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Self Critique
As stated in the previous image I took two images of the same subject. Two weeks later I still can’t decide. Which do you prefer, A or B. The compositions of the same bush are different. One is like rising flames and the second is like a starburst. One is also darker than the other. If I make the lighter one darker I like it less. If I make the darker lighter I am also worse off. You would think they should be processed identically.
Creative direction
There is no message in these images. What you see is what you get.
Specific Feedback
aesthetic and emotional. There is no concept behind this. Technical advice is also welcome. In fact, it may be the most welcome here.
Technical Details
GFX50R, 45-100mm, iso 2000.
Description
Image B was taken before image A. Image A was an also-ran at the time the image was made but seemed to be better after being downloaded on the computer.
The dirt/earth spots in B is too centrally placed and rather large in my opinion making the image feel out of balance/chaotic. A feels much more balanced and kept together
Definitely A, no contest. The balance in B feels off. I think it’s the orange flowers top left. That color has a lot of visual weight in the frame, even though it’s not particularly saturated.
Igot, as presented here, I would choose A for similar reasons that others have mentioned here. First and foremost, you have a full screen of the scene with little distractions. My eyes can’t escape those branches restricting what I see I also like the red-white-blue flower color combination. Now, for the second image, I would really be partial to it if the bottom branches toward the LRC were not there. In other words, a tighter crop would eliminate those bottom branches and the empty space on the LLC. Well, that would be image C.
Yes, I can see where you are going with this. The image feels a bit bottom heavy due to the white flowers now. I’m pretty sure I shot it as I did to keep those small flowers away from the frame. It was a compromise no doubt. I often shoot in such cases with the idea that I would adjust (by removal) small components of the image but PS is doing a lousy job with flower replacement. I don’t feel uncomfortable with the placement of the red flowers. The wood center is so strong that it dominates the composition. That’s why it’s right in the middle of the picture.
Yes, like that! I love the strong three-branch composition and the small amount of ground without flowers. Those two elements ground my eye on the branches and flowers.
I would love to see image B processed to match image A’s darkness. The tones appear slightly different and I think darkening B down would be helpful, particularly in the dirt areas. They are both excellent. As presented I would choose A though.
I would definitely go with A. I like both compositions, but A feels more balanced and the inclusion of the blue/violet flowers makes it all the more aesthetically pleasing and creates a much more interesting colour palette for the image.
B feels a little chaotic, but having just tried a crop myself I can see the difficulties involved in composing such a shot.
Now I have feeling that you will disagree with me… but I feel there are a couple of distractions that could be cloned out from A.
The first and most important one, for me, is the very small stone at the very bottom of the image roughly in the centre. My eye keeps going there. This could be removed whilst preserving the integrity of the image.
The other involves more extensive tampering with the image, namely the weed in the ULC, just above the thin, right-pointing branches. This, to me, looks like a weed that, on the rare occasions that I have gardened, I was instructed to eradicate (so am kind of programmed )
I did a quick cloning job to explore possibilities:
Igor, as presented A looks much better…I’ll speculate that it relates to the “Cornucopia look” that the purple flowers add to the outward flow of the dead branches. For B, I too was thinking the cropping the downward pointing branches help maintain focus on the spreading branches and the flowers that they surround. If the segment of mud in the upper right were flowers, the visual balance would be better. How true that it’s often the 2nd or 3rd or 4th look that turns out the best…
Nice to see a second image of this. When I first viewed it, I took away a nice image of colorful flowers finding a nice wonderfully comfortable spot to reveal themselves. Now with the second image my take a way and initial reaction is not about flowers, as much as it is about the end days of decaying smashed stump. Appreciate them both.
Thank you for your opinions. The choice of A is unanimous. I won’t put any more effort into B. I sort of feel that B is a failure because there is an A. It might have stood well on its own.
I agree with the consensus that A wins hands down. In B the dirt in the right upper corner is dead space which adds nothing to the image but draws you away from the central and balanced view of the flowers and branches.
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