Knot Particular

[Tom Robbins]

Just for fun -

Canon 5D and 180mm macro with a touch of flash from the upper right to reveal wood texture and to provide a little warmth. I've used the Canon angle finder for low to the ground shots the last few years, but only recently discovered the advantage of viewing at 2x while manually focusing macros.

Tom

 

[Marian Howell]

very splendid tom ! your flash work on the added touch is particularly fine...and the detail is outstanding...plus the colors
while i enjoy the ridge line details across the upper left i am not sure it adds to the com position, it might even distract...
either way i love this!!

 

[Tom Robbins]

Hi Marian,

Yep, I noticed that little ridge too. As you say, it doesn't add anything. A slightly lower position of the flash might have minimized it.

The knot was located in the wood railing of a foot bridge at Starved Rock State Park in Northern Illinois. The railing itself is made of 10" x 10" rough-sawn lumber. I don't know how old it is, but it was built back in the day when the state's coffers were full enough to build such infrastructure.

B&W version of the structure taken 9 days ago. It's a simple thing, but lots of elements went into its construction.

Tom

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Hi Tom,

Very nice images. Would you mind if I had a go at them to improve the local contrast and bring out the texture a bit more?

 

[Tom Robbins]

Hey Cem,

No, I don't mind at all, and am looking forward to your results.

Tom

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Hey Cem,

No, I don't mind at all, and am looking forward to your results.

Tom

Hi Tom,

In the first one, I have de-emphasized the ridge on the top left and applied local contrast enhancement selectively (i.e. dampened the effect at the left hand side and top left).
Original (first)/edited (second)

Copyright © Tom Robbins

The second one is just LCE adjusted. I may have overdone it though.
Original (first)/edited (second)

Copyright © Tom Robbins

 

[Tom Robbins]

Hi Cem,

Both look great, thanks!

I see quite a few images on the web with "overcooked" contrast and saturation - it's one of my pet peeves. As a result, I tend to "undercook" with both aspects. I'd say your versions were on the money.

Tom