Delicate Tendril of Life: Canon Digital Elph SD800IS f/4.0, 1/125 sec., ISO 100 Evaluative metering Incongruous and totally random ....... I saw this plant quite by accident while I...

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

Canon Digital Elph SD800IS
f/4.0, 1/125 sec., ISO 100
Evaluative metering

Incongruous and totally random ....... I saw this plant quite by accident while I was at the dog park, photographing my Shih Tzu. I happened to look down at a patch of light at the bottom of a tree and saw this small tendril against the bark of the tree. It was just so ineffably beautiful, a microcosm of life.

The serpent in the garden, so to speak, is the unwanted patch of light pooling at the root of the tree. I cannot crop it out as I would lose some of the plant. Does anyone know how to ameliorate the (relatively) bright light and blend it in with the rest of the tree bark? Please feel free to experiment and share your efforts.

Random Foliage
Random Foliage...

Nightski

Bob Yankle wrote:

Canon Digital Elph SD800IS br f/4.0, 1/125 sec., I... (show quote)

Bob, I wonder if a crop would be in order? If I took the photo, I might have been attached to the idea of keeping the whole tendril, but looking at it objectively I think you would convey the same idea if you cropped it in quite a bit tighter. It would help show off the textures more in addition to getting rid of the distracting light.

NIghtski Edit
NIghtski Edit...

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Nightski wrote:

Bob, I wonder if a crop would be in order? If I took the photo, I might have been attached to the idea of keeping the whole tendril, but looking at it objectively I think you would convey the same idea if you cropped it in quite a bit tighter. It would help show off the textures more in addition to getting rid of the distracting light.

Good point. If you crop it right where the tendril disappears into the ground, you still have the impact, I think, and with much less of the light area.

jonsommer Loc: Usually, somewhere on the U.S. west coast.

What an interesting idea, a close vertical crop, sort of like a vertical panorama - like an A3 size paper but with 5 X 19 image, or so, that really emphasizes the plants lust for and struggle fo life - and you would still be able to maintain and enjoy the beautiful texture of the bark without the distraction of the warm color.

Edit: as Nightski was busy editing and posting, I was writing and came back to see Nightski's edit - which is a great step in the direction I was suggesting, only I was thinking even taller and narrower.

Nightski

jonsommer wrote:

What an interesting idea, a close vertical crop, s... (show quote)

I am the newest of newbies when it comes to editing, Jon, so please have at it. :-D Bob, if you would reload and click the box for download, it would be possible to do more with it.

Country's Mama Loc: Michigan

I like the contrast in textures. I am thinking a vertical pano here. I wish the light was on the whole plant. Would it have been later or earlier in the day?

Country's Mama Loc: Michigan

Country's Mama wrote:

I like the contrast in textures. I am thinking a vertical pano here. I wish the light was on the whole plant. Would it have been later or earlier in the day?

again I waited too long to push the send button.

jonsommer Loc: Usually, somewhere on the U.S. west coast.

Country's Mama wrote:

again I waited too long to push the send button.

Hey, Country's Mama, I know how you feel, with Nightski at the switch, s/he who hesitates is lost, and gets left behind in the dust . . .

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

jonsommer wrote:

Hey, Country's Mama, I know how you feel, with Nightski at the switch, s/he who hesitates is lost, and gets left behind in the dust . . .

:thumbup: She added a photo after I typed my first comments :)

Here is what I had in mind, keeping more to Bob's original vision (and not having the pp skills to remove the light).

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

Nightski wrote:

I am the newest of newbies when it comes to editing, Jon, so please have at it. :-D Bob, if you would reload and click the box for download, it would be possible to do more with it.

Unfortunately, there is no larger edition of this photo (I had already checked Load Original, but there's just nothing more to load). This was taken with my Canon "peashooter", a digital Elph.

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

Linda From Maine wrote:

Here is what I had in mind, keeping more to Bob's original vision (and not having the pp skills to remove the light).

Linda, I used your crop, then used the CS6 Quick Selection Tool to highlight the lighted area, clicked Delete (making sure Content Aware was selected) and the program did a credible job of filling in some tree bark. I then used Viveza 2 to give the bark some more structure. It's getting there!

I also liked Nightski's "vertical panorama", but wanted to include more of the bark pattern as part of the overall solution. Ohhh! that the original had more resolution! (Darn thing is getting pixelated at this size).

Variation on Tendril of Life

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Bob Yankle wrote:

Linda, I used your crop, then used the CS6 Quick S... (show quote)

:thumbup:

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

Country's Mama wrote:

I like the contrast in textures. I am thinking a vertical pano here. I wish the light was on the whole plant. Would it have been later or earlier in the day?

I liked Mama's suggestion about some more light on the plant (shot at 3:14 P.M.). Just keep working it, right? It turns out I can add a bit more light to the plant (Color Efex Pro 4, Darken/Lighten Center filter). When I tried it, I liked the effect.

Tendril of Life w Lighting Effect added

MIKE GALLAGHER Loc: New Zealand

Bob
Is that brightness just light that was there when you saw it? This is one I'd love to be able to handle without cropping but I can't get it right so far.
The other question is whether you have an interest in editing this kind of thing yourself.
I could bury myself in this one. The photo's potential just jumps out at me.
Mike.

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

MIKE GALLAGHER wrote:

Bob
Is that brightness just light that was there when you saw it? This is one I'd love to be able to handle without cropping but I can't get it right so far.
The other question is whether you have an interest in editing this kind of thing yourself.
I could bury myself in this one. The photo's potential just jumps out at me.
Mike.

Mike, please feel free to make whatever edits you like, then share them with the rest of the group. It is instructive if you share your workflow. I've attached the original photo once again, including the patches of sunlight that were visible when I first started this project.

Original photo
Original photo...