This tiny scene caught my attention because it is on a branch that fell across the trail. Well, game trail anyway since that’s what I was following. It’s an 11-image DMap stack and is a gorgeous mix of moss, lichen and what I think are eyelash cup mushrooms. The whole slice is maybe an inch across. There was a lot of snow on the ground and that helped reflect light back to the branch.
Tripod heroics for sure! The formation was on the leading underside of the branch, so I angled the camera up and upside down using the screen to compose. I wish I took a picture with my cell, but I didn’t. Funny things we do sometimes.
Specific Feedback Requested
I’m open to ideas, impressions etc.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Tripod
Focus bracketing 0/+ method, 4-step or possibly 5.
Lr for a flip, a crop, wb adjustment and some basic tonality management. Texture, clarity & a bit of sharpening. Exported to Zerene for a DMap stack with no retouching. Into Photoshop for -
Kris, your efforts paid off. A very pleasing shot with the various colors, shapes and textures. It is sort of an abstract, as @David_Bostock said. Hard to believe it was only maybe and inch across, as it looks like it could even be an ariel view of some landscape, just looking at the thumbnail, and not familiar with the mushrooms. You did an excellent job of capturing this, and I can’t think of a thing to improve it.
Thanks @David_Bostock & @Shirley_Freeman - It is rather abstract isn’t it? I love my Leica macro - it is a true macro even with the smallest sensor in the bunch. Gets right in there and razor sharp. The image stacking thing is new to me, but will be a staple forever now.
This is a cool look at a mini-universe! Wonderful macro and stacking! I’m enjoying the diagonal brown vs. green areas.
Interesting to note the lowered Fill in the active layer. It looks like an empty layer but I assume not? I’m trying to see what Fill is affecting. I don’t see any layer effects? (Easier to ask than think about it.)
Thanks @Diane_Miller - it wasn’t an empty layer it was targeted at the cooler greens in the lichen so I think I used a color mask and then output to … hm … I can’t recall what, but I painted with a brush to get the color where it already existed, just turned up a bit. Sometimes adjusting the fill is a subtler way to manage things than just opacity. At least in my experimentation.
