Twisted Oak In Snow

Here in the Sierra Foothills (2,200’) we have gotten more snow this month than we have in the last two years!

This image was taken less than an hour ago from our deck. Rather than looking at a wider view, I homed in on the nice curves of this old oak

I converted this to B&W, so I would like to know what you think of the tonal values and contrast.

What do you think of the composition?

Nikon D-7100
Nikkor 70-200 @110mm
f-11 @ 1/40, ISO 200
ACR and PSCC
TK Mids and Darks masks.
5% edge burn to accentuate the central branches.

Your thoughts a re always appreciated. :smile:
-P

You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.

Preston, Love this! I like this tight view showing the snow covered structure of all the branches, Very interesting to look at this and nice job capturing it.

Beautiful, Preston!! Tones look great to my eye. As an experiment, I might burn down the snow on the branches lower right quadrant a little, so there is a little less attention competition with the biggest branches? Pretty dang minor though. This is quite nice.

Excellent Preston! I love that you’ve isolated and made this ALL trees and snow; no competing interests. Contrast is spot on as well as the color balance and tonality.

No suggestions sir. Just jealous this is outside your back door!

Lon

I like these type of compositions. This one is also quite expressive due to some of the sharp angles of some of major branches. So it works at 2 levels for me. This is more than just a pretty picture of a snow scene. It’s got a bit of a bite to it.

The upper left quadrant is particularly interesting due to the repeating branches but that takes the image into another direction. Really nice work.

A most wonderful image – provides realistic detail but at the same time also takes on an abstract look. I love it when the same photograph can do both. I am also drawn to the complexity in the scene and how well it has been highlighted.

Terrific work with this one Preston.

Beautiful, Preston. I love these conditions. This is nicely composed with the radiating branches providing a great anchor to the image. Processing looks good to me. No nits.