The featured photo stars the most famous and distinctive tree in the Rene Levesque park in Montreal. Every fall it turns red. And I am not talking about fall foliage with the hint of red; I mean full blown crimson.
But it does not last long. The window of opportunity is 7-10 only, and it is easy to miss it. This time I was spot on. It was early afternoon in the middle of the week, and the park was pretty much empty. I had plenty of time to experiment and compose the right shot.
Shooting
To compose this shot I had to step back and shoot from the bike path. The challenge was to spot approaching cyclists and avoid them.
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Camera: Sony a6000
Lens: Sony 16-70
Focal Length: 16mm
Shooting Mode: Aperture Priority (A)
ISO: 100
Aperture: F/8
Shutter Speed: 1/60s
Tripod: FEISOL Tournament CT-3442
Ballhead: FEISOL CB-40D
Editing & Processing
It was single RAW processing workflow.
Lightroom (90%)
With the help of the Crop Overlay I changed the aspect ration from 2x3 to 3x4 and made the composition tighter.
Later, I used the Transform Tools to fix the perspective, making sure the horizon was horizontal and vertical lines (tree, church) are vertical.
Next, I used Autumn preset from my Fall Colors Collection as the base for Lightroom Rapid Editing. Then I used TOOLKIT to open up the shadows in the foreground and boost the Contrast.
The Lightroom Preset Editing Formula: Open Sky (1, 9, 13, 17, 32, 34)
Photoshop (10%)
First, I used the Spot Healing Bush to clean up the image and then I boost the details and reduced noise.
Plugins: DeNoise (noise reduction), Topaz Detail (local contrast boost).
Total Time: 12min
Before & After Transformation
