This was supposed to be a throwaway image from the tafoni trip. I thought very highly of it when I made it but it just never came up to my imagination once it came out of the camera. This morning I decided to rectify that. After burning and dodging I reduced the texture and raised the contrast giving it that smooth appearance. Then I played with LAB to give it a caste that I personally liked. What do you think of this creation?
D810, 24-70mm
revised version based on input. Thank you !!
Very nice, I like to tones. Maybe move the crop at the top - the perforated shape seems a little cut off.
I suspect that others will make the same comment so hereâs my thinking. The tafoni and knob arenât intended to be two distinct objects in a frame . The tafoni is intended to be a âforceâ entering the image (and threatening the sphere). If it werenât at the edge itâs sinisterism would be diminished. Thatâs how I see it through my eyes.
I like this a lot Igor but I wish there was a little more room at the top. The delicate color and shapes are very appealing. It has an ethereal glow about it.
This is a great abstract, Igor. the lines in the sand direct my eye through the composition and the subtle color and contrast work well here. My only minor nit is the placement of the flower-shaped formation at the top of the frame so close to the edge. I donât know what other options that you had so knowing your diligence for composition Iâm sure you chose the best option you had to work with.
Taking a clue from your title, I do find the tafoni to be sinister, almost like a skull. I think the connection between the tafoni and gentle sphere could be made more apparent with judicial dodging/burning. Say, increasing the luminosity of of the curving line between them and darkening the area around that.
Bonnie, I would love to see your wizardry on my image.
@Igor_Doncov, ok, had a crack at it -
Dodged the area between the two, burned around it a little, burned around the tafoni (just the darks) more, using luminosity masks.
Desaturated and darkened the around the central line.
Cropped up from the bottom to increase the relationship between the tafoni and sphere.
It looks more contrasty than your smooth look, especially the center, but I think that contrast/texture increases the connection between the two. I looked to me like youâd lost all the detail on the ridges of the tafoni. So, thatâs my two cents.
I quite like it with the tafoni cropped off. I read the explanation of your vision for the image, but it is not working for me as presented. I find the image balance way off, with my attention bouncing up and down rather than nicely flowing through to enjoy the beautiful lines and details.
Before noticing the title and reading the comments, I was struck with wonder at this. It is smooth and jarring at once. The structure at the top edge generates strong tension, more so with the smoothness of the rest of the image.
The choice of image rotation enhances the jarring appeal. Flip it left-right and the image âreadsâ like a smooth descending flow, not jarring. Turn if to landscape and the two objects are curious but not at all tense.
I like the pastels here and the composition here. I personally would crop or clone out the honeycomb pattern at the top since it takes my eye away from the rock on the bottom which is where I think the eye was intended to go.
Igor, another interesting abstract from your tafoni trip. I think cropping away the tafoni would make this image more simple, but much less interesting. After reading your thoughts on the intent of this image, Iâm going to run with comments that address the image from the viewpoint of trying to enhance your intent.
First, I love the color palette and the reduced texture. By having the tafoni be the only thing with higher texture, it enhances the sinister aspect of the tafoni, making it more of an intruding element. And the placement of the tafoni along the edge adds to the tension and intrusion as well.
As @Bonnie_Lampley noted in her first post I would also try to enhance the relationship between the tafoni and the knob via dodging and burning, but I would do it in a different way than her rework. I would first make the luminosity of the knob and the tafoni more similar, enhancing their connection. Burn the knob and dodge the tafoni to balance their luminosity. Then as Bonnie suggested burn a lot of the surrounding area, but dodge the yellow strip that connects them. Adding some slight contrast to the tafoni makes it more sinister to me. And last, I would leave the smoothness and texture as you originally presented it, I quite like the way that looks. Here is a rework reflecting my comments. My changes are subtle, but I pretty much liked the original.
After reconsideration I tend to agree that the tafoni is too close to the top - despite my rationalization for it. Hereâs a rework for you to consider.
@Bonnie_Lampley, thank you for the rework but I donât like the contrasty direction that you went.
@Harley_Goldman, @Richard_Wong, Here is the cropped version. Regardless of its aesthetic value its so far removed from the original vision that itâs a total revision of the subject. It has little to do with it.
I really like the cropped version. Great image for me. But if you donât like it, why even bother reposting? Your photography is about what works for you, not what works for anyone else.
I reposted your recommendation. I figure if someone goes to the trouble of doing that I should consider it.
Yea, Iâm not able to resonate with your intention. I personally really like your treatment of luminance and color and would greatly desire it be left as presented, but cutting off the tafoni adds a sense of incompleteness and awkwardness to its incorporation for me rather than intrusion.
Beautiful image. Subtle and forceful at the same time. I personally like how my eye zigzags through the bottom of the image and swirls around at the top part of the image.
I wish I had âthrow awaysâ that were this beautiful!!! I love this as is, but I also like your final cropped version too. As you said, it has nothing to do with your original concept, but itâs still excellent. I edited it slightly different, making it almost square. I like the flat, rough finish of the rock a lot, but I ran it through a low dose of NIK Detail Extractor (reduced from the default level of 25 to 6) to bring out the roughness just a wee bit more. Again, it has nothing to do with your original concept, but I actually enjoy it more.
Thank you Bill. That does look pretty good. Perhaps I should reconsider my thinking. One issue is that itâs now cropped to the point where too few pixels remain. But I could go back again. In fact, I plan on it.
@Ed_McGuirk, @Dick_Knudson, @Harley_Goldman, @Brian_Schrayer, @Jim_McGovern, @janine, @Richard_Wong, @Bonnie_Lampley, @Eva_McDermott, @CharlesV - thank you for your comments. The majority vote is for the removal of the tafoni.
