What changed: Another in the sequence. Just a single leaf being lit up.
Added after receiving feedback from the community.
About This Image
I’ll be the first to admit that ICM’s for the most part are the result of random luck. And as Forest famously said, “… you never know what you’re going to get.” I gotta say though, it’s moments like this that keep me wondering what is possible and keeps me motivated to keep trying.
I have also been motivated from members like @Don_Peters and @Marylynne_Diggs with their work with Agave and other dessert plants, like the Yucca. Well, just the other day while perched photographing the birds in the backyard, I had been watching a potted yucca type plant on the other side of the yard as the sun filtered through the fence. Light and lines were enough to get me off my butt and go try my luck.
Feedback Requested
As always, your comments and suggestions are more than welcome. What impressions, if any, do you get from this image? As I do most times, I struggle with titles, so better suggestions are welcome too.
Comments/suggestions on processing, color/sat, etc. are welcome.
Technical Details
Camera: NIKON Z 8
Lens: TAMRON 150-500mm F/5-6.7 Di III VC VXD A057Z
Focal length: 245mm
Shutter speed: 1/4s
Aperture: f/18
ISO: 32
I love that streak of light up the center, Lon and wouldn’t have even guessed that this is ICM as it looks like pretty much a straight shot. My eye does keep going to the lighter streak in the upper left and exiting the frame there. I don’t think a crop would keep the balance you want, but maybe taming that streak a bit would help. I took the liberty of playing with it a little in PS. I used the TK 9 plugin “color cloning” feature to grab one of the bluer greens and paint over the sunlit area in the upper left then lowered brightness of the area. I’m not sure it’s quite as effective as I’d like, but decided to quit before I really screwed it up.
Lon, this is a really nice looking abstract. In a perfect world, I would have liked another sunlit shaft of grass in the upper right to balance out the comp, but obviously you have to take what nature gives you. That being said, perhaps you could tone down the sunlit piece in the upper left just a bit to keep the eye more focused on the center blade. Definitely enjoy the painterly quality and subtle tones in this.
Hi Lon,
Thanks for call out. I really like this, and I think I even like the opposing “teeth” of the yellow streaks center and upper left. I too was initially wondering from the thumbnail whether it was ICM or a wonderful glance of light on a snake plant or something similar. The movement is clearer (and amazingly delicate) on the full view.
I like Dennis’ version, as it adds more of that off-white element, but it does complicate it with another hue, I think. I can imagine a shorter crop. While I like the separation of the yellow at the bottom, I don’t think it is essential to the composition, and a shorter crop brings our attention more to those blues on the right. The colors seem to get boosted when I do a crop in Windows Photo. That was not intentional, just a byproduct of my keeping other’s images out of lightroom when possible.
It’s hard for me to compare without the frame, but I did like this 4x5 option when I played a bit. I don’t think it’s better, just different, and I enjoyed working with it as I’m fresh out of my own new work at the moment , So thanks for sharing!
I don’t care how you made this. It’s flat out gorgeous. I think it’s mostly due to the colors but it’s also the light. What’s interesting is that I have a yard full of agaves in Baja and have never made an image that I liked. Those blue accents add a lot. The fact that the greens range in hues so much, and that the color gradients. There are no blocks of a single hue. All hues are in a state of transition. I don’t know if I’ve explained myself clearly.
Hi Lon, this photo caught my eye and I like your original image. The bit of light green on the upper left side make the photo dynamic, it’s to static without it. Combined with the delicate lighter lines on the right side, it’s balaned and very pleasing to my eye. Good job!!
Alice
I’ve posted revisions - actually not revisions, but 2 other frames in the sequence. The first is very close to the original and I think maybe you’ll see the difficulty I had in choosing which to post!
AS far as the lighter leaf/frond hitting the left edge, that was something I would almost always consider - light areas or distractions taking the eye to the edge and out of the frame. But when I first saw this image I saw the continuation of light, as if it were the same leaf weaved behind another darker one. Hence the title. But I can certainly understand that it pulls the eye - and also makes the comp a bit unbalanced. In the 2nd frame, that area is less bright and I even burned it down a little bit. The 3rd frame is much simpler, but then also less of an impact, IMHO.
I agree Dennis that this doesn’t come across immediately as an ICM. I think with the plant leaf sharp edges and range of light/color producted, the vertical motion actually defined the lines even more. Pretty interesting phenomena.
I’m pretty sure I understand what you’re saying. In fact, it is those variations of hue/colors seemingly separated by thin, defined lines (which I emphasized in processing) that really caught my eye with this capture.
Thank you Alice - which is why I posted the 3rd frame because that one I think is way more static, and less engaging.
Lon, I would not have known this is an ICM either. Like @Igor_Doncov I’d just say that I marvel at it. It’s about geometry, light, and color. Just amazing which ever versions you choose. Wow!
, So thanks for sharing!