Challenge 23 - nadi's time

[nadi]

http://nadi.smugmug.com/photos/9631343-M.jpg

This really spoke to me about time.... my thought was just how long this old guy had been there, and it shows like character lines on a face. But I'm not so sure its relevance is evident to others - any thoughts?

[Head in the Clouds]

I think its a beautiful shot! love how the tree is colour and back ground b/w! lovely!
What a wonderful tree too! just imagine how long its been there!

[miketaylor01]

I agree I really like this shot also.. Good work. I would also be curious to see it in full B&W. B&W gets me every time.

Mike

[wxwax]

Excellent shot. Be nice if the background was so blurry that you didn't need to B&W it. I really like the composition, and the rich detail of the roots. It's an unusual sight and you capture it well.

[Thwack]

If you wanted to keep a little color in the background, but not enough to make it distracting, then check out the tip at the end of the layer masks tutorial (not my tutorial, but the tip is mine).

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=1560&page=2

You'll probably want to use a bit darker gray for the background than I did (which lets a little more color through).

And keep the foreground color black in the hue/saturation layer to keep the tree's full color (you're just bringing up part of the background color).

My rose picture (in the example) is more faded than I'd like, but it illustrates the point/tip well enough.

Your background can be toned down (so it's not as distracting) without going to full black & white.

[AltPro]

Nadi...
Very nice shot of a beautiful, majestic old tree... But, I agree with Sid... The background needs to blur out so that it is not so obvious. Could be done in photoshop or a reshoot... Either way, I do think that it is quite nice, with potential for the challenge.
ginette

[snapapple]

I really like this tree. It looks old and wise. I think I'd leave the whole thing in color, but blur out the background so much that you can't make out anything. Just a nice color blur. Then really make the tree trunk pop with some contrast done with curves and maybe a tiny bit of unsharp mask. You can desaturate the background a bit if the greens are too bright. :D

[FreeUps]

I'm a little late on my commenting Nadi. Sorry! I will still throw in my humble oppinion.
I think it is a nicely composed shot. My only problem is the backround and the subjects serpation: there isn't enough. I would try keeping the backround in color and messing with it in curves. Try to bring it down perhaps.

Something I just learned in curves which is very powerfull is the use of the eyedropper. While in curves, you can go back to your canvas and select an area that you want changed, it will then tell you exactly where that area is on your 'curves line'. Its helped me a ton getting a certain area toned just the way I want it.

Great shot. Keep it up.