The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic + Technical
About This Image
Another one from the garden today - drawn to the colours and pollen. Intended to try a Orton Effect Photo stack (with images from different focal planes) but in the end just blended a slightly blurred layer and a pin sharp layer. I probably should have brought the lily indoors to my photo stack table but in the end I thought all the pollen didn’t need to be sharp - particularly the stamen behind the front one. Do you Agree?
Feedback Requested
Does it work even though all pollen isn’t sharp?
Does the background work? - made intentionally hazy using dehaze and neg clarity sliders.
Again - just another bit of fun - aren’t there beautiful colours around at the moment!
The composition with the day lily stamen such as I have created here is, I imagine, a very common motif so not unusual IMHO. I’m interested if others agree this is a rather over-reproduced image or is it still dramatic enough to be worthwhile?
Whilst out today and trying for something a little more original - I found a day lily that had considerably passed its best and tried to make a photo including an intact flower and one passed its best in the same frame.
Its a way more complicated composition - but does it work as a photo and which do you prefer?
I’ve left the green in the background as the complimentary to red, in the hope that it adds drama rather than distraction to the image as a whole?
Camera: Sony A7iv
Lens: Sony 90 mm G OSS
Focal length: 90 (with 16 mm extension tube)
Shutter speed: 1/250
Aperture: f/11
ISO: 200
Flash: fill in TTL flash (ev -0.6)
Huw, A very nice shot. I love the colors in this, and the half a star formed in the BG of the stamen is really supporting the in focus stamen. I haven’t done any stacking so I’m good with the DOF of a single shot image. I like the crop/composition very much. Nicely seen and captured.
I really like the original post, even though it’s certainly been done before. It just has such impact. I also like the second image, but to me, it wasn’t obvious at all that the background lily was in its prime-it’s just a bit too out of focus to come across without the verbal hint (at lest to me). I’d almost like to see the second with a plain black background as I think it would look really cool that way.
I will play a bit more with the second image with a darker background.
I dont usually give images a title that is critical to understanding. I just gave the decaying bloom a bright background which happened be be a more intact bloom - which gives a bright orange colour which is missing in the older flower.
I am interested in the second image - if the greens are distracting or can be made more a feature?
I don’t find the greens distracting, Huw, but I think you’ll have to watch the exact shade as I have a feeling lighter greens or yellow-greens might not work as well. The dark ones like you have here actually work nicely and more of them might be interesting.
Huw: I shoot day lilies a lot since we have many different varieties in our garden every spring. I love the explosive BG of the original. Getting the anther ends and pollen sharp is one of the great challenges with these flowers and indeed this would work better for me if the slightly OOF and obscured anther wasn’t even there. As for the second shot I’m pretty much in agreement with @Dennis_Plank and since I’m in my curmudgeon mode the cut off anther on the bottom caught my eye. Just goes to prove how nit picking I can be .
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