Trey Foerster  

Pine Bark Abstract by Trey Foerster

May 2023 - Pine Bark Abstract

May 2023 - Trey Foerster

Original

About the Image(s)

Early Spring venture into the Skunk-Foster State Natural Area is a hike with one’s head always looking down – to check out the growth of new plants and locations of future flowers. When this was taken, it was several hours after a rain, which did a fine job of darkening the underside of a patch of bark from a fallen pine tree. I use a circular polarizer at this time of year because of moisture. On this particular bark piece, a small green weed had emerged through a hole in the bark and provided a lovely contrast to the bark texture. Tech stuff: This was a 10 image photostack for sharpness. ISO 400, f/16, 1/8 sec., aperture priority, 90mm focal length, center weighted average metering. This was a vertically taken image that I rotated 90 degrees and placed the green weed at the top 1/3 intersection with the right 1/3. I used the clone stamp in PS to replace the area of the leaf at top right. LR adjustments, PS cleanup, dodging, cropping. I used TopazStudio for a couple of presets. Final adjustments in LR, where I slightly softened the clarity and texture.

This round’s discussion is now closed!
8 comments posted

Ian Cambourne   Ian Cambourne
Another strong image Trey. Wet tree bark with a polarizer is always a good combination. The way you've presented it as a close up abstract is definitely a good method, as well as going for focus stacking. While you've opted for your preferred and usual 1/3 intersection, and there's nothing wrong with that, I often think about images I see in magazines, in various formats such as pano and square. So I will offer a couple of alternatives just for the sake of discussion by the group. I fully acknowledge that some of the quality may be lost due to the file size, but I think people will get the general idea. And I just point out that these are "options" that some may consider in their future works.   Posted: 05/08/2023 03:32:44
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Ian Cambourne   Ian Cambourne
  Posted: 05/08/2023 03:33:15
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Trey Foerster   Trey Foerster
Thanks Ian for your kind words. Yes, I like the other options. Less is more in some cases. For my taste I prefer your rectangular crop because there's more bark. A 16x9 crop is always a good one. You can also rotate this image so the plant appears top left or bottom right.   Posted: 05/08/2023 08:37:02
Gordon Watson   Gordon Watson
Similar to your previous tree picture last month, I like the way you have processed to bring out textures and details. There was a bit of shine in the original which you have managed to remove and I like the reddening of the bark to contrast with the green (complementary colours and all that). To me the image is about new life breaking through the dead bark, so I prefer a wider crop that shows how small (and therefore fragile) the new life is.   Posted: 05/08/2023 12:01:34
Trey Foerster   Trey Foerster
Thanks Gordon. I guess the image is about new life coming out of decay/death. Thanks for pointing that out!   Posted: 05/08/2023 12:04:47
Henriette Brasseur   Henriette Brasseur
The processing on the texture of the bark is a wonderful contrast to the smoothness of the green weed. The color contrast between the two are eye-appealing. I do like all three formats as they were presented in the discussion for different reasons though I would change the green weed in the 16x9 format to the right. Death and decay is all around in the natural world but out of decay does come life and you captured this beautifuly in your image. Well done Trey.   Posted: 05/08/2023 17:16:29
Jay Joseph   Jay Joseph
Great image Trey. Excellent work with photo stacking to get sharpness throughout. I also like the flower placement as you have it along with the contrast of green and brown.   Posted: 05/20/2023 15:38:52
Sophie Pouillon   Sophie Pouillon
I admit that personally, I would have passed by without seeing anything. But I really appreciate this vision of things, showing in a beautiful way the insignificant things. You played with textures, colors, contrasts... It's very well done. We can see that nature is taking its rights and that the plant that must grow, grows no matter what it costs.
Bravo for the treatment, the colors, it is perfect. The fact of leaving a lot of bark shows how much this small fragile being lost in this nature, will grow and make its place in the sun.   Posted: 05/22/2023 04:55:11