Pretty sure this tree is either a live oak or a red cedar. Either way I think it looks pretty cool. Would love to know what you think of my black and white conversion?
Pretty sure this tree is either a live oak or a red cedar. Either way I think it looks pretty cool. Would love to know what you think of my black and white conversion?
I like it, although it might be improved by increasing a bit the luminosity of the whole trunk. Also, did you dodge the central element? There is like a halo around the trunk, which I find disturbing.
I did dodge and burn this image a lot. I still never really got what I envisioned in my mind. I don't quite notice the halo your talking about though.
I see it, too. I think, as Paul Gosselin said, you could simply increase the overall exposure and fix the too-dark blacks while also increasing the brightness of the dodged bits. Nice texture!
I can see the appeal of the scene and the image, Kyle, but the extreme contrast levels make heavy editing inevitable, with the likelihood of telltale signs (at least to those familiar with editing images). There's a halo in the top centre, where the sky brightens in a zone parallelling the edge of the branches, more visible and unnatural-looking to me than the halo Paul mentions.
There's a good composition and concept here, including monochrome. I'd try repeat from-scratch edits, and you might find one you are happy with (don't dump the older ones too quickly!). Sometimes the quick, simple ones are better.
I just had a go at doing what Phillip suggests, and the whole character of the image changes - in effect, the composition changes if the rather dark mass at the bottom doesn't "anchor" the image. It dilutes the focus on that beautifully gnarled central branch. That's how I see it anyway. It's all just subjective.
Thanks for the comment. I think I'm going to start over from scratch and see what I can come up with.
Doesn't really work for me, sorry. You burnt the image to the point where haloes start to appear at the edges.
One additional comment I would make on the composition - although the texture of the trunk is good my eye is being pulled away to the bright/burnt out area on the left.
I think I would appreciate the wonderful details in the tree a lot more if this were cropped out
I agree with Alan Brown. I think a crop of the left side to about halfway between the sun and the left, dodged edge of the main tree. (Sorry about the extra pixel on the right.)
I also bought up the curves a bit, but obviously I cannot correct the dodging and burning you've already done.
I do like this composition!
Agree, Phillip - this improves the composition.
Thanks to everyone for their comments. I have revisited this image and came up with this. Would love to get some feedback on it.
Better! But I still think you could use a little dodging on the main branch to lift it from the background a bit. As it is, it blends in and disappears.