Roots need some Critique

[JimFox]

I posted a B&W of this a few days ago and it didn't get any comments, so I figured it must be so bad that I better post it here in Critique and see how it could be improved from what I did.

Here is the SOOC shot resized to 3000 pix for everyone to start with.

_A641269_3000pix

• JimFox
• Feb 6, 2020

Here is my B&W work for reference.

Please help, thanks Jim

 

[AlanLichty]

The roots need an anchor. I find my eyes wandering around the scene looking for the hook thats supposed to drag me into the scene and I can't quite find it. The color version offers a better visual anchor with the leaves - maybe a new crop that placed the full leaf on the right in a more prominent location. You could easily lose some of the lower left corner to do that.

At least in the coastal NW exposed roots like this are an incredibly common sight and most of the trails have roots like this all over the place. I am usually looking for something in the scene to be the hook that will drag the viewer's eyes into the image.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Pretty much what Alan said.

 

[JimFox]

Thanks for the feed back you guys. I had found that the lead towards the middle pulled my eye in with the roots almost cradling it. I just must be seeing it differently.

 

[Ben Egbert]

Jim, here is my take on this. I did a heavy crop to eliminate the large curved root and also cloned out the root upper left and leaves lower right.

 

[JimFox]

Jim, here is my take on this. I did a heavy crop to eliminate the large curved root and also cloned out the root upper left and leaves lower right.

View attachment 24945

That's very cool Ben! I like that crop.

Hopefully some more people can jump in here and show how this image could be saved.

 

[Carlo Didier]

Agree about cropping. Ben gives a good example, even without including the leaf.
Very often, if you think an image doesn't work, try simplifying.

 

[AlanLichty]

OK - here's another version based with a different crop yet.

 

[JimFox]

That’s pretty good Alan! I guess it was that curving root causing the issues.

 

[JimFox]

Now I hate to ask for too much, but I really wanted this in B&W. How does Bens or Alan’s crop look best in B&W?

 

[Jameel Hyder]

I think it would look good - however the dark look isn’t working for me. I am on the road so can’t actually attempt a version.

 

[AlanLichty]

Here ye be - B&W:

I just got through updating my Topaz Labs modules and was playing around with DeNoise AI's chroma filters and decided to try one more variant in color.

 

[Ben Egbert]

Nice ones Alan. Did you use Topaz for the B%W conversion? I need to get back into Denoise AI and figure it out. I still use the older Denoise.

 

[beavens]

Jim,

I feel that this is suffering some from a couple issues: the comp isn't terribly engaging and the light is super low contrast.

Personally I feel roots work best in two ways - an in-your-face 3D look, or a neat almost-2D flatter look. I think this shot lands somewhere in between those.

But if you're looking to recover I vote for some heavy-handed processing, along with a little 'artistic license'.

My thoughts below.

Jeff

 

[AlanLichty]

Nice ones Alan. Did you use Topaz for the B%W conversion? I need to get back into Denoise AI and figure it out. I still use the older Denoise.

I used Topaz for DeNoise, touched up the contrasts in Topaz Studio, and then used Silver Efex Pro for the B&W. Do get the upgrade - they have added some nice things.

 

[JimFox]

Jim,

I feel that this is suffering some from a couple issues: the comp isn't terribly engaging and the light is super low contrast.

Personally I feel roots work best in two ways - an in-your-face 3D look, or a neat almost-2D flatter look. I think this shot lands somewhere in between those.

But if you're looking to recover I vote for some heavy-handed processing, along with a little 'artistic license'.

My thoughts below.

View attachment 24955

Jeff

Hey Jeff, I like you take on this. My idea was for wanting a darker B&W that is often seen in fine art work and like @Ken Rennie is so good at.

 

[JimFox]

Here ye be - B&W:

View attachment 24952

I just got through updating my Topaz Labs modules and was playing around with DeNoise AI's chroma filters and decided to try one more variant in color.

View attachment 24953

Hey Alan, thanks for that B&W conversion, it does look really nice. As I mentioned to Jeff, I wanted to go with one of those dark B&W looks often seen in Fine Art B&W. Perhaps this simply isn’t the image for it.

It is very educational to see the various edits on this.

 

[Carlo Didier]

Here's another B&W variation.

 

[JimFox]

Here's another B&W variation.

View attachment 24957

Carlo, I really like where you are going with this. Much more in tune to what I had in my head. Thanks!

 

[Amy Nelson]

I'm a little late to the party, but here is my thought.