Two barks

Hmm ... basically it's a nice idea, but as the colors don't play such an important role here I might rather go B&W and emphasize on tonality.

very nice chris. great concept, I like it a lot. I´m going with andreas suggestion though, about a b&w conversion, looks like you could get nice contrasts here. if you decide to repost a b&w conversion of this image, give it a tad of sharpness along the way, just a thought. oh, forgot, nicely seen this comp.....

Chris,

I too like the juxtaposition of the two trunks, or barks. The light is favorable and their are details to be seen in both the light and dark areas. I would agree with the previous comments in that this might work better in b&w; or perhaps play with increasing the contrast a bit in the color version. Also, this feels a little soft in both versions; although the larger version is a little better.

Good eye to spot this and I like the idea. Just think a little more work on this could make it better.

Lon

All,

Thanks for the views and comments. Here's a more aggressively sharpened b&w conversion. I kinda miss the green hue on the birch and the red-brown on the pine, but the b&w is growing on me. I can't sharpen more without noise getting obnoxious ... it's ISO4500, after all.

I'll reply more to the excellent comments tomorrow ... gotta run now.

Chris

Interesting comp, Chris! Not necessarily a complaint, but for whatever reason without thinking here, it almost looks like the middle tree is behind the two sides! In other words, it lacks depth. If the bright side of the middle tree were on the other side--against the darker bg wood, that might have made the seperation more obvious. But then, it might have been a less weird photo, and weird is probably a good thing here...

Thanks for the views and comments. I feel that I'm making progress compositionally, but I need to develop a better eye in post-processing. The comments helped.

Andreas, Bruno, and Lon...you were right on about sharpness and trying B&W. Thanks.

Stan, the trees are both lit by diffuse, reflected light from an open area -- a pond -- to the right of the shot. The only way to change that would be a flash or reflector, and I really wanted the light to contour the trunks as it does --- more or less successfully -- in this shot.

Lessons I take from this...I should have shot at a wider aperture and lower ISO for better sharpness, and need to start using a monopod or tripod more ... shot discipline. Learn more about sharpening, curves, and masks. On the other hand, I am learning to compose more carefully, and finding a polarizer useful for shots other than water and sky.

Thanks again.

Chris