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Critique Style Requested: Initial Reaction
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
I hope this conveys some excitement.
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.
[spoiler]
Image Description
I have been intrigued by the potential for horsetails as photographic subjects. Finally I got in the zone a bit, and this is one result. In color, the whole scene is REALLY green, and the textures are secondary.
Technical Details
Canon R5 100mm Macro, tripod, f/14, 1.4 m to focal point.
Specific Feedback
Aesthetic – I hope this conveys Energy and Fantasy
Technical – Do you see prospective Luminosity improvements?
1 Like
My immediate response was to wonder if this is a plant or really is fireworks. Black and white doesn’t give anything away. Then I saw the title and knew for sure it was a plant. Very clever capture. I like the way you’ve composed it with the placement of the center off center to the right.
First Response: Cool geometry. Looks like a seed head. Unfortunately, I associate fireworks with color so the title doesn’t fit well for my taste.
After reading your feedback section, I certainly feel some energy in this. The fantasy part escapes me, but that’s probably the engineer in me. If you’re going for the fireworks theme, I think the rays could be brighter. The highlights are there, but most of the rays are rather grayish, so I think they could come up quite a bit and I wouldn’t worry too much about blowing out highlights since this is about geometry, not texture.
Very helpful comments, Dennis. I will tinker with this accordingly.
This certainly brings to mind fireworks, and has a lot of energy! I agree with Dennis that the rays could be brightened as they do look a bit gray.
It looks great in b&w, but I’m wondering what color would look like? Maybe it’s because it looks so much like a firework, that I’m expecting color.
…O.K., I just read your comments. I figured it was probably really green, but why not change the color if you’re going full abstract. OTOH, if you’re trying to keep it more “real life”, that wouldn’t be appropriate.
Very clever image! The geometry and framing is well executed. I agree with the others about increasing the highlights. It would be interesting to see this in color and have the colors shift to reds or blues. Nice work Dick!
@Chris_Bair, @Bonnie_Lampley @Alfredo_Moray, thanks … pushing the whites further was a nice improvement, but Bonnie and Alfredo, you have unleashed a monster in me. Maybe I should convert all my B&W stuff to colorized fantasies 
Love the repost, Dick. A perfect choice of color for this. Bravo (and some oohs! And aahs!).
Yowza - way to go for it!
Thumbs up for the color version. Both versions are really good. The colored version looks like a fireball. So yes, there is plenty of energy in this image. There is a secondary fireball in the new version. That adds as well.
Awesome work on the color version!
