Along a nearby hiking trail in the Sierra foothills is an outcropping of "Painted Rocks" named for the green and red colors from lichen growing on the mineral-rich rocks. Their vertical cracks record the folding and fracturing of these old layers as the mountains to the east rose up.
Shot with Canon 6D, Tamron 24-70mm at 70mm, f/8. Hard midday summer sunlight suggested 3 exposure bracket, tone merged in Photomatix for the color image. To emphasize the textures and fractured structure of the rocks I converted to BW with Silver Efex to try their array of presets, "Wet Rocks" produced the look I wanted. Suggestions?
This round’s discussion is now closed! 5 comments posted
Love the effect. I can feel it as I am touching it.   Posted: 10/15/2018 13:44:51
Tom Pickering
(Groups 0 & 53)
When looking at the original, it's clear that it is a rock formation. While studying your mono version, it reads like it could be a jagged tree stump. Thus the conversion of the reds to darker grey changed the look considerably. The Wet Rocks preset is a good choice here as it pushes more contrast, accentuating the tonal range that's present.   Posted: 10/16/2018 15:24:30
A very tactile image. The right amount of light and shade. I have no suggestions for edits at all.   Posted: 10/26/2018 05:43:21
Jim Bodkin
A good capture, Allen. Like Tom, I first thought it was a stump or termite mound, but soon got my head around it. Excellent cropping and exposure. I like the texture that you drew out. Strangely, one of the things that I like most is the minimalist 'frame' of dried grasses that sets off the rough subject matter and contains the viewer's eye on the subject. I also like the unknowingness of the background that is shown in the B&W version.
  Posted: 10/26/2018 17:39:04
Jim Hagan
I like both version and have no suggestions for improvement.   Posted: 10/28/2018 07:06:48