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Published: 2005-11-17 12:24:02 +0000 UTC; Views: 753; Favourites: 17; Downloads: 30
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Description
Old gloomy tree near the Wall of Tallinn, Estonia.Related content
Comments: 29
I like it a lot!
Reminds me a scenery of a book called " the lake of vampires" ! Don't ask me why!
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I love the illustrative quality of this one it reminds me more of a drawing than a photo.
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Thank you very much, never thought about it that way but when you say it, you are right...
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That tree looks llike it's doing a happy dance on some pirate's grave!
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Maybe it does, thanks for the interpretation!
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That is just gnarled and BEAUTIFUL and I love the contrast of textures between the bark and the rock strata.
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Thank you very much, glad that you liked it!
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This is a very darkly atmospheric shot. It looks like it might be a still from 'Nosferatu' (the remake with Klaus Kinski).
The composition is well balanced, but not in a overly obvious way - the art the conceals art - the bulk of the irregular, organic, twisted tree base in the lower left hand foreground set off by the geometric manmade form of the roof in the upper right background. This contrast is further emphasised by the fact that, wheras tree & stone are virtually monochrome the roof has some colour. As a rule having the brightest colour in the background would be a bad thing, but somehow it works here. Perhaps because the colour is muted in a way that adds to rather than detracts from the forboding vibe. How did you achieve this - are there seperate layers or did you just reduce saturation / increase contrast over the whole image?
The wide angle lens & low viewpoint give an added drama to what, by the looks of it, was already a dramatic tree. In a way it gives the impression that the tree is bursting thru the foreground wall & reaching out menacingly towards the tower. But on the other hand all the elements seem intergated rather than conflicting - at a glance the drystone wall and the tree could be made of the same material & be seen as silent guardians of the foreboding tower.
The smaller branches make some delicate thread like forms & I like the way there's still a few dead leaves hanging from them....it adds to the mournful air. I thought at first that they were Birds of Ill Omen, perched in the branches, which would have been pretty damn cool.
I'm not entirely sure about the thin white inner border....I wonder how it would look with just the black border, so that the edge of the photo was less precisely defined.
Non-the-less, a definite
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Thank you very much for the longest and probably best comment I have ever received! 
I think that I just lowered the saturation of the whole photo, then I probably raised the red saturation a little. Probably not much, since the rest of the photo was quite colorless anyway.
I was visiting Tallinn with some friends the day I took the photo. They called me the artist the rest of the trip because of it, since I saw a gloomy and twisted ancient tree and they only said that they saw a tree. 
Would also have loved to have had some birds in the tree. It had been wonderful!
I have removed the frame now.
Thank you again!
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'Nosferatu' was indeed an elegant film. Altho' a lot of people have commented sardonicly that it was rather "slow". I think this is rather missing the point β it was meant, I suspect, to be more of an atmospheric conjuration of the Gothic (in the Victorian sense of the phrase); an art film if you will; rather than a commercial blockbuster action thing in a 'Van Helsing' stylii. The way Klaus Kinski portrayed the character of the vampyre was unusual : as a somewhat delicate, shy, sensitive fiend who was almost apologetic about hisβ¦erβ¦cravings. I also recall a particularly cool Sinister-Comic clock, that suddenly disturbed the strained silence of dinnerβ¦I wants one!
That's an interesting approach to saturation; I'll have to try that myself.
Wow, you acted on my framing suggestion! I think it does look better this way. The edge of the photo is still clearly defined as it turns out, but I like the way the silhouetted bits of tree & stone at the edges of the picture merge into the black frame.
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Yes it is, it is very elegant and gothic in a much more true sense than todays semi-goth movies. Shadow of the vampire is quite interesting too.
You should, it can give some interesting effects sometimes. Yes I think your advise was very good. Thank you very much! Good advise can be hard to find even here at DA. : )
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Hi, thanks for the longest and probably best comment I have ever had.
I was visiting Tallinn with some friends when I took the photo, they started to call me artist the rest of the trip because of this photo. I saw a gloomy and twisted tree and they said that they only saw a tree.
If I remember it right, I just decreased total saturation of the whole image. Then I probably increased the red saturation a little, dont think I needed to raise it much, since the rest of the photo was quite colorless.
I would have loved some birds in the tree. Had been wonderful.
Have removed the frame now.
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Thanks, I agree about that.
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I love old gloomy trees! I think the tower behind it adds to the picture so much! Awesome job!!!
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Thank you very much, I begin to like the tower more and more!
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Great shot, the tree is really looking ancient and the medeval building behind it strengthen the image of old times, great scene!
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Thanks, it is a part of the old wall of Tallinn, glad that you liked it and not only the tree!
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Well then, guess i have to visit Tallinn someday then
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There are some beautiful parts of the town worth visiting.
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What a strange tree
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Oh now I started pondering about removing the color or not, it is an old medival ring-wall so I think it fits better than an modern house but I see what you mean. Thanks for the comment!
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uh, I like the lines. And the frame is nice ^^
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Thank you, liked the tree from the first time I saw it. It looks very wicked.
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