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
Recently, @John_Williams made a comment in one of his critiques that he rather wished the “Type of Critique Requested” choices listed “Considered Reaction” instead of “Initial Reaction”. For me, he hit on something. Because a “considered reaction” asks for more of me than some form of “like” or “don’t like” but rather asks that I take the time to consider why I hold a particular opinion. This way of looking at a photograph would apply just as much to say, how I feel about that of a beginner or intermediate photographer as I would about one of Ansel Adams’ or Trent Parker’s. If I want to improve as a photographer I really need to invest my time to consider why I feel the way I do about a photograph rather than a quick “initial reaction” – thumbs up or thumbs down and move on. And so, I’m not-so-secretly hoping that someone will offer a review like that for this picture regardless of whether you like it or don’t. If my central concern for this image is striking a mood – “Decay Bouquet” – what elements are working and what are, perhaps not, according to your experience?
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.
Image Description
“Decay Bouquet” – too cute? Ah well, to quote the bard, “what’s in a name”. What I hoped to do with this image was a take on a Caravaggesque still life where chiaroscuro is a key element. While this image doesn’t have the super dramatic side light that is typical of chiaroscuro, it is from a single directional side lit source that succeeds in accentuating the textures of the rotting wood and leaves. I think the yellow leaf on the wood is nicely balanced with the lighter leaf below and generally, I think there is a nice balance between shadow and light.
I took an awful lot of frames in making this image. The decaying stump itself flairs out at the top giving it the distinct feel of a steer’s skull, which was what initially drew me to making the picture. But getting all that in, because of the way the leaves were distributed on the ground, resulted in a very unbalanced image. So, I had to let that intention go and work with what was presented. I’m not disappointed. This composition is less obvious but still retains the feel of decay. But, as always, my question to myself and to you is whether this is an image that evokes a mood sufficient that you’d care to look at it more than as a 15 second fly-by. So, of course, that’s my question – to what extent does this picture evoke a mood compelling enough to hold your attention or even maybe garner a second look.
Technical Details
I used to be able to download a screenshot as .GPN. The last couple of times I’ve tried it hasn’t worked - nothing happens. Is anyone having a similar problem or know why it isn’t working?
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Kerry: Aptly titled and superbly composed and captured IMO. I love small intimate scenes like this with all the disparate textures and elements and the warm color palette. The lone leaf on the bare wood puts this over the top for me. A marvelous find expertly presented. >=))>
First of all, Kerry, I just love the title. It fits the scene perfectly while also clueing the viewer in to what you, the photographer’s intentions were when capturing this scene. I believe all the elements are working in harmony here. You have wonderfully layered leaves in various stages of decay and with different color tones and textures. Some have clearly just fallen and are bone dry while others are moist, dark, and clearly stages ahead of the dry leaves. Then you have an old, decrepit tree trunk with that one bright and colorful leaf holding firmly, not ready to be part of the life giving decay process that will one day be the sustenance for future forests. That leaf is the star of the show. It’s bright, sharp and center cut in the image. The textures in the wood of the tree branch/trunk show what months or years of decay have turned this once leaf barring tree into and the hollowed out center of the tree shows that the decay process started months or years before this new fallen leaf attached itself. This is well seen and photographed, Kerry. What a great story you’ve told while also allowing the viewer to imagine what has been and what may be again.
I really like the color scheme of this image. I prefer these types of colors over the ones closer to the primary ones. I also really like the texture of the curled leaves. I can almost feel their crunchiness and hear their rustle. These are the sounds and sights of fall. One thing that no one has brought up so it might be just me. I can’t tell if I’m looking down at a deadfall or looking at a decaying tree from the side. At first I thought it was the latter but then the leaf would fall off. The result is that I feel as though the leaf is suspended next to the trunk. I guess that’s because the trunk has a form that seems to be growing upwards. It’s an illusion.
I’ve come back to this image several times over the last couple of days and each time, my fondness for it grows. Initially, it felt much like a snapshot but I also felt like there was more to it so I decided to come back to it. Now, after studying it many times, I find it to be a fascinating study with oodles of texture, contrasts, shapes…everything. I’m sure it’s not for everyone but I thoroughly enjoy it.
I’ve sat with this image for awhile now, and for me it is all about that single clinging leaf. It is a visual representation of that famous poem by Dylan Thomas.
Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Besides the way that leaf is clinging, desperately trying not to join its fallen comrades, your choice to make the entire photo about decay and your subtle use of focus/out of focus add so much; the leaf is surrounded by decomposition.
There’s just enough color variation to tell the story, but the use of mostly grays and browns accentuates that that leaf has just a bit of yellow still.
The tones look just right; a natural vignette to keep the story where it should be.
I have no idea what options you had, but if it was possible I think a slightly wider crop would work well to reduce the size of the leaf in the overall image just a bit. I think that would add to the loneliness that this stage of life can sometimes bring.
@Bill_Fach - Thank you, not only for sharing that you liked it but, more importantly, why. Much appreciated. @Jim_Erhardt - Thank you, Jim, not only for your comments but also for the link. I noticed that he even has an image he called, “Bouquet of Decay” - in this litigious age, am ripe for a law suit? @David_Haynes - Thank you so much, David, for this excellent critique - not just an opinion but your detailed basis for it. These kind of critiques are so helpful in guiding my photography in terms of bringing attention to my strengths and also where I may have missed an opportunity or failed to stay with the process of making the image long enough to get there. @Igor_Doncov - Thanks for your feedback. I’m not surprised at your response to the colour palette, familiar as I am with your own work. As to your question - you’re half right. The decaying branch was neither lying down and shot from above nor standing erect and shot from the side but, rather leaning against a log (above the frame of the picture) at about a 30 degree angle. @Bret_Edge - I’m delighted, Bret, that this image was able to entice you back for a second look. I’m equally glad to hear you felt the return trip was worth the effort. As to whether this image is for everybody, I’m pleased that it isn’t or might not be. I much prefer someone hate it than not care at all. @John_Williams - Ah, Dylan Thomas, the very essence of Irish heroic, romantic, despair. Of course, you realize the leaf is not, in fact, desperately clinging but simply being where it finds itself . But naturally, I am delighted that this image evokes for you such a powerful voice as Thomas’s. To be spoken of in the same breath as one such as he is humbling to say the least. In this case, I framed the image in order make the most of the background of decayed leaves. While I did take many wider frames, the background lost its balance so this (just a small crop off the bottom) was the best compromise I could come up with.
My initial reaction (sorry) is one of cycle and seasonality. That story is extended the longer I look - I especially like the old woodpecker holes and the texture of the wood after the bark has fallen away. It is balanced as you say with the yellow leaf as focal point. I can see how it was challenging to frame and compose. There isn’t any obvious symmetry or through line here and it has to be taken as a whole, not parceled out into beginnings and endings. It garners a second look or a longer look to figure those things out. At least it did for me and I’m glad I took the time since I’ve been away from photography both in the doing and the critiquing lately. Fallow periods come and go for me and so I’m only bothered a little by this one, but maybe participation here will spur me back out.
Lying fallow is such a profoundly important way of being. I know for myself, how easily I can be seduced into believing that if I’m not doing something I’m not doing enough. Despite my fears, this has never been the case in my experience. I am always experiencing, feeling, and connecting in all my relationships whether with my self or the world. For me the issue is so rarely about doing, so much as being. If I can be patient in those times when I don’t know what to do or don’t feel like doing much and give myself permission to be quiet and, as you say, lie fallow, I slowly begin to feel my creative self rising to the light, not through my pushing or demanding but through its own need to express itself in the moment when it is ready in itself to speak. So good on you for taking that time. I’m particularly pleased that you dropped by here to share your insights, thoughts, and feelings. Always welcome and appreciated.
