Burning Tree (Montreal)

Last Updated on November 29th, 2018

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.

Montreal. CanadaLoc:
45.42919, -73.68833

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.

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 2×3 to 3×4 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

Archiving: I save all my photos as JPEG (quality: 100%) at full resolution and with the help of the Lightroom plugin, I synchronized them with my portfolio on SmugMug for safekeeping, sharing, image hosting and online sales.

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