Strong light beaming through the forest illuminating these rhododendrons. I really want you to feel the light in this one.
Overall, thoughts on the composition and edit. I’m not sure about the patch of light in the background canopy. On one hand, I felt it added depth and balance but, on the other, it could be distracting.
31mm | 1/25 | f9 | ISO 100
Single image processed in Photoshop.
Hey Matt! What a wonderful forest scene. Images like these are hard to find amongst the chaos, but you found yourself a great rhododendron with lots of character.
When I first saw this image, one thing that distracted me was the patch of blue sky on the left side (like you mentioned). It kept pulling my eye away from the subject, and in my opinion, it creates a lot of weight. Though it’s a relatively small patch, it is the only blue in the image, and it’s so different from the rest of the green foliage. By cloning this, you simply the color palette and helps bring the eye back to the subject.
I pulled it into PS for you and cloned it out of the blue. I believe that it adds so much to the image. While I was in PS, I also darkened the bottom left of the log, as that was also pulling my eye away. I hope this was helpful!
I was going to suggest a similar edit. It’s a strong image but this makes it even stronger IMO!
@Trevor_Vellinga @Matt_Payne thank you both for your feedback. You confirmed it for me about the patch of sky. Trevor, thanks for taking the time to send back an example edit. Cheers!
@matt.redfern, Trevor already nailed the exact two things I was going to suggest upon first seeing the image! I think it becomes very strong with those changes. Another minor suggestion would be darkening some of the lighter background stuff on the right side (and I’d probably darken the LL log even more, as the stark shape still stands out a bit to me). Lastly, a few spots of the lime greens seem slightly bright and oversaturated to me:
Thanks so much, @Alex_Noriega. Love the thoughts here. Thanks for another critique. I’m impressed with your ability to keep up with all these submissions.
I feel like I’m barely keeping up, but I’m glad to help!
