CACTUS AND RUST

[gary ellwein]

The ocotillo cacti are part of the roof of a primitive shelter at the Tumacacino mission in SE Arizona and the rust is from an old mining ore car. The cactus was converted to B&W with a touch of Fractalius. The color intensity of the rust was increased with Nik CEP4 Contrast Color Range and Tonal Contrast.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Gary - great colors and textures with the thorns sticking out. I really like the vertical lines too. Only thing I'm not sure about tis the barbed wire at the bottom. If it were mine I think I would crop to just above that.

TFS,
Rachel

[gary ellwein]

Rachel, thanks for the look and comment. I experimented with keeping and eliminating the wire. I felt the wire was a cohesive element. The repost is free floating. Hopefully others wiil chime in.

[Diane Miller]

I really like this, and prefer the second version, both for colors and the absence of the wire, but both are wonderful!.

[Dennis Bishop]

I like the wire for the reason you do, Gary, and because its direction provides some visual tension. Its smoother lines might also be a good thing in contrast to the thorns. Especially with what you did in Color Efex, you have a very strong foreground and background, and -- in my opinion -- they don't play all that well together. My inclination would be to do something more like this . . .

[Cheryl Slechta]

Hi, Gary, I like the original post because I think the barbed wire is a nice "twist" on the thorns. Hard to explain but it seems to reinforce the feel of the "thorniness" of the image. Terrible explanation, sorry, I'll try to be more articulate later

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Really like the conversion to b and w, and the juxtaposition of the wire and the sharp cactus. Seems more OOTB to me. The original is very nice, it reminds me of a forest fire.

[gary ellwein]

Thanks to all for your comments and suggestions. In retrospect, the original looks a bit over the top. Perhaps entitled the Gate of Hades. I like Dennis's B&W.