Being with Flowers

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

One of the things I like best about capturing images of the natural world is that I am forced to become lost in the moment. I can’t ask a flower to pose perfectly for me. I cannot ask the Sun to move so that the lighting is perfect. I become focused on what is in front of me and all the background noise fades away. I begin to really see what is there. I see the tiny insects that are normally out of sight. I’ve watched Crab Spiders stalk Butterflies. Sometimes I see Lady Bugs busily removing Aphids. It’s such a joy to watch a bumblebee buzz in and exchange nectar for the job of pollinating the flower.

When I sit still and focus, I can begin to notice the soul stirring smells of warm soil, green plants, and colorful blooms. There are few aromas more pleasant than the combination of new growth combined with centuries of decayed plants that enrich the soil like no manmade fertilizer ever could. These first days of warm weather release these scents and make the world a better place!

Another thing that becomes apparent , when you stare intently into the face of a flower, are the incredible textures that just don’t show up unless you get right down on their level. Hair like structures cover most plants, but the early bloomers wear this fuzz in much the same way as we pull on a wool sweater for a chilly morning walk. There are lines on petals, veins on leaves, and fantastic shapes in the sepals, stamens, other internal parts of the flower.

Every once in a while you have to look up and around to make sure you’re not missing something that is either adding to the enchantment of the scene, or possibly adding to the danger. A few years ago, while my wife and I were hiking, I stopped to look at a few flowers and my wife got 25 yards or so ahead of me. She turned a sharp corner where a bush was concealing a Black Bear that was right on the trail! She handled it like a champ! I could tell by her manner of gesturing that it was very important that I did not finish photographing the flowers that had distracted me! No bears on this day though, just wide open grassland with dramatic clouds streaking overhead. May I present to you, a fine specimen of Prairie Smoke, backlight by the cloud-filtered late evening Sun.

Specific Feedback

While this was just before sunset, there was not much color in the sky. I’ve added some warmth and tone to the sky. Does it work or look too contrived? I’ve actually desaturated the greens as the stacking technique tends to add a lot of contrast.

Technical Details

Nikon D850
Sigma 105 Macro 2.8
ISO 200, f/8, 1/40th
This is a stack of 30 images merged in Helicon Focus, mode C
I processed it in Lightroom Classic by creating a mask for the flower, one for the background, and then a graduated linear filter for the sky.


Critique Template

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  • Vision and Purpose:
  • Conceptual:
  • Emotional Impact and Mood:
  • Composition:
  • Balance and Visual Weight:
  • Depth and Dimension:
  • Color:
  • Lighting:
  • Processing:
  • Technical:

The warmth of the light at the top doesn’t bother me, Paul. You did a beautiful job on the stack as this is a very complexly layered flower head and I don’t see any stacking anomalies. I could see just a trifle more room on the right if you have it.

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Hi Paul,

Not bad–I like this one as presented. Lighting is perfect and resulting stack looks good…Jim

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Yes the pink sky is not natural but we don’t make postcard and we must give way to our creativity. I like this photo very much Paul.

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Paul: I like the image and I especially like your sentiment and the narrative. I’m not familiar with Nikon gear but if you have auto stacking I’m really envious. I’ve been contemplating upgrading to the Sony version that can do that but right now I have to be content with doing every exposure manually. The BG works for me since it’s not obvious that it’s sky, Could just be the prairie receding into the distance. Overall a superbly crafted image.>=))>

Thanks Dennis. I agree with the point on the composition, but this is an uncropped image and I don’t think cropping off the left of this would be the right thing to do. Just need to pay more attention while in the field! 3 more months and I’ll give it another go!

Thanks Bill. The D850 has a “focus shift” function, but thats just to capture the images with the focus point automatically shifted incrementally. I use a software called Helicon Focus to do the hard work. You can tweak settings and do some retouching if needed. When you have a sharp subject against an obscure background like this, it works really well!

Paul: It’s the focus shift that I covet. I’m using Helicon Focus and loving it but it takes me a lot of time to set up each frame in the stack and I need relatively calm conditions if I’m outside. Could you write a note to my wife explaining that I really NEED that Sony A7rV😉.

Paul,

Beautiful work. It is a very inviting photograph and the detail is stunning. I like your rendition of the sky and it does look natural to me. I agree with Dennis that it is a little tight on the right side, if you have any image real estate on that side it would help to keep it, or possible clone in some more space as the background is blurred sufficiently that cloning in some space could work.