Please share your immediate response to the image before reading the photographer’s intent (obscured text below) or other comments. The photographer seeks a genuinely unbiased first impression.
Questions to guide your feedback
I made this image to convey a specific symbolic meaning or feeling, and I’m curious to hear your opinions. What do you see and feel, or how do you interpret this image?
Did I make the right choice to convert it into a (lightly sepia-toned) monochrome image?
Other Information
Please leave your feedback before viewing the blurred information below, once you have replied, click to reveal the text and see if your assessment aligns with the photographer. Remember, this if for their benefit to learn what your unbiased reaction is.
Technical Details
OM System Olympus OM-1 with M42 Pentacon 1.8/50mm vintage lens on cheap helicoid (extendable) adapter, aperture wide open (F1.8), 1/400 sec, ISO 200.
Processed in LR with very minor adjustments except for some local increase of structure, applied with a brush to the fern to bring out the hairs.
Specific Feedback
I am mainly interested in your aesthetic, conceptual and emotional response. Regarding the technical aspect, I am interested in your thoughts on the use of a vintage lens. Would the image have been stronger if I had used my pin-sharp macro lens?
Gerard: Welcome to NPN and thanks for a very nice first post. I especially like your DOF choice and POV. I might like a touch more brightness and contrast but this is a pretty darn good conversion as is. Great to have you aboard and looking forward to more of your work. >=))>
Thanks so much for your comments, Bill. Much appreciated!
I’m glad I found this network, where I can seek friendly critique to help me improve my photography. On Instagram, there are usually only positive comments, and suggestions for improvement are a no-go…
I was actually also interested in what viewers see beyond the fern depicted in the image. In the sense of Minor White, not for what it is (a fern) but for what else it is? Normally I put this in my title, but that sort of ‘gives away’ what I feel or intend to convey. In this particular case, I am interested if this matches with what viewers see.
Gerard: I’ve been at NPN for over 20 years and have learned so much. I hope you enjoy it here. I didn’t comment on your vintage lens since I didn’t reveal your hidden comments until after I sent my post but I love that kind of stuff. With all of our fancy AI tools and processing software I suppose one could duplicate this effect but I’m pretty much a single capture limited processing guy so your kind of image crafting appeals to me. Keep 'em coming! >=))>
I’ll happily add my welcome, Gerard!! I love this image. I think the processing is excellent for the subject.
For me, it evokes a maternal caress and the promise of a new life. The vintage lens has given it a lovely gentle look and soft tonal structure that work so well!
I look forward to your participation here and seeing more of your work!
I like your choice of monochrome and the tone your chose, Gerard. This does give a feeling of spring and the resurrection we associate with that in the temperate part of the world. I also like the soft focus you chose as it helps convey that feel. A very nice image.
Welcome to NPN and I’m looking forward to seeing a lot more of your work and reading your comments on other people’s images.
Thank you so much for the warm welcome Diane!! I’m happy you like my image!
I can strongly relate to your maternal caress interpretation and your feeling of the promise of a new life. My image title is ‘Resurrection’, as I see a figure standing up, and on closer inspection the figure seem to be holding something akin to a child.
It’s always so nice to hear about viewers’ feelings and interpretations of a photograph. This makes it much more than a portrait of an emerging fern.
My first experiences here on NPN are very good, so I will certainly post more of my work!!
Thanks for your comment, Jim! This is very similar to my interpretation of this small scene, which I titled ‘Resucrrection’. After reading your comment, I also noticed the small being, which made the image even deeper. Thanks again!!
Cheers,
Gerard
Thanks for the warm welcome and for your feedback, Dennis!! I titled my image ‘Resurrection’, which shows that it invokes the same feeling in both of us. It is so nice to share and discuss images in this way!
Thanks again, and I will certainly also comment on other people’s images!!
Gerard
