Marylynne: What a marvelous find. I like your choice to go with color and think B&W would be much less interesting. Makes me wonder how it was shaped and formed like this. I could also see a tight crop around the big hole. A target rich subject superbly captured. >=))>
Wonderful!! I could see bringing up a little more detail in the darks to make the entrance to the Netherworld a little more obvious, but other than that, no nits! A very cool find!
An outstanding find here, Marylynne. I agree on keeping it as a color image. I might spend a bit of time on some D&B with the darkest and lightest points. But all minor changes there for sure…
Thanks, everyone. I took another stab at it. I did some dodging of the cavity and burning of the highlights in the wood to the left of the cavity. I cleaned up the sand a bit more to get rid of the debris in the right mid-frame.
Let me know what you think. Initially I was thinking darkening the cavity made it more mysterious, but I think y’all are right that mystery requires at least some information.
Marylynne, the hints of more in the “rabbit hole” are a fine addition. I’m having a hard time thinking about how the oval hole was created in a growing tree. Sorry about being late to the post. The details in the rocks and sand look great, as well.
Thanks Mark. That was part of what struck me: the cavity and then its integration into the community of beach objects.
I’m guessing there was a branch that broke or was removed and the center of the branch collar died back. Who knows how this piece even fit into a larger tree. Is this the side of a trunk? Part of an old stump? It’s clearly been here a long time,
ML
