Tea Tree Bay, Paperbark Parade

[Maris]

Tea Tree Bay, Paperbark Parade
Gelatin-silver photograph on Agfa Classic VC FB photographic paper, image size 19.3cm X 24.7cm, from a 8x10 Kodak Tmax-400 negative exposed in a Tachihara 810Hd field view camera fitted with a Fujinon-W 300mm f5.6 lens and a #25 red filter.

Ok, I'll admit Alex Gard's More Miena trees inspired me to have another look at some past images and see trees in a new way.
I guess the Paperbark Parade is sort of borderline stark and at the same time vaguely elegant; ambiguity at work.

[Mick Fagan]

The first thing I noticed, was the fifth (cropped, or lopped?) tree, which makes the row of trees more interesting.

I really like the light coloured roots over the rocks, and when combined with the white bark of the trunks; the whole, makes for an arresting viewing experience.

[Maris]

Thanks, Mick, for you good words and insights.
Taking this picture was technically troublesome because I wanted to push it where it didn't want to go. The background was "blue" shadowed so I used a #25 to darken its tone to make the Tea Tree stems stand out. But I could have exposed more and developed more instead of ending up with slightly weakened tones in the positive. The graphic simplicity sorta, kinda, saves it. I hope.

[Mick Fagan]

Yep, sorta, kinda, saves it!

To be honest, the moment I saw the image, I immediately thought of the difficulty you probably had; then I read your comments, and knew.

I prefer not to expose heavily for the shadows, them bump the developing through either time or agitation. I think I would have done pretty much as you have. But in the end, we somehow manage to mostly get something usable; most of the time.