Gnarled Tree

[clayhaus]

A windswept and twisted tree high on an exposed ridge in the Mountain Home Range of southwest Utah.

[yairh20]

Great shot! I just wish you had gotten lower down - the base of the tree doesn't stand out enough against the background of the desert (?); maybe try without the black and white conversion - the color difference might help it stand out. I love the pp work/ B&W conversion what settings did you use for the conversion?

[clayhaus]

It is a pretty busy background. I have opened up the area surrounding the lower trunk to hopefully introduce more differentiation. What do you think?

As far as processing, I use Nik Software's Silver Efex Pro for 99+% of my B&W conversions and this was no exception. I also Nik Software's Grad ND tool on the sky.

[yairh20]

Thanks - I'll definitely try that.
There's still no separation. If you open up the surrounding area, you should keep the trunk dark or vice-versa.

[Frog]

It is a great subject but it just doesn't stand out from the background.
Perhaps this one would be better in color?

[Greg McCary]

Frog maybe right. Try a color edit and desaturate the surrounding slightly making the tree stand out.

[clayhaus]

okay, here is a color version with a fair amount of tweakage: curves and desaturation here and there. Better or is the background a hopeless competition for the tree?

[yairh20]

Here's a quick fix I did - I hope you don't mind




Just colorized the rest of the trunk, and some burning, dodging, and soft-light

[clayhaus]

hmmm...I like the lighter pine needles but the rest of it doesn't really work for me...here is my last attempt at this...

[BlueRob]

I saw this and thought on the Ansel Adams tree shots...there is one similar on a mount top but the BG is very busy in this one and that kills it IMO.

You could try to play with the levels and contrast and play with the BG to make the subject stand out.

[hminx]

What I like about this shot is, the " throw at me what you will, I will survive " attitude of that lone pine.

[clayhaus]

@BlueRob: All of that has been done, to greater or (apparently) lesser effect, on the last image.

Lesson learned: An interesting tree does not a successful image make, with a competing background.

[GB1]

Hmm. This one really has something about it... I like how it's darker at the bottom, the way the tree sits strongly up and exposed. What I am not sure about is the strong geometric feeling of the shot, which may be partially due to the vertical format. It creates an unstable, bold and unusual feel all at the same time.

I do like yairh20's edit. The bw one is also successful.

G

[clayhaus]

Shall I belabor this any further? Yes, because this whole thread has been quite helpful! GB1 mentioned "vertical" so I thought I would throw a horizontal image of the tree into the mix. I did no work around the tree trying to separate it more from the background, but am more interested in whether the comp itself works better for people (versus the strongly centric vertical we have been spending our time on).

[Greg McCary]

I think I like the last edit the best. The sky was just to intense on the other shots and was competing to much with the subject. The more open crop works better for me too.

Edit...Maybe add a touch of contrast.

[Barbara G]

I like the last one, I am an amatuer and hoping to learn from you all
barb