Whorls

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

A great piece of diftwood I came across at the beach.

Specific Feedback

Any feedback.

Technical Details

1/80 sec @f8, ISO 400


Critique Template

Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.

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  • Composition:
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  • Lighting:
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1 Like

Hi Chris, Lovely image you have shared with us. Beautifully enigmatic. Well seen and processed.

Chris - a Beautiful piece of driftwood! My husband would love it - he is a very skilled driftwood sculpturer (who knew that the scientist had an artistic streak that emerged after retirement?)
The lines, swirls, and colour variations are wonderful here, and your comp captures the best of them
A great find, and very well-presented!

This is a really nice piece of driftwood. I love all of the swirls and whorls in this. The color is rich and creamy too. Driftwood is cool stuff to contemplate.

What really draws me in here, Chris, is the almost painterly quality of the wood’s surface. The swirling patterns feel almost abstract, yet rooted in nature, making it easy to lose yourself in the details as if you’re tracing a map of an ancient, weathered landscape.

The natural curves guide the eye smoothly across the frame, and there’s a nice balance between the lighter and darker areas. The subtle use of color—those earthy browns and greys—works well to highlight the texture without overshadowing it.

The way this piece invites interpretation is fantastic—it feels like the wood is carrying its own history.

Chris: Whenever I’m beachcombing I’m always on the lookout for this kind of subject. A really nice find and a superb extraction and comp. Most excellent. >=))>

This is very cool, Chris! The swirls and texture are just wonderful. And those little black specks give it even more character.

I could see a couple changes. Those dark areas in the lower right could be lightened up, I think. For an abstract like this, it’s typically thought to be better to have more even exposure across the frame. What struck me even more, was the cooler tones of the left hand side. I was thinking cooling it a bit would bring out more color separation and depth. Here’s my idea (you can do all that in LR - I made those adjustments in ACR); hope you don’t mind:

1 Like

What a wonderful find and so well photographed!! I love that there is no sense of scale. It could almost be a drone shot of some wasteland area. @Bonnie_Lampley has a good idea that it could be subject to different interpretations – not needed to improve it but just as a rich playground. I agree it could be interesting to lighten the right side and especially the LR corner.

Good morning Chris! You’ve had a lovely “play” with this one. I agree with the corner lightening, although as @Diane_Miller said, it’s good both ways. What I find so intriguing in your ‘play’ with it, is how you pulled off getting it somehow to be on a diagonal from LL to TR. Makes it that much more engaging. Well seen!

Great suggestions…as usual. Thanks!

1 Like

@SandyR-B @Bill_Fach @Ed_Williams @Saundie @Diane_Miller @Connie_McClaran Thank you one and all for your comments.

Chris, this is well seen and presented. It’s nicely reminiscent of Van Gogh’s Starry Night painting.

@Mark_Seaver Thank you, Mark.