045: Cracked Bark

This is from part of a sawn section of tree trunk, on which the bark has experienced curious cracking patterns. This is only an example of the variety of serpentine, ring-like cracks; but this area pictured has only half its bark, and the trunk wood that shows through is quite beautifully patterned. The bark's dark patches are where it is damp.
The range of colours is fairly subtle, but the textures are quite contrasting. They would have been more pronounced in a brighter, more direct sunlight, but only if it had been at the right angle to catch the texture correctly for the shot. At least the diffused sunlight here made no noticeable shadows.
f/8, 1/50 sec, ISO 200. DA 18-55 at 40mm.

Apart from just a little sharpening, contrast and white balance tweaking, there was a fair bit of post-processing involved on this image; most notably on the lower third, which was very subtly shadowed. I applied a white gradient overlay to brighten it, just like dodging a large area while making a print. This evened out the tone of the whole image - I just prefer it flatter like that.

I think this is another of those planet-surface-like shots... Although maybe not as much planet surface as a satellite view of a dried-up lake.