Dry leaves

I did this a couple of months ago and liked the look of the delicate lines in the BG, but when I tried to replicate it on what seemed like similar shots (of autumn leaves, mostly just an orangey-brown) I didn’t get such a pleasing effect.

It’s not easy to see at this scale but there are some interesting things going on with the lines.

The original had the BG fairly OOF with some tonal gradations. I did a layer of Topaz BuzSim with just the line effect, then a regular BuzSim layer above that, in Linear Burn mode. Then did Viveza Structure on it and then a B/W with Nik SEP. The some local dodging and burning with masked Curve layers.

This turned out very nice! Those cool swirls of the bkgd add a feeling of wind motion that is also turning the leaves. I like the simple composition of the horizontal branches at the top with the vertical lines of leaves suspended below. The bkgd shading & swirls adds lots of intereste and pulls it all together.

I like the image you've created, so much fun to work with Topaz and Viveza, so many possibilities and effects, well done. I may have moved the leaves a bit to the left but that's just me.

Actually, Paul, I would have, too! No idea why I framed it this tight. The previous frame is from a little farther back, with room to crop so the leaves are more off-center. The BG is a little different angle but I'll see if I can get the same effect with it.

Diane, I love the bg. It has the appearance of heavily frosted glass. It compliments the leaves which have a cold hard look. It fits the current winter blast.

A pleasing composition, simple, focused on the Oak leaves. I like the line drawing look, which further simplifies the image. I would like to see the leaves stand out more. As the image is now, the bg and the dark branches dominate. Also, the two light areas between the branches and the leaves are distracting. I think it would be a matter of adjusting darks and lights.

Hi, Diane, I like the simplicity of the image and I love the texture in the background. I see Anita's point about the lighter areas and they don't seem to have as much texture as the rest of the background.

The texture didn't come out in the lighter areas. I thought they were interesting, with a sort of glow effect, but they do compete with the leaves. I'll play with this one again when I have time -- thanks everyone for ideas!

You have wonderful textures and a good range of tones going here. I think it looks quite good just the way it is. Given their lack of symmetry and the way they're all pointing in the same direction, it doesn't bother me that the leaves are pretty much centered. In fact, with that background and the dark edges, it seems like a good idea to me. The negative space is very effective.

I think it is worth working on further. I too, would have placed the leaves more off-center. I like the textures and black outlines.