Caos

This started off as a winter macro challenge and ended up going into the twilight zone. :) The original image was a macro shot of the top of our car hood that had a sprinkling of snow-ice crystals. I'm not sure if this works or ends up just being a mess... I'll let all of you decide. :)

Equipment Used:

Olympus E-3
Digital Zuiko 14-54mm f2.8-3.5 @14mm
1/20 sec @ f8
hand-held with image stabilization
ISO 100

Post Processing:

Topaz simplify filter applied, adjustments made to contrast, Nik bi-color filter and tonal contrast filters used, sharpening applied.

Attachment 86761
copyright reserved 2011, Richard Lovison

Richard, I like the rendering of the snow-ice crystals, a neat effect! The background dark mass abutting the light tan mass (just to left of center) doesn't seem to work with the crystals, though - at least to my eye It's the sharp boundary that is distracting. Lovely colors.

Richard, I really like the effect of the Topaz on the ice crystals. Very cool! I agree w/ Keith regarding the darker area. Maybe blend the sharp edge a bit. It reminds me of the Twilight Zone but in a good way!

Richard, This doesn't really work for me. Maybe if the ice crystals were larger so that you could see more of their intricate design, I would find it more interesting.

Thanks everyone for your input. I believe I should have trusted my intuition and let this one go. Live and learn. :)

Richard, I like it! Especially the bicolor filtering and the effect you got with Simplify.:)

Thanks Cheryl.

That background bothered me from the beginning (shadow of myself and reflections of the sky) and I should have known that if I start off with an image having a fairly large issue, all the processing in the world isn't going to make it go away. :)

Richard