# Neutopia - Stillborne



## abraxas (Dec 8, 2007)




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## jstuedle (Dec 8, 2007)

Are we looking at palm trees after a storm? The contrast and sky make this a very interesting image.


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## abraxas (Dec 8, 2007)

jstuedle said:


> Are we looking at palm trees after a storm? The contrast and sky make this a very interesting image.



Palm trees for sure, but been dead three or four years now.


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## Alpha (Dec 8, 2007)

Really interesting angles there, but a little oversharpened for my tastes.


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## abraxas (Dec 8, 2007)

Thanks Max. Appreciate your comments.


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## RKW3 (Dec 9, 2007)

I see some noise in the clouds that can be removed, but other than that little nitpick I think this is a really interesting shot.


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## abraxas (Dec 9, 2007)

RKW3 said:


> I see some noise in the clouds that can be removed, but other than that little nitpick I think this is a really interesting shot.



I've been fooling around with the series this morning and came up with this:





It looks ok I suppose - but kinda,...  meh.

The oversharpening and noise were purposeful.  I'm trying to use the 'faults' to (gek, I guess I gotta say it), convey my vision- What I saw and felt.  I thought it meshed with the 'stillborne' part of the title.

The color edits are coming out wild .


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## THORHAMMER (Dec 9, 2007)

interesting shots, I like the first one a lot. its crazy how they are all crooked but almost the same angle.. cool capture


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## Mrsforeman1 (Dec 9, 2007)

I saw palm trees like this in Florida. Where were they taken? Mother Nature...the ultimate artist.


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## Roger (Dec 10, 2007)

I like both these shots....the sky does look better in #2.


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## LaFoto (Dec 10, 2007)

I guess it is the compression required to load them to the web that transforms some of the added sharpness and noise (which -and I think I understand this well - is meant to convey your vision!) into actual digital artefacts (upper left corner -> sky -> funny artefact!, plus the white little "noise-dots" in the darker part of the clouds), but all in all I like everything about Photo 1 better than about Photo 2. If it weren't for those compression artefacts, also the sky is more compelling in 1 - lots of drama going on there. That in addition to the drama that must have happened on the ground, to the palmtrees, at any point in time before is just --- good.


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## abraxas (Dec 10, 2007)

THORHAMMER said:


> interesting shots, I like the first one a lot. its crazy how they are all crooked but almost the same angle.. cool capture



Thanks.  I like the first one too.  The second one sort of went south a bit with the sun behind a cloud.



Mrsforeman1 said:


> I saw palm trees like this in Florida. Where were they taken? Mother Nature...the ultimate artist.



I imagine in Florida it was because of disasterous weather.  These died of neglect.  They were the facade of a modern day California Desert real estate scam.



Roger said:


> I like both these shots....the sky does look better in #2.



I think so too- but the theme around here is 'stick with your vision.'



LaFoto said:


> I guess it is the compression required to load them to the web that transforms some of the added sharpness and noise (which -and I think I understand this well - is meant to convey your vision!) into actual digital artefacts (upper left corner -> sky -> funny artefact!, plus the white little "noise-dots" in the darker part of the clouds), but all in all I like everything about Photo 1 better than about Photo 2. If it weren't for those compression artefacts, also the sky is more compelling in 1 - lots of drama going on there. That in addition to the drama that must have happened on the ground, to the palmtrees, at any point in time before is just --- good.



I haven't looked back at the original edit on this one.  The  corner thing is starting to bug me too.  I tried something different on the sky that may have skrichted it up too much.  As mentioned above, I'm trying not to second guess myself (too much  )

So what I'm doing is taking my time with the color edits and working to get exactly what I want, but step by step.

Snowed here yesterday.  Going to get my head out of these and go stick it under a hat somewhere cold.


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## Blackbelt93 (Dec 12, 2007)

i like the picture what kind of lens did you use? also i like the way you shot this it looks in some what a painted picture


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## abraxas (Dec 14, 2007)

Blackbelt93 said:


> i like the picture what kind of lens did you use? also i like the way you shot this it looks in some what a painted picture



Thank you. I used a nikkor 18-70 lens w/cirular polarizer. Processed from a single raw exposure.  Don't know or too lazy to look for the other stuff.  Probably f22 aperture. 100 iso.


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