We were down at the Redwood coast last month and ran across a driftwood stump with all kinds of interesting textures. The hills and valleys with the striations running across like geological layers really appealed to me.
Specific Feedback Requested
Does the absence of an anchor point destroy this? Any processing suggestions?
Technical Details
A7Riv, Tamron 28-200 @ 89 mm, f/13, 1/200, iso 800. I used an old Topaz detail plugin to increase the micro contrast and bring out the structure and jacked up the saturation to accent the subtle color variations in the strata.
Fascinating! I wouldn’t know if it’s wood or rock, which I think makes it more interesting. The lighting on the ripples is lovely and, for me, I don’t feel the need to look for a focal point in this sort of image. I might consider a very small crop from the top – the darker stratum right at the edge draws my attention a bit.
I really like the idea of this image but it seems to be lacking contrast or “umph” for me. Maybe try selecting just the mid-tones and adding contrast to them.
Thanks @Diane_Miller and @Matt_Payne I went back and applied a pretty heavy curves layer through a midtone mask (it was almost all midtones since it was still foggy on the coast that day and weathered wood is pretty bland). I also cropped it heavily to get the edges more where I wanted them, rotated it a bit and flipped it both vertically and horizontally. Hopefully it’s an improvement.
Hi Dennis, everyone’s got an opinion, right? I really like the crop of the second image, but would dial back the contrast/sharpness a bit. Somewhere between the two images would work in my opinion.
I love the comp.
I dunno – I also find the added contrast too much for my taste. And the rotation now places heavier regions at the top and the crop from the sides loses so much of the lovely soft curves. Here’s the slight crop from the top I would favor, with a touch of Saturation and a gradient curve from the bottom left, angled up at about 30 deg to the right and just a touch of midtone boost, but no tonal masking – just pulled up the middle of the curve a little.
Hi Dennis! I personally really like your original image best! I think I just like more subdued muted colors. But either way it’s an awesome find and you composed it beautifully!
Dennis, this is an awesome find and image with lots of interesting patterns and texture. Great earthy tones and layers. I prefer your original composition with a slight crop off the trop. Nice work!
I really like the crop of the second image, but would dial back the contrast/sharpness a bit. Somewhere between the two images would work in my opinion.