Life in All Things

This is a photograph of a tree in my neighborhood with unusual bark that was peeling away. I took photos from several angles and distances. The photo used for this graphic was an upclose probably an inch or two away from the surface. When I looked at it for the first time on my laptop blown up I was amazed at how surreal the patterns were. I added a filter to give slightly more definition of the variables in the surface with darker shades of the naturally occuring color. What you see is the tree's natural pattern pressed closer together horizontally so that several patterns can be viewed at once. I'm fascinated by the result and have seen similar patterns in photos of water surfaces and other natural objects. My question is it nature or is it the software of the camera and photo editing software creating detail for lack of being able to analyze what is actually there.