Wood

[OvidiuCavasdan]

40D, EF 100mm F2.8 Macro
F22
1/5 sec
ISO 250
This is a very small area of a tree stump, shot somewhere close to MFD, natural light, manual mode, tripod, MLU and timer, very slightly croped.

[Grady Weed]

I like this, a lot. The swirl patterns and the large lighter section to offset the scene is a plus. But...it seems a tad soft to me. For F/22 and fast shutter speed, it should be sharper. Maybe it's just me. The lower areas, or the "pits in the circles seems soft. You also might try to spice up the tones some. Perhaps set the black points higher. Please do a re-post, just to see a difference, if it does make a difference. Well seen.

I took just few minutes for a quick change. I adjusted the Shadows and Highlights to a 10% shadow, no adjustment on the highlights, leave mid tones as is. The a slight levels to up the black point. I use CS4. you will probably get a much better result if you use the RAW file. Anyway just a suggestion here. Thanks for sharing.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Ovidiu. What an interesting subject with lots of cool patterns and textures! I don't think I've ever seen a stump that had patterns like this. Grady makes some good suggestions above and I would agree with some additional sharpening and a little boost in contrast. This subject is certainly worth experimenting with a few tweaks to make it even stronger.

[Ken Childs]

Very cool subject, Ovidiu! It reminds me of some wood I used to import from Africa.

The comp looks spot on but I agree that it looks a bit flat. I like Grady's version but I think that if this were mine, I'd just boost the contrast, probably quite a bit.

[Bob Miller]

Hi Ovidiu.....Nice find and well composed.....I agree with others that some overall sharpening and you might consider toning down the LRHC

[Julie Kenward]

I like this a lot! I'd also maybe look at a very small slice off the bottom. Another option would be to take off the top row of swirls and go with just the second row and the yellow area. To me, the top area feels a bit out of balance to the yellow area.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Ovidiu, I love the shapes and swirls - it reminds me of a Van Gogh