I like this and I know what you mean about the contrasts and preserving the integrity of the overall piece. I enoy the forests here and some of the most incredible things I've seen have been forest floors under a heavy canopy but I have yet to get a decent "keeper" of one of these sights. Deep in some of the off-the-beaten-track roads through the redwoods have small draws and such carpetted in fern. The rich greens and continued surface of small fern under those massive and dense redwoods is wonderful. But it is dark to the point that there is no sunlight that can find this area and using a flash is out of the question unless you like fades and reflections, and so far I've had to delete everything I've taken. But one day... with a better and newer camera and a bit more skill I will bring home an amazing shot of those ferns. This is a great shot and I can appreciate what it took to get it.

Wow! I haven't been there for a long, long time!!! Yes, shooting forest can be difficult, but some of the lighting is worth the headache!!!! Great job, can't wait to see the rest!

I think that digital cameras lack the dynamic range to deal with extreme contrasts of light and dark, certainly not in the way the human eye can. Both Lori and I have problems with "burn" too. Sometimes moving slightly to one side or the other can minimze it, particularly if you use a polarizer. But in the end, the best cure is to get up early and go to bed late - shots in the early morning and late evening avoid that excessive and messy sunlight! I do enjoy the the forest tho, as you mentioned, whether or not my images are picture perfect.

WOW!!!!! First of all i enjoyed reading your story ;) POSTING COMMENT/REVIEW.. Second.. This is one of the best tree roots shots i've seen tho in my last few years.. It came out just excellent.. And the 20D helped you a lot honey.. Now as i understood from your post and the shot info.. I can see some overexposed parts on the trees. Is that what you mean! Well i will make it more easy tho.. Some shots must be overexposed.. Otherwise they won't look right.. And some others if they are, they will be so bad.. But yours here is one of the POSITIVE SHOTS.. i don't really see anything with it.. Nothing wrong at all.. And the lighting/tones and colours came out very good.. I don't know about the 1/13 sec shutter speed tho.. But if i were you i would shoot this with or without a tripod with 1/100 - 1/250 max. With the colours settings of 5000K on your cam.. I can also advice you to use some filters like: Circular Polarizer Filter: A Circular Polarizer is necessary for use with auto focus cameras. Standard (or linear) polarizers can cause under exposed and out of focus pictures when used on an automatic focus camera. A polarizing filter will decrease reflections and glare from glass, water and other reflective surfaces. It can dramatically increase contrast and color saturation for sharp, vividly colored pictures. Spot Filter: A hole cut out of the middle of this filter allows your subject in the center to stay sharp while the rest of the picture is out of focus. Ideal for portraits, for example your main subject here is the ROOTS!! *Expoimaging ExpoDisc Digital White Balance Filter: It can: 1-Capture Accurate Color. 2-Convenient, fast and easy-to-use. 3-Works in Mixed and Difficult Lighting. 4-Reclaim Time Spent Correcting Color. 5-0Replace Your Gray Cards and White Cards . Even the best digital cameras are incapable of consistently delivering accurate color without the user performing a custom white balance. Auto (AWB) and preset white balance functions often produce maddeningly inconsistent results. Images shot without a correct white balance may have unnatural looking red, yellow or blue tints that are time consuming and difficult, if not impossible to correct. Recognizing the importance of custom white balance to good color, digital camera manufacturers have designed their cameras to take advantage of a custom white balance. A custom white balance calibrates the camera to the exact color temperature of light illuminating the subject. The ExpoDisc is a custom white balance filter that allows digital photographers to quickly and easily set an accurate custom white balance. Consistently producing excellent results in natural, artificial, and studio lighting, the versatile ExpoDisc even excels in difficult mixed lighting environments. The ExpoDisc is far easier to use than any gray card, white card or calibration target. Simply place the ExpoDisc in front of your lens and capture the incident light while setting your camera's custom white balance. Using an ExpoDisc custom white balance will virtually eliminate the need for RAW or JPEG post-capture color adjustments. ExpoDisc technology takes a unique approach to setting a custom white balance and producing accurate color. The ExpoDisc essentially uses your camera's built-in custom white balance capability to turn the camera into an incident color-metering tool. This approach avoids the common problems and inconveniences associated with using gray cards, white cards and calibration targets: unwieldy size, unwanted reflectivity, improper angling and difficulty of filling the frame. Each ExpoDisc is constructed of carefully selected and matched optical grade materials, then hand-calibrated to strict tolerances of color neutrality and light transmission. The ExpoDisc is suitable for use with any digital SLR and digital video camera with a white balance function. So that is some of the solutions honey, And about your post: It is really superbe and i like it a lot and that is why it went right away into my pocket! (FAV+) so please keep it up and hope to see some more from you Damia.. Thank you so much and have a wonderful day honey.. JOE BTW:I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do. They go wandering forth in all directions with every wind, going and coming like ourselves, traveling with us around the sun two million miles a day, and through space heaven knows how fast and far!