Tail Spin +repost
Critique Style Requested: In-depth
The photographer has shared comprehensive information about their intent and creative vision for this image. Please examine the details and offer feedback on how they can most effectively realize their vision.
Self Critique
I was surprised by what happened with a grove of red maples on a river bank in New Zealand. I am unsure what I could improve, but I am sure I am missing something. Yes. There is an artifact at the lower right corner that needs to be removed.
Creative direction
I was unclear about my vision, but I knew that I had finished with this, and there was nothing more I wanted to say.
Specific Feedback
I want feedback on the aesthetic and emotional impact of the image. Have I strayed too far from the trees that inspired me?
Technical Details
I enlarged a portion of the foliage of the red maple trees and then started to play with blurring filters in Photoshop. The blurred images and blending modes of various layers, which changed the colors, ended up with this abstract. My apologies if I have trespassed into forbidden territory on this Nature website.
Description
I was at a photo workshop in New Zealand. Red maple trees on the river bank presented a challenge to capture a pleasing composition. When faced with such a challenge, I start playing with filters in Photoshop to see what will happen. Maybe you could say I am making lemonade out of lemons. In this case, the lemons got lost in the fun! There is no way that I could reproduce this “recipe” again. But it was sure fun getting to the end.
Well, Barbara, it certainly doesn’t evoke a forest, but I like it. Lots of energy and the gray verticals in the corners set off the central swirls well and add some tension. I also like the way the acs intersect rather than forming a circle. Nicely done.
Barbara,
Wow! This is so very cool. My first thought didn’t even come up with a photograph, but an abstract painting - oils or waters on canvas… but a photograph? Nah.
Yeah, maybe clone out that artifact in the LRC… but beside that - ship it off and put this on canvas and hang proudly!
Love the color combination and the swirl/spin design and flow is just fabulous.
No other suggestions. Love this!
Lon
No, but that is what happened when I let my imagination and the blurring filters in Photoshop lead me into exciting places. The process was instructive in how shapes relate to each other, and then to let the blending modes suggest colors to accent the shapes. Thanks to both of you, @Lon_Overacker and @Dennis_Plank, for reasureing me that I have not strayed too far afield in the adventure of nature photography.
Barbara, no need to apologize! This is after all the abstract nature category and since your original source was of nature, I see no issues with experimentation and exploration of tools/techniques to self express. I quite like the final resulting image with the painterly qualities.
I’m curious about the purple and teal and am trying to imagine the original colors of the leaves. The gray background serves as a clean way to showcase the swirling brush strokes.
Thank you for your assurance that this is OK to post. I started with several of these red maple trees with no leaves because June is winter in New Zealand. I used a section of the trees and started blurring it with the various blurring and transforming options. Photoshop blend modes will change the original colors in surprising ways. I think I may have used a luminosity mask to change some of the colors. I have not saved the steps I went through and got to this place by even taking the background into Topaz lab to get that painted look.
1 Like
