The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
While searching for lichens I was drawn to the sharp bright point next to the darkness. When I got back I decided this was one of my weaker images and therefore did little in the way of processing. But as I reviewed my work this summer it kept coming up. I think one of the reasons I’m not up on this as much as I might be is that the composition, the diagonal running across the image, is one I’ve often used. It didn’t break new ground for me. But I still like it.
Specific Feedback
Here is a question I often think about. An image such as this requires 30-40 and sometimes 50 focus brackets. Are all this images work keeping after they have been merged by Heliconfocus? They take up an enormous amount of disk space. I’m thinking of just keeping the merged dng file and just trashing all the originals - something I’ve never done before. What do you think? What can possibly go wrong if this is done?
Technical Details
GFX50R, 120mm, f/11, focus stacked
Critique Template
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Vision and Purpose:
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Nice intimate detail here, Igor. I’m liken the lichen very much. There’s nothing at all wrong with diagonal lines, so no issue there. At first, I was hoping for more detail in the very dark shadow on the left, but on second thought, it balances well with the dark area on the right.
Re: Trashing the original files and keeping the DNG’s…
I think that if you save copies of the DNG master files on different drives you should be OK, assuming they are final images, and the original files are irrelevant. Saving copies of the DNG’s on different drives is good disaster insurance.
-P
The jaggedness of the diagonal adds a lot for me, and the way the crack splits into a mimic above of the large crack below is very cool. I love what the lichen are bringing to the show too.
My personal preference is for just a kiss of detail in the shadows with less plugging, but I respect your artistic choice.
Igor: You are a master of these intimate comps and I like this a lot. Great tonal control especially. As for keeping the originals, I do often discard them IF I’m 100% happy with the stack. I find myself feeling safer doing this when I have a perfectly stable subject like yours here but on macro shots where there may be just the tiniest imperfections in alignment I’ll hold on to the originals if I feel like I need to go back and tweak. Wonderful vision on this shot and a superbly crafted image. >=))>
That’s my thinking as well. The only doubt I harbor is that at some time in the future a tool will come along that will do a better job of merging these images than Heliconfocus. A tool that will generate even finer results.
I learned a lot on this trip about photo stacking. The closer you are to the subject the deeper the stack has to be. Covering the entire range is not an exact science. I guess it just comes with practice.
I prefer the original. With the lichen in the lrc, there is a diagonal flow to the lichen that mimics the crack. That is lost, somewhat, in the tighter crop.
Thank you for your comments and evaluations. After much consideration and several rounds of printing I’ve decided that the revision is superior to the original.
