I hope the image and this note are in the right place! If not at the top, please look at the bottom of the thread. @patrick6, @Diane_Miller, @Bill_Fach, @SandyR-B, @Dennis_Plank, @Ed_Williams — thanks for your feedback! I added a tiny bit of canvas so that the petal would have some room and (to keep the aspect ratio in place) slightly cropped in from the URC. Let me know how this works. Thanks!!!
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
My favorite place to photograph dahlias is Bullington Gardens in Hendersonville, NC. The garden is amazing, and the flowers are lovely, with many varieties, colors, sizes, etc. I was there yesterday for my first visit this season. I usually go down a couple of times a week until the first frost. This image is one of the first, converted to B&W with emphasis (I hope) on the lacey dewdrops edging the petals.
Specific Feedback
Is the flower center area too soft? As I look at it here, it looks a little too soft. I can work with that if so.
Beautiful, Susan. Getting out of focus dew drops to work in a composition is really difficult, but you pulled it off very nicely with just the right amount of blur receding into the background. Well done.
I believe this one is fine as presented. The water droplets are sharp and lighting works well for this BW image. The limits in DOF have worked in your favor to create a very nice image. Well done…Jim
Thanks so much, @Dennis_Plank and @Ed_Williams, for your feedback. I can’t seem to get away from B&W! The flower was a lovely yellow, but I felt that the dewdrops were lost with all of the colors as a distraction.
Superb!! B/W lets be concentrate on the dewdrops! It’s wonderful how you captured them in the same plane! The UR does not look too soft to me – the lower contrast there works with the softer focus. I do notice the detail on the petal end in the far UR corner more than I wish. More importantly, I wish the petal tip right at the bottom edge had more breathing room. If the original frame didn’t have it, I’d be tempted to manufacture some more canvas. But this is gorgeous in any case – I love Dahlias!
Thanks so much, @Diane_Miller, for your feedback! I agree about the petal on the bottom. I’ll expand the canvas a bit. I’m not sure, but are you referring to the tubular-shaped petal in the URC? If so, I’ll take a look at working with that. Thanks, again!
Yes, that small petal – it’s lovely but eye-pulling, and actually also the two pieces of similar petals just below it. Blur, maybe?? (Nit-picking, for sure!) Those dew droplets are so awesome I don’t want to see anything else!!!
| Diane Miller Nightscape & Astro Moderator August 19 |
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Yes, that small petal – it’s lovely but eye-pulling, and actually also the two pieces of similar petals just below it. Blur, maybe?? (Nit-picking, for sure!) Those dew droplets are so awesome I don’t want to see anything else!!!
I think if you would have gone for a deeper DOF or a focus stack you would have lost the nice flow through the frame to the sharp dew and petals. The tough thing with details on flowers is where to crop. I think the upper part of the frame is spot on, with the nice echoes of the shapes of those petals. My one nit pick is the very bottom center and that one petal that is touching the edge of the frame. Since that’s where the focus is, that’s were my eye wants to go. And that tension takes away from calmer feeling of the overall image. My thought is if you have a little more room down there, add it back in. Lovely image – and I can’t seem to ever get enough of dahlias.
@patrick6, thanks for your feedback! I worked on the image tonight, adding a little canvas to the bottom so that the petal has some breathing room. And to address @Diane_Miller’s issue with the URC I’ve modified that a bit. I’ll post it tomorrow. Cheers!
Perfect in B&W. The slightly-blurry dewdrops work well with the sharper parts of the flower.
I agree that a bit more room at the bottom to give the pointed petal tip some breathing room would be good.
Fine work!
Susanna: Marvelous conversion and I like your DOF/POF decisions. Count me in with the crowd wanting a bit more space on the bottom but that’s a pretty small nit from me. Wonderfully crafted image. >-=))>
Although a minor adjustment, comp in the repost looks better than the original with the petal tip now included. Petal tips drive me nuts when I’m trying to compose dahlia shots. I think your decision to add some space to the bottom works well for this comp…Jim
Thank you, @Jim_Zablotny and @Dennis_Plank! I think it works better, also. And for @Diane_Miller, I hope that cropping it in a bit in the URC helps with her concern.
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