The Birch Worm

I really like the comp a lot! I would like to see a color version though.

Excellent. Really love your twisted take on the perspective. Tonality is wonderful throughout. Just curious if you were ever tempted to hack off that one burr? I try to imagine the print w/o it as it seems to be the only 'natural' hiccup in a wonderfully composed and controlled scene.

Cheers,

This is wonderful. Excellent BW work with computer IMO. Great job. My only question is is it 35mm and How did you scan this?

Impressive B&W was the way to go apparently and you have done a great job with the conversion.

Hi Svein!

I like top-down perspective on this one. I like how complete trunk is in focus. The range of shades is very nice. I'm sure that you have the ansvere to why is that dry branch there.

Good light
Marko

I think this works very well in B&W. I actually like the dead limb. I think the composition would be less interesting without it.

My only thought would be to give the flowers in the lower left a <i>little</i> pop. It may or may not work, but it's worth a shot.

Excellent photograph.

Great b/w subject here. My only nit, and it is quite minor, is that I would like to see the tree continue throughout the entire frame instead of ending near the top right corner. As is, the limb leads my eyes through the entire frame, so it is quite effective.

This is just wonderful! I love the diagonal tree trunk curling through the photo, the fine detail in the ferns and the b&w presentation. I've got no nits!

Thanks for sharing.

Great photo. While the centerpiece is certainly the tree, I think what really makes the picture is the surrounding foliage/ferns - what great detail. Nicely done.
Dane

When I found this tree I stayed with it for a good 30 minutes. A real one of a kind twisted old bearch. I've got both digital and scanned slidefilm (Fuji Astia) of this - All color originals.

I though long about the burr, but decided to include the entire scene as it was before my eyes. This is part of a series where I explore parts of nature as "done art". Mother nature had really made an effort here to make something out of the ordinary.

I have actually cropped about 5% from the high left corner. I though about not including the base of the trunk, but at the same time it adds to the realism and subtracts from the abstractism. I wanted both to be present at the same time.

This is excellent, Svein-Frode! I wouldn't compositionally change a thing. I would suggest you push the whites a little more or dodge the worm some so that it really stands out. I posted a workup <a href="http://www.mgordonphotography.com/NPN/svein-frode.jpg" target="_blank">here</a> for you.

Well done!

Excellent image SF! Very engaging - it really holds your attention.

Hi Svein-Frode,

The fact that both ends are clipped makes one wonder how much longer it extends. The fern like leaves in the lower left of the frame are wonderful too. A great example of the isolation capability of the camera.

A really beautiful composition, nicely held contrast range, and great presentation. I love how the trunk moves (slithers?) through the frame. I agree you might be able to dodge the whites brighter, especially on the right side of the trunk. B&W truly does this justice.

Michael: I agree that the whites could be pushed even further. This is a jpeg version of the master file which are for printing, so I've been kinda careful pushing the histogram to the right. Should have done what you did to the file though! Thanks!

Just to say it's a great photograph, I like it very much.
I like the sensual relation of the Bearch and the Ferns. Great.

Salut

This is a wonderful image. Nicely conceived and executed.

Hi Svein,
I like the image a lot!
The tree's trunk hit my attention, it has a 3D look, it is very massive and compositionally strong. The ferns makes nice patterns and the flowers creates an interesting juxtaposition.

Love the detail and the perspective on this one. It does indeed look like a giant worm. Well seen and well taken.