metered for high-key.
N development, BTZS tubes, Pyrocat HD 2:2:100, 9’27”, 22ºC
Acetic acid stop, TF-4 Fix, Hypoclear, 30min wash
Split-toned in photoshop

Beautiful image. I'd have been proud to have seen and achieved this one. Did you filter to "lighten" the lovely white leaves?

[Keith Fleming]

CreationBear,

Regarding the American chestnut, you might do an internet search on The American Chestnut Foundation which has been working for about 30 years to restore the tree. Their work involves both cross-breeding and genetic modification. There are state chapters and research centers in the chestnuts original range.

Keith

[jp]

Very poetic !

Thanks Ken

[DaveF]

Thanks for that: something to look up. Over here, Rob Macfarlane's eco-critical writing is well known.

A lovely, airy photograph--though your chestnut trees make me a bit melancholy since our own, native Castanea has been extirpated for the better part of a century. (On a related note, since your arboreal interests seem to extend to the literary, you might check out Richard Powers' The Overstory which recently won the National Book Award here in the States.)

[DaveF]

Beautiful image. I'd have been proud to have seen and achieved this one. Did you filter to "lighten" the lovely white leaves?

That's very kind. If I recall correctly, I deliberately metered the main trunk as a midtone for the high key effect. I didn't use any filters, no, but have worked on the image in photoshop with split toning to enhance the feel. The whites and high grey tones are not white, but are yellow and orange - I have a tendency if I don't edit black and whites like this to end up with far too cool a look, which is not what I need for this series at all. I used luminosity-masked colour overlays to do this, after a platinum gradient mask I think. Essentially I'm slowly on the road to Alt-Pro: I now have all the gear and chemistry I need, including a beautiful Lotus printing frame; I just need the courage (and time) to start!

[DaveF]

And here's one more from the same series, inspired by the discovery of the tree-bark graffiti, and the link with ancient pastoral poetics (notably in Virgil's Eclogues).

Acontius Project: ‘…nec myrtes vincet corylos, nec laurea Phoebi.’
Whichford Wood, Warwickshire Cotswolds, England
5th July 2019



Chamonix 810V
Nikkor-SW 150 f/8
Ilford FP4+ 8x10
8” f/32
A few degrees of front swing

N-2 development, BTZS tubes, Pyrocat HD 2:2:100, 5’40”, 22ºC
Acetic acid stop, TF-4 Fix, Hypoclear, 30min wash

For toning, this one with the same photoshop toning process as the Sweet Chestnut image. Regarding finding these images, I went to a local woodland with the precise aim of looking at the summer tree canopy closely, in particular looking for Hazel, Sweet Chestnut, Oak, and Ash. Project ongoing... quite what the 'outputs' will be, in terms of prints, is anyone's guess.

[DaveF]

And another really cool result from the same outing.

Acontius Project: ‘Fraxinus in silvis pulcherrima’
Whichford Wood, Warwickshire Cotswolds
5th July 2019



Chamonix 810V
Nikkor-W 300 f/5.6
Ilford FP4+ 8x10
1” f/45
Small amount of front tilt and front swing

N-development, BTZS tubes, Pyrocat HD 2:2:100, 9’27”, 22ºC
Acetic acid stop, TF-4 Fix, Hypoclear, 30min wash
Toned as before, but with beefed up opacity to let the colour overlays come through more. This one is perhaps my favourite so far. The way the leaves on film reacted to the filtration of the bright sunlight is quite something.

[David Schaller]

And another really cool result from the same outing.

Acontius Project: ‘Fraxinus in silvis pulcherrima’
Whichford Wood, Warwickshire Cotswolds
5th July 2019



Chamonix 810V
Nikkor-W 300 f/5.6
Ilford FP4+ 8x10
1” f/45
Small amount of front tilt and front swing

N-development, BTZS tubes, Pyrocat HD 2:2:100, 9’27”, 22ºC
Acetic acid stop, TF-4 Fix, Hypoclear, 30min wash
Toned as before, but with beefed up opacity to let the colour overlays come through more. This one is perhaps my favourite so far. The way the leaves on film reacted to the filtration of the bright sunlight is quite something.

This series would look great in Palladium. Thanks for posting.

[Rainymac]

Mt Ettalong - Angophora tree, commonly known as the Sydney Red Gum which grows primarily on sandstone soils, usually on headlands, plateaus or other elevated areas along the east coast of Australia.

Chamonix F2 4x5, Nikon 90mm, f22 exposure, developed in Fomapan P (D76 type developer), scanned negative

This is one of my first large format images and my first image post to the forum. Despite finding the move from 35mm and medium format challenging, I've totally embraced large format. Trees were a perfect subject - they stayed still, didnt complain that it is taking forever for me to finally be ready to click the shutter nor did they have an opinion about the end result.