Critique Style Requested: In-depth
The photographer has shared comprehensive information about their intent and creative vision for this image. Please examine the details and offer feedback on how they can most effectively realize their vision.
Self Critique
I like the contrast of the bright bloom against the soft, dark, rock wall background.
The clarity is ok as is, but when zoomed in the clarity isn’t as good. I think a faster shutter speed would have helped.
Creative direction
I wanted to capture the fiery blooms in all their glory.
Specific Feedback
Aesthetic and Emotional…does this isolation of a single bloom, positioned against the dark background, make it pop for you visually and emotionally?
Technically I think the focus could be better. Also the background had bright spots. I applied a TK7 luminosity mask to lower the brightness of the light blotch at the top of the frame. But I didn’t darken it altogether, just lowered its brightness.
Technical Details
D500 with 200-500 lens.
440mm, f/5.6, ISO 500, 1/1600 shutter speed
Description
I was driving past a few Ocotillo plants at Joshua Tree National Park. They were in their last stages of bloom after a mighty rainy season. These plants are distinctive for their spiny vertical branches, and their bright red-orange blooms in the Spring.
The verticalness of the plant structure makes a closeup of a single plant interesting. Although the structure is unique, the spiny brown branches have no color until you reach the tops of the branches where the blooms are. I was more interested in the color that caught my eye, than the vertical structure. I couldn’t get up close because the blooms are about 10 feet above the ground, up on the vertical branches. So I had to keep my distance to position a bloom against a dark rock background.