Tree bark

I liked the shapes and textures of this tree's bark and mosses and thought it made a nice abstract, especially rotated to the horizontal. Do you see anything in something like this that might be worth revisiting?
James Newman

This subject has strong potential, James. What makes it visually interesting is actually the fungus and moss on the bark.

I'm currently working on a personal project inspired by the abstract expressionist movement of the 1950's (ex: Willem deKooning, Jackson Pollock, Jasper John, et.al.). To that end I'm building a body of relatively pure photographic images that carry similar feelings as those artists' paintings. This would be an excellent subject for this work. (Unfortunately, Chicago is not persistently warm and humid enough to have such bark moss...I'll have to travel to find it.)

So, yes, this is a very good subject. But I recommend photographing it under different lighting.

Have you done anything more with this?

James Newman said:

I liked the shapes and textures of this tree's bark and mosses and thought it made a nice abstract, especially rotated to the horizontal. Do you see anything in something like this that might be worth revisiting?
James Newman

Click to expand...

Hi James,

I think that you have their the stuff to make a great picture. I say "stuff" since, you have, so far, not made any decisions as to the relative importance of any part and hoe you want us to look at it. It might be that it's finished and no more needs be done. That is your decision alone. I'd like this to challenge you and ask of each component, "What are you supposed to be doing in my picture?" and then bringing out that purpose. To me this is the beginning of a lot of work if the file is good and robusr. If not, I'd go back and shoot this very carefully and if possible in a variety of lighting. Then I'd work on each component to write your own ideas into it.

At present, at the very least, it's a highly attractive picture of the bark worth framing. I think it can be much more with the right investment of thought and choices. These come from inside you.

Asher

James Newman said:

I liked the shapes and textures of this tree's bark and mosses and thought it made a nice abstract, especially rotated to the horizontal. Do you see anything in something like this that might be worth revisiting?

Click to expand...

Hi James,

I generally like to shoot things faithfully, only abstracted by selecting a close detail. However, I think this image could benefit from leveling the light to reduce the 3-dimensional aspect, and boost the shadow contrast a bit.

One way of doing that could be by making an average vertical luminance profile, and apply it as an inverted Overlay blending layer or something. In Photoshop, make a duplicate copy of the image. Resize the duplicate to 1 pixel width, but first uncheck the "Constrain Proportions" box for aspect ratio. Now resize it again to the original width, and invert the result and desaturate it. Shift drag it with the move tool to your original, it becomes a new layer. Change the blending mode to "Overlay". Now you can play with a blur on the Overlay layer, and/or a curves adjustment untill you like it. You can also use the opacity of the layer to fine tune.

Feel free to ignore the suggestion or use a different procedure.

Cheers,
Bart

No Rachel, I have not followed up on this particular subject yet. I do plan on going back as soon as possible because the entire arboretum is about to be in full springtime bloom and it is the best time to be there.

Thank you Ken for your comments and good suggestions on trying again with different lighting application. That will be a great exercise for me once I do get back over there. I am sorry I did not respond to your comment when it was given. Honestly, I have been so dizzy headed lately with outside influences, I am surprised I remember much or see much of anything. I should not let a comment go unanswered.

Asher, your input is as wise and interesting as it always is. This image does have a lot of "stuff" but no real identity or definition. You too suggest that maybe a different lighting condition could help improve.

Thank you too Bart. There is definitley a trend here, even I can see that. The lighting needs to be seen differently. I will try and see if I can follow your great instruction on leveling this light. I believe I understand what you are describing. All I need to do is actually try it and see what it does for me. Thank you too for your input.

I have been so heavy into other activities, none so fun as photography, and really have not done much. I promise to you and to myself that I will go back and shoot this subject again soon. It is one of my favorite places anyway and I need to do that. Thank you all for the prodding.
James Newman

Making an average luminance correction gradient layer

Thanks Bart for sharing this idea.

This merits a new thread. This is a good start to a bigger problem.

Bart_van_der_Wolf said:

Hi James,

I generally like to shoot things faithfully, only abstracted by selecting a close detail. However, I think this image could benefit from leveling the light to reduce the 3-dimensional aspect, and boost the shadow contrast a bit.

One way of doing that could be by making an average vertical luminance profile, and apply it as an inverted Overlay blending layer or something. In Photoshop, make a duplicate copy of the image. Resize the duplicate to 1 pixel width, but first uncheck the "Constrain Proportions" box for aspect ratio. Now resize it again to the original width, and invert the result and desaturate it. Shift drag it with the move tool to your original, it becomes a new layer. Change the blending mode to "Overlay". Now you can play with a blur on the Overlay layer, and/or a curves adjustment untill you like it. You can also use the opacity of the layer to fine tune.

Click to expand...

I like this -- if it were a painting, it would be abstract expressionism. I would darken it a bit in photoshop, especially the upper third.

I like this image and think that it or a future version has a lot of potential.

I like Bart's suggestion to even out the lighting. I'm not sure how the specular detail would respond to a post-process gradient though. If it doesn't work out, re-shoot on an overcast day.

The other thing I noticed is that, for me, the left 60% or so of the image is much more interesting than the rest of it. It has clear, bold design elements and strong negative spaces that the rest of the image lacks. (Full disclosure: I am a voracious cropper).

Thanks for sharing.

James Newman said:

I liked the shapes and textures of this tree's bark and mosses and thought it made a nice abstract, especially rotated to the horizontal. Do you see anything in something like this that might be worth revisiting?
James Newman

Click to expand...

To me the top of the photo is on the verge of being washed out by flash or some other means of light.