I was working with some close-ups of vine maple leaves, for a Fine Details weekly challenge at my photo club. It occurred to me that the colors demanded more attention than the veins, so why not try stark black and white. It took a few steps, but when I was applying a high pass filter, I just decided to try the filter as the finished image. Comes pretty close to what I was hoping for.
Specific Feedback Requested
Certainly in interested in all thoughts.
Technical Details
Canon R5 with Canon 100mm macro. Backlighted with a diffuser screen. Leaf held with my Plamp and several stacked images were combined. (Yes, this time, I let the R5 do the focus adjustments!)
Wow! I love the B and W version. To be really fussy, I’d just remove the larger white speck in the UR quarter. Your removal of the joining of those spokes lends the shot a more abstract air, which I think the colour version lacks - so it’s definitely the B and W for me.
Dick, the “line drawing” version is quite striking and shows off the vein structure very well. The color version has it’s own merits that could be strengthened by burning-in the lighter yellower area in the center. Your comp. makes good use of the radiating pattern of the main veins.
Wonderful abstract images Dick. I do prefer the black and white version because it shows off the intricate patterns and lines. There are many ways to crop the image to nudge the image further into abstract but I do like the version you have shared. It shows off the radial patterns of the veins.
Really nice abstract, Dick. For me, the black and white wins the day. It’s unique and creative, and I could follow various paths in that ray of maze-like lines. The color version feels a bit objective to me, not a whole lot to it other than “pretty leafness,” though pretty leafness certainly has its merits.
ML
I’ll be the contrarian here and vote overwhelmingly for the color version! The colors are lovely and the detail in the small damaged area is so interesting. The exposure or Highlights could be reduced a bit but not so much as to lose the gradient. A tiny bit of strangeness at the bottom center might be fixed.
I’ll confess I’m just not a fan of extreme contrast unless there is a large element of structure, such as something like sand dunes. Without an element like that, high contrast in an abstraction just sort of makes my teeth hurt. (But that’s my loss, I’m sure.)
Really valuable comments from all. Thanks to @Igor_Doncov@Marylynne_Diggs@Diane_Miller@Alfredo_Mora@Mark_Seaver@Mike_Friel
I have made some adjustment to both images in response to your suggetions, and decided to put them both into my Tacoma Photographic Society monthly “Fine Details” theme competition. Will let you all know in December how it turned out.
I really like to hub and spoke appearance in your photo and I like both version for different reasons. I tend to like darker tones and the lighter center in the color version is a bit to bright for me. I don’t know if that is a result of the back lighting or the color of the leaf. The damaged area of the leaf adds to the quality of the photo.
