From the Desert Botanical Garden

Cornflake

Members can get in at 6:00 AM on Sunday at this time of year. Almost everyone you see at that time has a DSLR. I encountered a good friend and fellow photographer.

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3

Stumblebum

Love #2 and #3! Brilliant abstracts!
#1 bit too bright...JMO.

Cornflake

Thanks for the comment.

junglejim

Just to disagree
I like #1 and #3

#2 does nothing for me.

willard3

junglejim wrote: »

just to disagree
i like #1 and #3

+1

AlexShark

Just for kicks -- would this look cool in high contrast sharp B&W? the patterns are interesting, but the colors are rather drab, and already almost monochrome. Maybe B&W will work to emphasize the geometry? It usually does.

Cornflake

Thanks for the responses. Which one, Alex?

AlexShark

Cornflake wrote: »

Thanks for the responses. Which one, Alex?

All of them. The carry the same traits. Just as a trial. Even if you don't like it in the end, you might find it useful at some point.

Cornflake

Actually, I do more black and white these days than color. The second one I tried in bw and didn't like. I worked up a high contrast variation of the third in bw and loved it. The first, in my view, depends on color, but I'll give it a try and see. Thanks.

AlexShark

OK, I looked at the B&W on your site -- very neat. They carry great dynamic range. The horses are really fab, especially #3.

But what I was thinking about these ones is the exact opposite: increased contrast at the expense of dynamic range. A simple example: duplicate, Linear Light blending, High Pass at mid-high radius, drop opacity. Just to get the idea.

If you have Alien Skin Exposure 7 (which I totally recommend -- the only plugin I use), try Ilford XP2 Super 400 emulation as a starting point. This is an ultra sharp B&W film used for architecture, but heck, I use it even in portraits.

Good luck!

Cornflake

I visited your website. Excellent work.

I don't have that software but Silver Efex Pro has a version of the same film type, and I tried it on two of them. I liked the results. Thanks for the suggestion.