American Bittersweet + RP

Gallery: FloraPosted February 23, 2015181 views10 comments

I found this American Bittersweet in a nature preserve near my house. American bittersweet is a rare vine that I was actually surprised to find so close to home. Removing any vegetation is strictly prohibited so I left the OOF stick in place. The hanging fruit has some interesting texture and color. K5 IIs 180mm f3.5 (1/60 sec at f16, ISO 160); 6 image stack Pmax Levels, WB, LM for lights, midtones, and shadow darks, TK's sharpen for web, slight crop for composition...................Jim

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Bill Fach on February 23, 2015 at 11:05 PM

Jim: Oh this is very cool! I do notice the OOF stick and I think this is a worthy enough subject that I would make it go away through cloning/painting. The light is excellent and the textures on the main subject are marvelous. Really well seen and captured.>=))>

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments

Comment posted by Alberto Patiño on February 23, 2015 at 11:12 PM

The definition in the large version is spectacular, and the colors are very pleasing. Not sure about the stick, for some reason I find it less intrusive in the large version. It is sort of distracting, but nature is not perfect

Registered on December 2, 2014, 278 Posts, 1736 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on February 24, 2015 at 9:00 AM

I agree with Bill. Cloning it out would be a bit tricky, because of the variation in the background, but doable. I hope you don't mind, but here is my solution: Select subject>Refine edge to separate layer>CTRL-Click on subject on top layer>Invert selection on bottom (bkground) layer>Carefully clone out OOF stick (soft brush)>Average bottom layer>Fade average 50%>flatten image

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Nathan Buck on February 24, 2015 at 1:53 PM

Interesting subject Jim. I really wish that the bright stick was not cutting through the photo. I do like all of the little details on your main subject.

Nathan

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1101 Posts, 13589 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on February 24, 2015 at 6:21 PM

Thank you for the comments and to Phil for the tutorial. I tested out the methodology after work and it seemed to work OK....................Jim

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

Comment posted by Julia Flanagan on February 25, 2015 at 7:00 PM

I too like your subject very much. I like bittersweet - and think I have rarely seen the native American species. We have a lot of the Chinese or Oriental bittersweet - which has it's own beauty even if I truly wish all of it in North America would die, leaving the native plant to do its thing. Anyway... I like the low contrast that I think emphasizes the decay and worn appearance of the fruits. I like photos that present nature in real life stages. My first thought on adjustments was the same as others... the oof line is a significant distraction. Otherwise an appealing presentation of this plant.

Registered on November 13, 2003, 59 Posts, 986 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Fach on February 25, 2015 at 10:08 PM

Jim: Really nice work on the repost. Made an already good image a superior one. >=))>

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on February 27, 2015 at 10:55 AM

this is a fine image but your re-post is excellent. Beautiful colors, texture and an interesting subject. doesn't get much better

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

Comment posted by Albert Darmo on March 3, 2015 at 12:39 PM

Hi Jim

The repost makes it perfect

love the natural colors! .. Thanks for sharing this fascinating plant