AusBonsai

Two photos of a wonderful Mel. stypheloides from the NBPCA - same camera, same time, same light, same tree. The darker background brings out the colour tones in the leaves.
Gavin

Hi Gavin,

What a fantastic tree.

Do you have to play with the camera settings when using the dark background ?

Out of the two, I agree that second shot shows off the tree better and it is also taken from a much better angle as the first gives you a feeling of looking down to it, not across. Pity about the reflection on the pot.

Cheers

David

Interesting to see how the background makes such a difference!

Beautiful Mel too

Interesting differences. What is all over the trunk, is it moss? Do they clean it off or can they clean it off or will it damage the bark?
jarrod

nice post and the backgrounds can make all the difference, but so can the exposure settings.
Do you know what they were for each photo?

your right kc.. definitely different exposure as well as different angle and focal length.

Nice tree and nice shots too.
the second shot is more pro with better exposure and almost perfect camera height. the background had increased the contrast as well.
I have observed that shooting with tripod farther back and zooming in to fill the frame gives better exposure. just make sure the focus is set on the trunk not on the foliage to get more details.

Here is an earlier photo of the same tree, I like the slightly "more open" appearance in the newer photos. Happy to see that the tree has gotten even better under the care of the NBPCA where it has been for the last year. Is it back in Melbourne?
I also chose a black background although recently I have been experimenting with white some trees work better with white but photoshopping is really easy with black. Indoors I prefer white because the light is usually poor.

Thanks for your thoughts. The camera is automatic, I have no idea about the exposure. The averaging light-metering means that a darker background lifts the lighter tones in the foliage. I think there's also an optical effect involved, but I can't define it. I personally prefer dark grey to black. There's no real change in the focal length, but the second shot is cropped closer (to cut out some background nasties). The contrast is the same in both shots, being set in the camera - the difference seems to be that the darker background puts the foliage into a higher part of the tonal range. It's also from a slightly lower viewpoint - all well observed gentlemen!

Jarrod, I think there is old moss at the base of the trunk that doesn't seem to worry anyone.

Gerard, the tree is now back home. Thanks for the earlier photo - it is very interesting to see these trees slowly evolve and refine. I've just received some earlier photos you took of the Kunzea - very useful shots indeed. Many thanks.

Gavin