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Ramesh Adkoli
03-28-2010, 08:30 AM
May not be as dramatic as the dinosaurs of the Jurassic Park, i was still shocked by the resilience of this banyan tree. It has grown completely on the sides of this huge monolithic rock. Not only has it thrived, it is home to many birds as well! Views and comments are welcome.

EXIF: D700, 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/125s, f/13, ISO 200, tripod mount, small crop at top, early morning
PP: CNX2, levels, selective colors, b&w conversion

regards,
ramesh

Sabyasachi Patra
03-28-2010, 10:18 AM
Ramesh,
Nice image. The texture in the rock has come out well. Banyan trees grow very big and their roots come out from the branches and when the reach the ground form pillars of support. Some how I am missing the scale in this image. I am not sure, whether I could have done better in that regard. Also, it would have been great to see more tones in the image. Do you have frames from any other angle? Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

Ramesh Adkoli
03-28-2010, 10:52 AM
Thanks, Sabya for your views. Here is an image taken from an opposite hillock that should give an idea about the scale of this rock and the tree as it includes another photographer. BTW, this is a small tree. I had other images of the tree, in which I filled the BG with the rock. I liked this the best.

regards,
ramesh

NB: replaced the earlier image with a revised one based on Roman's suggestions.

Sabyasachi Patra
03-28-2010, 11:01 AM
Ramesh,
Even without the photographer, the second image will give an idea of scale.

In the first image, the tree is small, and perhaps I was looking for large banyan tree, according to the impression I have in my mind. Perhaps, if you would have said just a tree, then I would not have talked about scale. Having said that, the original image conveys the impression of tenacity. Wish we can take some cues from the tree. Where was this clicked?

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

Roman Kurywczak
03-28-2010, 02:49 PM
Hi Ramesh,
I like both presentations but do agree about more tonal range.....on both. I think the first tells an interesting story...on how life can and does grow in such hostile environs while the second one shows scale very nicely....although I would crop out the bottom grasses and proportionally off the left.....this would take the photographer a bit off center and help strengthen the comp overall. If I get a chance I will give it a try myself later.

Kobus Tollig
03-29-2010, 01:53 AM
Ditto Roman here. Some Tlc might really work on this

Ramesh Adkoli
03-29-2010, 04:43 AM
Sabhya, this was image was taken at Ramanagara, about 40KM from bangalore. This town is famous for its rock formations.

Thanks, Roman and Kobus for your views. Roman, it was a hazy morning with dull sunlight. I could extract some tonal range in the first one. Second one was just a Q&D PP'ed image for reference. Appreciate if you could show me the improvements on the first one, if you find time.

regards,
ramesh

Ramesh Adkoli
03-29-2010, 07:31 AM
Roman, i replace the second image with a revised one based on your suggestions. Thanks.

regards,
ramesh

Roman Kurywczak
03-29-2010, 09:25 AM
Hi Ramesh,
Here goes.....First I used the dodge tool while viewing at 300% and dodged the roots and bush. On the bush I added a levels layer to lighten and also a brightness contrast one. On the rest I selectively went down with layers on the brightness...usually around minus 6 and boosted the contrast. final tweak was a crop and clone/patch of the LLC grasses.....although you could leave the crop and just clone/patch. Final step was Robert's LCE of 20/23/0 for last pop. Let me know your thoughts.
PS You can do some of the same things....especially the trees and rock.....in the 2nd image.

Roman Kurywczak
03-29-2010, 09:42 AM
OK...had a few minutes but with the 2nd one went more agresssive with levels layers selectively.......mostly using the white and black slider.....this too adds contrast but for me also adds depth....it was about 8 of them....from toning down the RH side of the rock to lightening other areas....not all equally. Yes I almost got the trees to an IR look....not everyones cup of tea....but wanted to show how far you could go with relatively simple steps. Hope this helps and let me know your thoughts.

Ramesh Adkoli
03-29-2010, 10:42 AM
Roman, the changes in the reposts are really dramatic. The gray tones really pop-up. I will go back and try those steps on my own. Thanks a ton for your time and guidance. It is extremely helpful.

regards,
ramesh

Robert Amoruso
03-29-2010, 12:08 PM
I should have read to the bottom before tweaking the first image. I did pretty much the same thing as Roman and got the same results.