The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic / Expressive
About This Image
We made a trip to the s0uthern Oregon coast last week. While the sea stacks were lovely as always, I was more taken with the morning sun shining through the dewy cobwebs on the tattered Queen Anne’s Lace plants.
Feedback Requested
This was about the beauty of the backlighting through the cobwebs and plants. I wasn’t thinking about a certain mood, but I’d be interested in what you see. Any other comments on composition, etc. are always welcome.
Technical Details
Camera: SONY ILCE-7RM3
Lens: FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS
Focal length: 105mm
Shutter speed: 1/250s
Aperture: f/16
ISO: 100
Processing software: ACR & PS
Major adjustments: Targeted adjustments to get rid of weird color casts from shooting into the sun. Dodging to bring out the backlit bits a bit more.
Blending/stacking: No blending or stacking.
Other notes:
I see much as you intended. The glorious crepuscular rays caught beautifully and perfectly exposed to communicate early morning sunshine - displaying cobwebs and other plants in this gorgeous light.
I like crop such that the semi-circle of light is central to the top of the image. I dont mind some of the mild flares and chromatic aberrations that remain after your tweaks - as for me it tells the story of the strong light breaking through.
It conveys the emotion of morning , just need a bit of mist and dew … but you cant have everything
I like the centered rays, Bonnie, and I can put myself behind the camera in this scene as I really like first light, fog and spider webs. It does feel to me as if you tried to take in too much territory with this one and I can’t really find a point to lodge on in the image: is it the rays, this flower head, that flower head, this spider web, that spider web? It may well be that you intended the image to have that kind of ambiguity, and that’s fine. We all have different ways of looking at and photographing a scene.
Bonnie, I’d say this does a fine job of capturing the quiet contemplative feeling of early morning, fall light. The mix of crepuscular rays and the glowing cobwebs tell that story very well.
I think this is very beautiful, Bonnie and conveys the morning light very well. I do feel that the very bright light at the top of frame distracts from the delicate webs in the light. I’m wondering about cropping out some of the top quarter of the image to put the focus squarely on the webs. A lovely image - I find myself travelling over the webs and exploring them. Very nice.
Terrific, Bonnie. I wouldn’t change anything. The first thing I noticed was the cobwebs. They take my eye from one interesting shape to another. It took me a moment to notice the sun’s rays. They add a lot. I’m not fond of panoramic crops but here I think the crop is exactly right.
Backlight is hard to work with but this shows why it’s worth the effort.
Bonnie: Oh this is fine! Like you I love the Oregon coast but some of the stuff near the ocean is compelling as well. Exceptionally good vision to see this and a superb comp and capture. Most excellent.>=))>
This is lovely, Bonnie. Great eye to see, compose and expose this so well. When I look at it, don’t get a particular mood, but I do get a feeling: cool, damp morning, sun coming up, comfort on the horizon, but not here yet.
I was thinking about the suggestion above regarding cropping a bit. I played with several, and I don’t think any are necessarily better, but just to demonstrate and see what you like: I kept the rays and the cobwebs left and right. In my first attempt, I cropped more off the left, but I decided that long stretch of trapeze cobweb was important to keep. The question is how pano to go?
Unconstrained Crop
This is absolutely gorgeous!. The backlighting from the rays of the early morning sun impart this wonderful delicate mood to the cobwebs as well as the vegetation. I also think the pano format works here as well. Absolutely no suggestions from me as I am loving this.
Wonderful! This image brings up a term I haven’t used in a while… “order from chaos.” So much going on with the vegetation, spider webs… yet the dew and light pull this together beautifully and creating order, even a feeling.
The feeling I get - and this image brings me there.. I can almost feel the wetness of the dew… on the boots, the pants as you make your way through the brush. And the sun’s rays just now starting to warm things up… one minute your chilled, then pretty soon you’re shedding layers.. This gives me those feelings.
Though there’s lots to explore and providing reasons to want to crop, but there’s one thing that prevents a decent crop - and that’s the sun’s rays. They are pretty well centered at the top of the frame and any crop on the sides would have to contend with offsetting those rays. And for that, I like this just as you’ve presented.
Kudos for recognizing the potential too! Executed beautifully. No other suggestions.
Really great. This is an image that makes me feel like I’m there, standing in the field, getting my pants and shos wet from the early morning dew. The crepuscular rays add a nice touch and I like the pano format. Just two small nits. There seems to be some chromatic aberrations in the mist/fog and there’s something a little weird going on right below the line I’ve drawn. Like a selection edge or something.
Yah, there may still be some chromatic aberrations in the mist. That edge is really there; its a dirt bank.
I could see that. I was enamored of the light rays so I didn’t want to crop them, but it does work if a bit is taken off the top.
I saw the whole expanse of the cobwebs on the plants as one thing. I included those plants coming in from the ULC because they made a nice triangle with the cobwebs heading down to the LLC. I included the light rays as part of the story. I don’t deliberately make ambiguous images, but my tastes do tend that way naturally.
This is fantastic. I love the way the eye is drawn upward in the photo toward the light.
My only suggestion would be to darken the greens in the foreground quite a bit.
Lovely picture.
Very cool!!! Definitely evokes a foggy morning near the coast, with the crepuscular rays being a wonderful feature!
I wonder about reducing the contrast of the vegetation exiting the frame in the UL corner. For me, it’s competing too much with the delicate webs and spent blooms. Maybe even some cleanup there with careful cloning would make it a little less interesting.
