The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Made a quick pass over to the Lowe’s Water Gardens yesterday only to find very little flower activity and zero dragonflies. Bummer, but this one lotus with the dead maple leaf may have saved the day. >=))>
Specific Feedback
I subdued the yellow and blue OOF areas in the URC. Should I go to full black or leave these dim vestiges?
Technical Details
Sony A7rIII
Sony FE 70-200 f2.8 GM-II, 2xTC @ 400mm
ISO 400, 1/80 @ f11
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Vision and Purpose:
Conceptual:
Emotional Impact and Mood:
Composition:
Balance and Visual Weight:
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Color:
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Technical:
I didn’t really notice the background area at the top, Bill, so I think it’s OK. If you have the pixels, I’d be tempted to re-imagine this image and crop it severely to concentrate on the bloom and it’s shadow on the maple leaf, which I find fascinating. The bloom is exquisite and I think the shadow adds a lot, but the foreground isn’t adding much for me. Perhaps something like this:
I like the wider view and the subtle coloration at the top. To me it fills in so much of the story of how this flower lives and where it lives. I’ve never seen one before (to my knowledge) and so this is a nice treat here at the beginning of stick season (just put the snows on the winter vehicles yesterday).
@Dennis_Plank I like the tight crop. I couldn’t get any closer and I didn’t bring a longer lens. 400mm is my max with the A7rIII. I can get a lot closer with my A77II DSLR and 70-400 with converters but I didn’t bring it with me. How do you like the landscape orientation? >=))>
It looks like you used a different frame for the landscape version, Bill. I do like it better, though I liked the bit of separation between the flower and shadow in the original. This version does put the viewer’s focus where it needs to be.
Interesting flower that I don’t think I’ve ever seen – Picture This says it is a Water Poppy, Hydrocleys nymphoides. I like both the versions but prefer the landscape a bit more, for the interesting balance of the maple leaf. But the portrait orientation shows the habitat more. I definitely would leave the lovely colors in the BG! And the telephoto lens that seems to be inherent in my brain loves @Dennis_Plank’s version. I could also see cropping about the bottom fourth off the vertical.
How’s that for a definitive answer… I like them ALL.
I am with Dian, Bill. I like them all. I guess the question boils down to your intention and how you might use it. Dennis’s version with a tighter crop and the blue accentuated is less environmental, but also more simple and perhaps artistic. How much do we want the context? How much do we want to feel the flower? Those are questions for you based on whether you want to print it big, put it in a monograph, or remember the location and all it has to offer.
