This is one of several icicles I found hanging from a maple tree branch one recent morning. I believe they were formed from freezing sap hence the title. :) The highlights on the icicle ended up a bit hot, so I toned them down in PS. Do you think I toned them down enough? Any C&C are welcome!
Olympus SP-550 UZ
f4.5 @ 1/400, ISO 100, -0.7 EV
Program mode, pattern metering, auto WB
Processed in PS CS2; straightened, cropped, curves adjustment, saturation increase, and noise reduction
I think the background looks great. And I think you toned down the sapcicle enough. But did you do that selectively or did you back off on the entire image? I ask because the tree branch looks way underexposed to me.
Ed, I toned down using a curves layer manipulating the curve to restrict it to the highlights. I'm not sure if that counts as selective or not. It did not cause the tree branch to be underexposed, as it was like that in the original shot. Here I've applied some S/H to the branch to lighten it a bit. I could probably make it even lighter, but personally I think if it's too light it detracts from the icicle. What do you think?
Chris, I think the second image is stronger because you do have a little more detail in the branch. I also think you could probably shave about 1/4 off the bottom and lose some of the negative space so the sapcicle takes up more of the space.
Hey Christopher, I will go with the second also, as Jules points out it has more details showing, and agree with a slight crop on the bottom. Good details and very well done on the BG.