Dick Knudson
About the Image(s)
In a small, steep valley on Kauai, Hawaii, these large trees escaped destruction by the two hurricanes in 1982 and 1992. They provide a foundation for a wonderful tropical ecosystem. When I saw this in 2019, I definitely was figuring monochrome, as the textures were tremendous. This is a “center cut” of a horizontal image. The trailing vines (or air roots?) to me conjure up bolts of lightning, somehow conveying energy to the flowers below.
Image simplicity is a challenge for this scene. Any suggestions about that or anything are very welcome.
Canon 5DIII, EF24-105 @96mm, f/13, 1/30. ISO 200.
The original scene had a lot of monotone green, so I applied the Man from Mars Method in Photoshop to find some additional colors, and worked from that starting point for BW conversion. Lots of small adjustments to luminosity. As a center cut, the image was not very large, so the Adobe Enhance feature gave me a lot more pixels to work with. Topaz Sharpen AI helped a lot.
This round’s discussion is now closed!
10 comments posted
Thank you for posting the image.
yes, it is a bit complicated. When I look at this first, I could not figure out where to look at.
There a couple of flowers but the vines are brighter than the flower.
So If I were you, I would pick one "center of attention", then structure or compose the image.
looking at the original, I would have 2 ways to go.
Highlight the flowers as much as possible, but darken down the rest.
Just my opinion.
  Posted: 05/01/2022 23:26:45
(Group 40)
Haru is insightful to identify the opportunities for small pictures inside this larger setting. I wish I had taken the time to explore that when I was there. Haru's examples point to some wonderful small scenes.
I am OK with viewers struggling a bit to decide their own significance of the vines. A photo can give a clear answer or it can ask a question. This was intended as one of the latter.   Posted: 05/04/2022 16:16:04
I've always had trouble finding good images in Hawaii. It is all too beautiful to see small. Haru has found two excellent small images. They are like Jim Welninski's B&W's. I like your rendition too. The vines either lead me into or out of the image but are haphazard in where they lead. Maybe either darken the strays, or move them to a better spot via PS. Lot of work, but doable.   Posted: 05/06/2022 13:44:06
(Group 36)