The thorn series continues...

[FlyingSquirrel]

I enjoyed my focus stacked rose thorns so much ( here ) that I wanted to continue with more thorns. These are blackberry thorns covered in frost. I'll surely continue this thorn series in the future. Please c&c, thank you!

[Bobobird]

Great shots.

I was wondering about the effect of joining up #1 and #2.

[Mike Buckley]

The drama in both shots is really terrific; great conversion! I prefer the upward orientation of the first photo, though I have no idea why. Consider cropping about half of the stem off the bottom and adding a little more space above the thorn.

[jamn4ex]

Looks vicious ... In thorn talk thats a compliment. When I say that looks sharp, I really mean that looks sharp. neat series.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Thank you guys for your comments and suggestions. Bobo, as it turns out, these two thorns were connected

1. The original shot crop - I am bothered a bit by the 3rd thorn protruding toward the camera
2. A square-ish crop to try to remove the thorn noted above. I don't know if this works at all
3. A version with Mike's suggestions

1.


2.


3.

[Bobobird]

Cool edits Matt.

#3 is superb.

#1 is also excellent. Selecting small portions of the blackhole and using the patch tool in PS should fix that easily.

#2 looks much better rotated clockwise.

[Mike Buckley]

I really like #3. I'm a fan of diagonals, so I wonder how #1 would work as a diagonal.

[AB26]

Can Bobo and Mike both be wrong - not likely! This is a stunning B&W. (#3)

[FlyingSquirrel]

Cool edits Matt.

#3 is superb.

#1 is also excellent. Selecting small portions of the blackhole and using the patch tool in PS should fix that easily.

#2 looks much better rotated clockwise.

Thanks Bobo! I am so honored that people are saying any of my photos are superb I'll have to get on cloning out that thorn later. So busy right now! As you'll see, below I tried some rotation options (on #1 not #2). Thanks for the idea. I only liked it with the thorns pointing upward.

I really like #3. I'm a fan of diagonals, so I wonder how #1 would work as a diagonal.

Thanks Mike. Your wish is my command

Can Bobo and Mike both be wrong - not likely! This is a stunning B&W. (#3)

Thank you, Andre.

-- So now I have a few more versions of these, thanks to everyone's great suggestions. I'm glad Bobo and Mike suggested rotations, because somehow my mind has been overlooking that idea. I'll have to keep it at the front of my brain for future edits, as I don't want to limit my options.

I am not sure if you guys like the "other" thorn that was pointing downward in the original post, but it seems to have dropped off the comments. I wonder if it was the upside down orientation. Thus I flipped it upward similar to #3 above, which is apparently a favorite. Personally I like this more ice encrusted thorn (#6 below) better than the one in #3 in the previous post. Unfortunately that annoying extra thorn pointing at the camera limits how much of the stem I can show at the bottom of the photo, until I clone it out some day.

Let me know what you guys think, and thanks as always...

4.


5.


6.

[AB26]

Matt, this is eye candy. I cannot put my finger on it but they all work very well. Must be the way you handle the B&W conversion, sharpness, DOF control, it is all there.

[Donald]

I know I'm arriving a bit late, but am trying to catch up with myself.

The point I wanted to note (in addition to adding my compliments on wonderful images) is that it would have been soooo easy to oversharpen these .... and you haven't. Sharpening is, as we know, a skill in itself. Knowing when to leave it alone is as important as knowing when and what to sharpen and by how much.

Lovely stuff!

[Mike Buckley]

#4 works well but would work even better for me if there was more space on the left and right sides. Thanks for making the diagonal version in #5 for me, but I don't like it now that I have seen it. The close-up of the thorn in #6 doesn't work for me in any orientation because the increased amount of glare on that particular thorn eliminates the gorgeous detail that is present in the other thorn.

#3 still remains my favorite, an absolutely wonderful photo!

[Dave Humphries]

Bizarrely #5 works quite well, especially with the "toward the camera" thorn I think.

Great series, very well done

[FlyingSquirrel]

Matt, this is eye candy. I cannot put my finger on it but they all work very well. Must be the way you handle the B&W conversion, sharpness, DOF control, it is all there.

Thanks, Andre! I appreciate the kind comments and I'm glad you like the photos

[FlyingSquirrel]

I know I'm arriving a bit late, but am trying to catch up with myself.

The point I wanted to note (in addition to adding my compliments on wonderful images) is that it would have been soooo easy to oversharpen these .... and you haven't. Sharpening is, as we know, a skill in itself. Knowing when to leave it alone is as important as knowing when and what to sharpen and by how much.

Lovely stuff!

Thank you, good sir! That's very nice of you and a great point you made. It's great to have you back with us

[FlyingSquirrel]

#4 works well but would work even better for me if there was more space on the left and right sides. Thanks for making the diagonal version in #5 for me, but I don't like it now that I have seen it. The close-up of the thorn in #6 doesn't work for me in any orientation because the increased amount of glare on that particular thorn eliminates the gorgeous detail that is present in the other thorn.

#3 still remains my favorite, an absolutely wonderful photo!

Thanks Mike. Very good points (no pun intended ). Well I'm glad at least one of these images has been a big hit. I am really loving this thorn theme and the focus stacking possibilities.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Bizarrely #5 works quite well, especially with the "toward the camera" thorn I think.

Great series, very well done

Thank you Dave. The LCE technique you introduced me to has been serving me quite well