Was out birding on Lake Monroe yesterday, but the action was slow so I turned to the woods for entertainment. Made a series of bark and tree-trunk close ups; I'll post them as I work on them.
Olympus ES-570UZ, ISO 125, 25.5 mm, macro setting, f8.0, 1/60 sec, handheld. Minimal processing in PSE, no cropping.
I must say that I like the patterns and textures in this image. Very nice. You also handled the light areas very well. They are very warm but I can still see the detail there. So overall, very well done. And good eye.
I love the cross of wood grains and all that texture going on but the light tones in the image feel a little too high for me personally. I feel like there's not much to anchor the image as far as dark tones except for the center of the one tree. Maybe a vignette around the outside or a little bit of burning might give the image more depth.
I agree with Mike - the second one is better. I tried my hand at the image as well. I duplicated the layer and changed it to a multiply mode and lowered it to about 80% opacity. Next, I masked off the vertical tree - more so on the right side where the lighter areas are and left the side nearest the frame darker - again, as an anchor for the image.
I probably could have spent the entire night burning and dodging little pockets here and there but I think you get the drift. It's just another way to go...it's your vision, M - stay true to it and do what works best for you!
Thanks! I like what you did with it, as well. This is what's fun about this site: it opens up possibilities for what one might see in one's own work by looking at it through others' eyes. A real incentive to experiment, and see what happens. Vision does not need to be definitive or even stay put for long.
Thank you for taking this image so seriously and putting time into it.