I've got wood...

Well, bark really! Why, what else were you expecting?? :blush2:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3529/...6e7f4240_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3465/...6a3690dd_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3391/...250ec282_o.jpg

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Originally Posted by dizzy

Well, bark really! Why, what else were you expecting??...

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With temperatures the way they are, I was hoping it would be a fireplace with a roaring fire... :D

lol, sorry to disappoint! It's been a barmy 68 degrees here for the last few days so there's been no fire on lately!!

Are we allowed to crit here, or are we just supposed to make nice?

Nice patterns there, dizzy. Works well in B&W. :)

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Originally Posted by almo

Are we allowed to crit here, or are we just supposed to make nice?

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Of course! :thumbsup:

Ok, well, I am not going to attempt to be mean or anything, but one thing struck me as I looked at this. I have almost an identical setup to yours. Canon 30D, grip, and Sigma 17-35mm EX (Sigma's L equivalent), and to me these images just look too hot, and rather flat. They ar almost too bright too look at on my screen here at work. I will look at them again when I am home on my CRT that is Mac calbrated.

I guess I would just expect more contrasty images from an L lens, but you can pretty much do anything you want in PS these days, so i don't know what the originals look like.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by almo

Ok, well, I am not going to attempt to be mean or anything, but one thing struck me as I looked at this. I have almost an identical setup to yours. Canon 30D, grip, and Sigma 17-35mm EX (Sigma's L equivalent), and to me these images just look too hot, and rather flat. They ar almost too bright too look at on my screen here at work. I will look at them again when I am home on my CRT that is Mac calbrated.

I guess I would just expect more contrasty images from an L lens, but you can pretty much do anything you want in PS these days, so i don't know what the originals look like.

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They look just fine & contrasty on my monitor... :confused:

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Originally Posted by A.M.D.A.

They look just fine & contrasty on my monitor... :confused:

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Could just be this monitor I suppose. Like I said, I am not trying to step on any toes, but from what I see they.... I dunno, I don't want to say anything that would cause enmity.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by almo

Could just be this monitor I suppose. Like I said, I am not trying to step on any toes, but from what I see they.... I dunno, I don't want to say anything that would cause enmity.

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Don't worry, I'm not conceited enough to think every image I post is perfect or that I know everything. Thats the beauty of online forums, we learn much more from receiving honest critique from other members and conversly just as much (if not more) from analyzing others work and giving honest critique. Over the years I've seen far too many people wallowing away in mediocrity because all they're told is, nice pic, great shot, well done, etc, about a frankly very poorly executed shot. I'm not advocating ripping everyone to shreds and destroying confidence as that's never the way to nurture anyone who's trying to learn! Just honest critique with advice on how a shot could have been improved.

As far as my shots above are concerned, the trunks are very flat as far as dynamic range are concerned so I tried a different method of converting to black an White to get as much contrast as possible. Unfortunately, I hadn't noticed that the camera shop I'd taken my body in to clean the sensor last week had switched the settings from RAW to JPEG! As a result, I think the dynamic range has suffered in a high contrast conversion. I think I'll go back and try again and take a tripod an make sure the files are set to RAW!!

Thanks for the opinions!

dizzy nice images. I am always intrigued by the patterns I find on trees, especially different species of trees. Could you tell us what kind of a tree, or trees, these are. Thanks.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

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Originally Posted by WesternGuy

dizzy nice images. I am always intrigued by the patterns I find on trees, especially different species of trees. Could you tell us what kind of a tree, or trees, these are. Thanks.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

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They're very tall palm trees which line one of the roads near my house. They only have bark for the first few feet though. There's not much in the way of trees round here to choose from!!