We were on our way into a restaurant the evening after the Disney Hall shoot when we walked by this sidewalk tree. I only had my iPhone (and a really old one by today’s standards) but I had to grab a picture.
All comments welcome!
Is this a composite: No
iPhone 4S, from 2013. Minimal cropping, miniscule cleanup and tonal tweaks.
Then Glennie’s suggestion of a little added to the bottom to fix the tangent.
I like this one a lot. The textures/patterna and colors are great. Only a minor comment, the image is a little bit soft at the lower corners. That could be solved by crop away the lower part, I tried that and think that the crop not will reduce the overall quality of the image. (I then also tried to increase the contrast and details a little, but found out that our choice is the best.)
Diane, sometimes just having a smartphone of some sort with a camera helps us from feeling like we totally missed the shot because we didn’t have “our camera” with us. I am impressed actually. I love the shapes and lines in this. I think Ola’s crop may have helped lose the softness near the bottom, and still leaves the best of the image to just enjoy.
Outstanding bark abstract. Superb color, textures, and forms. I really like this one.
Hi Diane, great eye to see this and get a shot. I’m sure I would have walked right on by and missed a nice opportunity. I also like the patterns and texture you captured here - really interesting. I like Ola’s version as well.
Thanks @Ola_Jovall, @Shirley_Freeman, @David_Schoen and @Allen_Sparks! I should have cropped from the bottom as I was bothered by the tangent at the bottom edge, but I wouldn’t crop as far as Ola did, because that creates another tangent. I’ve posted a revision next to the original, with a bit of cleanup in the LR corner and a slight distortion toward the UR.
Hi Diane. I love bark abstracts, and this one is especially wonderful. I also like your original composition better than the cropped versions. Two things to try on out of focus lower right:
(1) In Lightroom (or in Photoshop > Filter > Camera Raw Filter), use the adjustment brush and apply Sharpening to just that area.
(2) Use Topaz Sharpen Ai, again applying the sharpening to just that area.
Neither will match the sharpness of the center of the image, but should be sufficient for web display and small prints.
This is such a good abstract! I love the soft colours and shapes. (Blues and browns win again!) I prefer your OP. The softness does not bother me. It looks like the Lagerstroemia has done a “drop shadow” over its bark.
My only though would be to add a flea’s whisker to the bottom edge just to raise that bottom lighter piece off the border.
Good idea, Glennie! Thanks to content-aware magic and some cloning, here it is – added to the original post for comparison.
I think that turned out alright.
Diane: I’m late to this party but wanted to mention how much I like this. Well seen and the patterns and textures are marvelous. I like your tweak but the original works for me as is. >=))>
