A little bush processing

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Greetings. Started with one idea, a cropped abstract. Then tried the whole thing. Oh, how about merging the two. ;-)

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Processed the center portion of the bush. SEP, Simplify, Impression (mod off of Turner Sunset), curves toning wit gradients and multiply blend, Adjust. Processed the whole scene a subdued buzsim with Simplify, Adjust, SEP, Placed the center processed version and hand feathered.

Thanks for looking. Oh, taken a few years ago at Yellowstone National Park near Mammoth Hot Springs.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Dennis Bishop]

I like what you did with the bush. The orange center becoming redder toward the edges is quite effective. Its size, location, and color are attention grabbers. However, the very dark blues -- because of their darkness, size, angular shapes, tonal contrast with the rest of the background and location near the edges of the image -- grab my attention, too. There are a lot of things waving at me so I decided to try subduing the intensity of some.


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Using the Camera Raw filter, I lightened the darks, desaturated the blues a bit and lightened them. All that messed more than I wanted with the bush, so I darkened the midtones a little using Levels. To counter the dark mids at the edges, I used a gradient mask at the edges on the Levels layer. To my eyes, the reduced intensity is easier to take in, and the change in the blues sets up a nice complementary contrast with the oranges.

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Thanks, Dennis. I see your point and appreciate the repost. I like the overall decrease in white to dark contrast. I was first attracted to this image for the central part of the bush. As an abstract, without much processing it looks like a Jackson Pollock painting. Unfortunately, the resolution is a little low on just that part of the bush. I may take another crack at it, though.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Nancy Bell]

Michael, I am certainly attracted to the bright color of the bush, but overall I have a bit of trouble making this hold together as an image. Maybe make it all abstract or maybe a bit less abstract. I like the elements of the weathered wood & the sprig of green grass.

[gary ellwein]

Michael, to my eye, the most interesting part of the image is in the area of the repost. Do you think Trump lost something while in the park?

[Nancy Bell]

Gary, this is a good crop. Ha ha...I think Trump is missing more than just hair!

[Anita Bower]

I had a hard time figuring out what the subject was in the image, and as a whole, it didn't work well for me. Gary's crop works better for me. I'd say that the hairpiece looks better here than on Trump!