The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I was photographing some of the fall color along the Merced river in Yosemite and as I was leaving the area I had to pass through a small stand of Dogwoods. This array of Dogwood seed pods and the leaves just popped up right in front of me, forcing me to drop my tripod and pull out the camera. A visual drink to quench the thirst for the changing season and the colors that the change brings with it.
Specific Feedback
Does the arrangement work? Is the DOF adequate?
Technical Details
Nikon D850, Nikon 80-200mm f/4 MF lens at f4, 1/125 sec, ISO 400. Very little post processing in ACR and PS. I kept the aperture wide open to minimize the DOF to keep the BG out of focus so that the FG seed pods would take the appearance of popping out of the screen.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Without stacking I think this is about as good as you can get this kind of image. It’s SO HARD to figure out where to crop and what to leave and what to clone out. But the little buggers do pop fairly well. One thing you could try to accentuate that is to raise the red luminosity in the crisp flowers and reduce it in the blurry ones. Agreed that keeping the lens aperture wide was the way to go - so much detail to get lost in if it’s not soft. You could also play with adding a blur layer and just touching up some of the seed clusters that are close to being in focus. I sometimes do that. I don’t love the light leaf and seed at the top in the middle, but it’s so close to the one under it that cropping would make it awkward. Removing it is up to you, but if you don’t maybe reducing the saturation and exposure would help, too. All in all an intriguing and distinctive image of fall. I really like your description that this is a “visual drink to quench the thirst for the changing season and the colors…” - nice.
I like the mix of colors in this image, Youssef. The reds and greens work very well together and the various stages of leaf decay tell a great story. I also like the way you managed to find an area with the corner seed pods slightly out of focus and the sharper ones in the center, though I do find myself wishing for two or three more sharp ones in the upper third of the frame which feels a bit empty. The depth of field you chose works well for my taste.
Youssef: Not sure you could do any better with a single capture so not much to add to what Kris and Dennis mentioned. I think this would have stopped me as well. Nicely seen and presented. >=))>
