# Old stump, new life.



## AdventuresInMyTrustyBoots (Feb 1, 2017)

A huge old upturned stump supports the life of a young tree.  This was taken on my first real outing with my new Nikon d810.


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## weepete (Feb 2, 2017)

Very nice!


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## smoke665 (Feb 2, 2017)

Wow great Catch! I would however crop off some of the left side. The blue is so powerful that it seems to overpower the tree for attention.


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## ZombiesniperJr (Feb 2, 2017)

Very nice shot


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## thereyougo! (Feb 2, 2017)

smoke665 said:


> Wow great Catch! I would however crop off some of the left side. The blue is so powerful that it seems to overpower the tree for attention.



I'd agree with this.  If you change the aspect ratio to 4:3, you'd keep all of the pink sky above the trees, and have more focus on your subject.


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## robbins.photo (Feb 2, 2017)

No landscape expert myself but I love it as is


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## Gary A. (Feb 2, 2017)

Nice.


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## AdventuresInMyTrustyBoots (Feb 2, 2017)

Thanks for the advice, I'll try giving it a crop.   Here's the portrait version.


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## AdventuresInMyTrustyBoots (Feb 2, 2017)

Ok, tried cropping the first photo.  I was worried that cropping it might divide the photo in half (stump taking to much of frame).


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## jcdeboever (Feb 2, 2017)

The original looks good to me.


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## RowdyRay (Feb 2, 2017)

Haven't stumbled upon any photogenic stumps as of yet. Hehe. Still very much a noob, but I'll toss my .02 in.

Original version: Have to agree the blue is fighting for attention. With those great colors and reflection off the lake, it's hard not to include. But, just as distracting is the dead tree on the right. To me, anyway. Maybe a step or two to the right.........

Portrait version: I really want to like this one. Shows more detail of the new growth. Gets rid of the dead tree. Also includes those great colors. But, as you were afraid of, it takes up too much of the frame. And all that dead grass on the bottom. Maybe a square crop to get rid of it. I would probably do that and keep it just to show the details to my friends.

Cropped version: This one slightly edges out the others for me. Only because of the above issues. Fixes all of those.


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## smoke665 (Feb 2, 2017)

AdventuresInMyTrustyBoots said:


> Here's the portrait version



Wow! That sucker really jumps out at you LOL It's such an imposing thing not sure this works.



AdventuresInMyTrustyBoots said:


> Ok, tried cropping the first photo.



Think you nailed it!!!!!!


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## annamaria (Feb 2, 2017)

I like the first one as is. The colors and the stump somehow compliment each other.  


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## thereyougo! (Feb 3, 2017)

I think the third crop looks the most balanced.


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## Dean_Gretsch (Feb 3, 2017)

As you can see, there are as many opinions as there are photographers. Go with what makes you smile and happy! I like it as it was originally shot and think it's the best looking stump I have seen posted!


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## yahgiggle (Feb 4, 2017)

There are rules and there is advice but in the end just do it the way you want, what you do will make your photos your own style and thats all that counts

i love this old stump and don't see anything wrong with the first image.


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## AdventuresInMyTrustyBoots (Feb 5, 2017)

Thanks, everyone.  I don't really crop my photos much, mainly try and compose when they are shot, unless I don't have enough zoom on my lens and want to crop the subject closer.  

I truly appreciate everyone's input.  I have lots to learn.


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## jaharris1001 (Feb 6, 2017)

what an awesome find, love old gnarly things like that, did you use a flash on that ?
personally I like the first edit over the cropped version, I'm a huge fan of UWA and the more beauty in frame the better plus I like how it sits in the original, the tree sits in the right 1/3 of the image which compositionally  works for me,, nice capture


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## Krell0 (Feb 7, 2017)

Maybe tone back the blue saturation or vibrance just a tad? I understand the appeal of it, but it is done in SO MANY photos

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## FITBMX (Feb 10, 2017)

Love it!


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## k5MOW (Feb 11, 2017)

I love this shot.


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## zombiesniper (Feb 11, 2017)

Great photos. I like both pre and post crop on the first image.


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## N1kon1k (Feb 11, 2017)

I like the first one it may not be as well balanced as the crop but like they say "rules are meant to be broken" lol .... what I like about the first shot is that you have a nice silhouette starting high and slowly dropping to the tree (1 leading line) than you also have the edge of the lake giving you the 2nd leading line... I personally like the first shot... more drama to it... just my 2 cents... but I'm still learning as well


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