B&W: Dyckia Stalk

I tried to capture the spiral of this Dyckia stalk, and thought it would make a good subject for B&W. Though I'm not usually a big fan of vignette (especially this strong), it seems to work here. Comments and criticism much appreciated.

http://snarkbyte.smugmug.com/Nature/...724-001-X2.jpg

Hi Al

This plant looks very tempting as a subject. I am a little distracted by the background, it's probably just me, but it looks like the plant was photographed in front of an xray of an arm. Sorry. Maybe if you stood a little more to the right so the plant was in front of the arm? I love the spiral & can see why you wanted a light background, but maybe it needs tweaking more to make the subject stand out. I do like the fogginess of your background though. What would the image look like with the camera tilted slightly so that the spiral heads diagonally?

Cheers
Nihia

Thanks, Nihia. Here's a slightly different treatment from about the same angle. I did try to get some diagonal shots, but without success... a slight breeze came along and the stalk started swinging around all over the place. :(

http://snarkbyte.smugmug.com/Nature/...724-004-X2.jpg

Al

I think the contrast on the first one makes it a better image, but I'd agree with Nihia's point. Maybe if you were to put a light smudge brush over the background it would take away some of the quite strong lines that are in it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Donald

Al

I think the contrast on the first one makes it a better image, but I'd agree with Nihia's point. Maybe if you were to put a light smudge brush over the background it would take away some of the quite strong lines that are in it.

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Thanks, Don. I'll play with it some more this evening. The strength of the background lines can be managed somewhat by adjusting the color channels, so smearing may not be necessary.

The latest version. I adjusted the tone curve to bring out more detail in the bolls and stalk, and made some local adjustments for brightness. Also, I didn't want the background to be completely featureless, so I just played around with some local adjustments in LR, trying for a slightly veinous, motttled look. Better? Worse? Too much vignette? Just give up and move on?

http://snarkbyte.smugmug.com/Nature/...724-004-X2.jpg

Maybe just a touch too much of the vignette, & a slight reduction in the brightness of background would do it. The merest breath of wind sometimes fouls up our hopes for a great catch doesn't it. I'd keep on trying with that Dyckia, it's so graceful.

Nihia