Abstract Beach Grass...C&C Appreciated

[jprzybyla]

Last October I vacationed at Carrabelle Beach, Florida. Early mornings and evenings I would walk the beach with camera in hand. This clump of beach grass caught my attention. I took the image and have struggled to find a composition that appealed to me. Today I worked on the image again. I moved the Vibrance and Saturation sliders all the way to the left turning the beach sand to a shade of white. Then, in Photoshop Elements 10, I cloned out all except for the clump of beach grass. Your opinions would be appreciated on the compostion. Does it work as an abstract? Do you have any other ideas how to post process the original?

The original as shot...



The abstract post processed...

[LeoLeo]

Hi Joe,

I can't tell you exactly why, but B&W conversion is not working for me. Might be the proportion of the grass in raport with the whole frame, for a minimalist work.



This is how I see this, as a suggestion. Feel free to ignore it if you don't like.

Leo

[Polar01]

Joe compared to the first image this is in my mind a great improvement, there is something about that clump of grass with that blank background that I like. It has a certain Scoutness, (Wendy) about it and I like here work very much. Good job on making a bad image into a great image.

Cheers:

Allan

[Geoff F]

I think, Joe, your edit is one of those cases where a suitable border will make all the difference.

[jprzybyla]

Hi Joe,

I can't tell you exactly why, but B&W conversion is not working for me. Might be the proportion of the grass in raport with the whole frame, for a minimalist work.



This is how I see this, as a suggestion. Feel free to ignore it if you don't like.



Leo

Thanks Leo, I like like your edit. Your edit is very similar to one of the versions I have. After reaching where your edit stops I proceeded to go for a minimalist abstract. Thank you for viewing, commenting and taking the time to edit.

[jprzybyla]

Joe compared to the first image this is in my mind a great improvement, there is something about that clump of grass with that blank background that I like. It has a certain Scoutness, (Wendy) about it and I like here work very much. Good job on making a bad image into a great image.

Cheers:

Allan

Thanks Allan for viewing and commenting. Now that you have mentioned Wendy's work I can see a similarity. I have appreciated her images greatly.

[jprzybyla]

I think, Joe, your edit is one of those cases where a suitable border will make all the difference.

After reading your post I put a quick border on the image. I am not sure if this will be the final border but I think it defines the image. Thank you for viewing and making the suggestion Geoff.