REWORK (adjust the color to better match the extinction idea, per Don P.):
ORIGINAL:
Critique Style Requested: Initial Reaction
Please share your immediate response to the image before reading the photographer’s intent (obscured text below) or other comments. The photographer seeks a genuinely unbiased first impression.
Questions to guide your feedback
…which is what will happen if we go outside today. High temp is predicted to be 120 F (49 C). 
Wondering what others’ reactions are to this. Your reactions always give me food for thought.
Other Information
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Image Description
This is two Lensbaby shots looking up into the same tree, just at different focusing distances. I composited them and added a darks mask to make the white lines. They were intended to be just experimental shots, but I had the idea to put them together to see what would shake out (might as well sit at the computer and play since it’s the gates of hell outside).
Technical Details
Lens = Lensbaby Sweet 50. Images processed in ACR for basic exposure and color temperature adjustments. Composited in PS, with additional targeted dodging and burning to even out exposure across the frame, slight curve for contrast.
Specific Feedback
Mainly looking for emotional reactions, but if you have aesthetic suggestions, those are welcome too.
Critique Template
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- Vision and Purpose:
- Conceptual:
- Emotional Impact and Mood:
- Composition:
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4 Likes
I like this, Bonnie. The jagged white outlines look like lightning and the way the central tree is distorted makes it look like it’s being ripped to shreds. It definitely fits the title.
Well-named! I thought it was a reflection in water. I can’t imagine how you did the white lines – very clever!! And the colors are just right!
I could believe your sensor melted… Only 95 here, and 20% humidity with a breeze – from the coast. Death Valley could hit 130, but 120 in civilization is way too much. But then there is back east where it can be 100 degrees and 99% humidity, and cooling down to 95 at night.
1 Like
Bonnie, my first reaction is that I like this one. Very dynamic and dramatic.
The colors give me a little pause. The greenish yellows seem springlike. An extinction event would seem to call for colors of fire. Here’s a quick and dirty take:
Ignore me if you disagree. It’s very cool as is.
Fantastic work Bonnie! Dynamic energy and I love how you combined the elements especially the white reflections. And wow, that is super hot!!
It’s so interesting how color changes our perspective. Your warmer version gives me an impression of waking up and being in that not so lucid state. It’s when the eyes first open and you get an impression of the world around you. The cooler version that Don provided is closer to the title of your image.
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I’m afraid I’m not nearly as imaginative as @Alfredo_Mora. My reaction was that of a burning bush (from the Old Testament). Very creative and done really well.
I read yesterday that there are 4 primary emotions: happiness, sadness, anger, and anxiety. This image registers anxiety IMO.
2 Likes
Thanks @Dennis_Plank, @Alfredo_Mora, @Igor_Doncov, @Diane_Miller, and @Don_Peters for your thoughts.
The white lines are from a darks mask (made with the TK9 panel) output to a pixel layer on top of the other two layers, then blended with lighten mode so only the white bits show.
The apocalypse happened in April? 
But seriously, you’re right and the thought occurred to me, also, as I posted it. The title is from my husband and I didn’t rework it to match that thought at the time. I will post a rework that speaks more to that thought. And is more anxiety inducing, I think, to further Igor’s thought.
Oh, I like that analogy! This is one of those images that can be edited in different ways for different ideas.
The repost is really wild, Bonnie. I like both versions. A very versatile base image that color changes could make into anything (at least anything violent). I could see an ice blue version as well.
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Colors on the RW are wonderful!! You could even go more red. And double points for the method to do the white areas!!
@Diane_Miller, I do have a really over-the-top red version - here you go 
:
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It almost makes me look forward to extinction.
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Bonnie,
A very neat abstract for sure. Can’t add much more than what has already been said.
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Oooh, I like this! Very trippy! 
I don’t have much to add other than that I prefer the darker reworked image only ever so slightly because I also really dig the greens in the original. It’s a tough call actually.
Congratulations on the Editors Pick!
1 Like
Another interesting reaction to this image is the sense of motion. And it’s towards the center. I feel as though I ( and everything else) is being swept into the center. I think this is due to the illusion of perspective line merging into the middle with the bushes. Trippy in a way. It’s like a vortex.
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@Bonnie_Lampley , what an inspired work! It portrays a concept of so many things for me: the infinite, the Big Bang, cosmic space, atomic forces, and more. It’s a very primal image.
It recalls the work of the 20th century artist Vance Kirkland, here: Vance Kirkland, and more specifically this work: Explosions on a Sun 80 Billion Light Years from Earth.
The Vance Kirkland Museum of Decorative Arts is in Denver and I’ve been there a few times to see his entrancing work.
For this work, I appreciate the rework for the darker and deeper colors. Very nicely done.
@Matt_Lancaster, thanks! And thanks for the link to Vance Kirkland. I didn’t know about him. His work is very appealing! If I’m ever in Denver, I shall definitely check out the Museum.
As far as my image being inspired, I’m not sure about that. I rather operate in the same frame of mind as Vance Kirkland - from the description of his Dot Paintings in the link you sent:
Also, the precise placement of the dots was decided by the somewhat accidental oil paint and water manipulations. So precision was decided by accident, an idea that Kirkland loved.
My image came about by my thinking “what would it look like to combine these two photos?” And then, thinking, what would happen if I did this or that. I can’t say I was inspired by the idea of extinction from the beginning.
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An explosion of creativity! I love the rework. Definitely a winner.
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