Very elegant image, Shankar. I liked the simplicity of it. It is good that you included the shade to bracket the knot. Probabaly a good candidate for B&W as well. TFS.

Shankar, I would have loved it if this image would have been made using a tripod. I thought I could see a little lack of sharpness at the sides. The light and the composition is just awesome. Thats the only nit for me and yes a little more DOF too may be ? Just my thoughts.

Ramesh, Nilanjan, Thank you. I wanted to keep wood colour. Agree with you on tripod. Looks like I am just lazy and no tripod in my kit yet.

I can't agree more on Ramesh Adkoli. Just imagine this as a wall art in our urban homes and the impact it would bring to the room. Great creation here.

Shankarji this is fantastic! Loved the exposure and the shadow...I am not sure if it is the shake or the edge sharpness which is giving the feel of need for a tripod. But surely a differently seen image! Thanks for sharing...

superb! flow of pattern, tones and composition too, shankarji. agree with required more sharpness & dof.

regards.

Fantastic image Shankar. I think texture of the bark and the slightly more visible region at the top makes this image. Without that slightly opened up region above the image would have been less interesting in my view. What you think ? I am always amazed by extremely subtle preferences our taste buds have !!

Ganesh, You are absolutely correct. I specifically opened a bit to show that portion.
Nevil, Ashwin, Agree on DoF. But I think texture on the bark is like that which gives a bit dizzy feel.