The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This is the scene that greeted me the next morning. There were two pairs of blooms so just for fun I thought I would present the whole family. The first image is a 13 image stack at f4 while the second image is a single capture at f11. I’m pleased with the sharpness of the center details in both but I’m not sure about the more evident pot details of the BG succulent. Both of the duets are stacks. Opportunities to shoot these delicate beauties are fleeting. They bloom overnight and are faded and gone by the late afternoon or evening. >=))>
Specific Feedback
Comparing the first two images, do you have a preference for the stack or the single capture.
Technical Details
Sony A7rIII
Sony FE 70-200 f2.8 GM-II
1/500 sec @ f4, ISO 400 13 shot stack in Helicon focus
Single capture, ISO 400, 1/60 @ f11
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Of the two four flower images, I like the background a little better in the stack, Bill, but the single shot has a lot more pop in the colors and somehow feels crisper. Of the duets, I think I’d go with the horizontal pair, but that may partially be the screen orientation. It seems to have more initial impact.
More exceptional cactus flowers! All 4 are exceptional.
From here, the second of the 4 looks brighter and sharper, and I prefer this BG.
Of the last two, the vertical one has a more interesting angle and softer colours (probably not intentional), but the head-on one is more striking.
VERY fine work!
Bill, thank you for giving us something to work with and ponder here. Number one, they are all gorgeous and really well photographed. Preferences: I like the pop and light in the second single exposure one of the four blossoms together, but I like the BG better in the first of those. Maybe you could darken and blur the BG a bit in the second and I would like it better. Next, I really like the vertical of the two blossoms better than the horizontal. It just seems more natural to me. These are just so nice to look at and ponder. I love that you’re capturing their fleeting beauty. How like people on a little different time scale, but in the grand scheme of things we bloom, we fade and are gone in a very short time. . . hopefully there is some beauty to be remembered in the way we live.
Bill, these are lovely flowers!! Of the four, the first focus-stacked image is my preference. The background and foreground do not compete with the flowers, as they do in the second f/11 image. One note is that to the left of the second flower from the top, just above the cactus, there’s a beige area that is distracting. You can remove that easily. And, you can probably brighten the focus-stacked image by increasing the contrast and slightly brightening. Or you could try curves. Of the other two, the vertical definitely works better than the horizontal. In all beautiful images!
Bill, these are lovely. The stack seems sharper, but I prefer the single capture because of the vertical nature of the composition. How fleeting and how beautiful.
