Tangled

The tangled tendrils of grown wind around the leaves of a Twin Flower Agave in Arches NP, Utah.

Canon EOS R
1/250 Sec. @ f 8
105 mm ISO 100

Specific Feedback Requested

Composition and Black and White conversion.

Technical Details

Is this a composite: No
Canon EOS R
1/250 Sec. @ f 8
105 mm ISO 100

Edited in Lightroom
Black and white conversion with Silver Effects.

@todd.higgins
1 Like

Excellent one here, Todd. The entanglements almost makes the scene look like an etcha sketch drawing that someone liberally scrolled circular loops around the static plant with…very unique look overall.

Todd: Excellent conversion and a fine result. The square crop works really well here and the details are marvelous. Not the usual fare from Arches! Well done. >=))>

That is a fun image. I am curious, what makes it a Twin Flower Yucca vs. a Banana Yucca? Or is it a regional name difference?

The twinflower sends up two stocks with a single bud on them. It takes about ten years for this to happen, and after that, the plant dies. (This is what I have read anyway.)

The square crop and monochrome works great for this. There’s so much implied energy that the square crop adds to it by confining it somehow. In some ways, I want all of this in focus - a stack would have done it, but I kind of like the limited focal plane, too, so it’s a winner either way. You could have a go at darkening the URC to match the other three if you wanted to. Super and well done.

Thanks, I think I saw one recently in S. Utah and thought it was a goofy Banana Yucca. There were two stalks and no flower pods but it wasn’t quite dead.

I like the abstract quality provided by the string-like thingies and the black and white. Compositionally, I find it a bit chaotic and not quite coming together. The leaves and the OOF areas distract me from the strings. I like the concept, though. I can easily see why this was photographically appealing.

I like the contrast between the endless curves of the whatever-it-is and the strong lines of the agave leaves. BW is my preference for such images about form. The central comp works well for me. Imho it could use more depth of field and perhaps softer light.