An Old Elm Log

Gallery: LandscapePosted December 30, 2014136 views7 comments

My wife put me to work yesterday leaving me with not much time on my day off. So, I spent most of the afternoon moving and stacking firewood. During this endeavor, I spotted several logs that seemed to be suitable for macro-photography. I set the wood up high so that it would pickup some early morning frost. I was able to photograph this particular subject early this morning as the sun came up over the horizon. For processing, I used Topaz In Focus and Topaz Details followed with a series of luminosity masks to pull out some shadow details and increase some of the subtle colors. The raw image was very flat, but seemed to have some potential. (K5 IIs, Sigma 180mm 3.5 macro 1/4sec at f16, ISO 400 natural light)...............Jim

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by D.A. Edwards on December 30, 2014 at 3:00 PM

I'm not sure about this one, Jim. The composition seems fine, particularly with that large black spot in a good position, and technically it's just right but the subject matter just isn't doing it for me.

Registered on October 8, 2014, 226 Posts, 1187 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on December 30, 2014 at 4:06 PM

Hi Dave,

I think that I was hoping to have the frost add just the right thing to the image, but the outcome is too grainy and it distracts from the square check patterns on the log. The frost may look better with more magnification. I'm going to re-shoot the image without frost and see if that does the trick. Thank you for your review

..............Jim

Registered on January 17, 2004, 705 Posts, 3594 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on December 30, 2014 at 5:07 PM

I think you decision to try this composition without the ice may have some excellent potential. The frost does distract me as it's in the way of my enjoying the nice warm tones of the natural wood.

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by scott lanz on December 31, 2014 at 7:21 AM

I like the pattern, Jim. I think it makes an interesting natural abstract. The frost, unfortunately, has made the presentation look soft, as often happens with frost.

Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments

Comment posted by Preston Birdwell on December 31, 2014 at 7:05 PM

I can see where you are going with this one, Jim. I like the concept, but the frost is softening things up too much. You might try simply spraying a little water on it to bring up the color. I like the checks and the lines.

--P

Registered on November 1, 2003, 471 Posts, 5188 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on January 1, 2015 at 1:06 PM

Jim, definitely an interesting idea. In this case, I don't think the frost stands out strongly enough....but maybe that subtle look is what you were/are after. It almost looks over sharpened (especially the smaller version) as presented here. I've seen that in my work when I start with a low contrast image and push the contrast, so it might be worth reducing the contrast a bit and then trying some dodging through a bright lights luminosity mask to see if that shows off the frost better.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Ryan Shain on January 1, 2015 at 4:50 PM

I enjoy the vision of this image Jim, and I bet you are going to try it again, and get it looking better. The composition and lines looks good, but as others have mentioned it does look a bit soft. As I have read through the others comments, I may have to try something which Preston recommended in wetting the wood first to bring out the color, and who know how it will look with eh frost or maybe a light snow.

Registered on February 20, 2007, 226 Posts, 4571 Comments