The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Our dogwoods were quite beautiful this spring. Usually it is difficult to find a clean bloom, or a least one that doesn’t need lots of cleaning up. I particularly like the white one because it is volunteer from another. I just pulled it out and replanted it.
Specific Feedback
I am not sure about the lower bloom.
Technical Details
Canon 5DmkIV; 24/70 at 70/ 1/125th; 7.1; 250 ISO; WB: auto; -1 exp. comp. slight dehaze; sharpening in Elements 21; removed some small light spots; single exposure.
Lighting is very nice and the BG is dark enough to not compete with the subject. The partial flower could be cropped out, but I really like the leaves radiated out from below the subject. You could try cloning them to see if the comp is more to your liking. The main subject generates enough interest that the partial flower is not much of a distraction. You could also try a vertical comp which would remove some of the negative space and make the subject more prominent. …Jim
Jim, this is a wonderful image. I could entertain @Jim_Zablotny idea on the partial flower too for another look. Regardless, either way it makes for a very fine image…
Hi Jim, what a lovely dogwood bloom! I particularly like how the light hits the flower and leaves to its right. It works well without being a distraction. I have mixed feelings about the flower peeking out below. I think that it is a distraction — it takes my eye off the “hero” of the image, which isn’t desirable (to me at least). I would NOT crop the image since the balance of the flower and leaves works so well. I would consider cloning out the flower on the bottom, though. It might be challenging to do, depending on your experience in Photoshop, but it would allow the image to shine. The greens are lovely — rich and support the flower so well.
I love the lighting on the main flower, Jim. The leaves around it are also gorgeous. I don’t really mind the partial lower blossom, but it does tend to lead one’s eye out of the image a little bit. I might be tempted to crop some off the right and go to more of a squarish crop since there isn’t a whole lot going on over there.
A gorgeous capture in wonderful light – all said above! For me, the partial flower needs to be removed. I don’t jnow Elements, but in PS it would be easy to select its petals (Quick Selection tool) and clone in from darker areas. A slight crop from the right would remove the BG detail in the UR, or clone it too.
