First Fruits

Image Critiques Flora Critiques
1

First-Fruits-2025-05-01-22-17-34-(B,R8,S4)A7r3-25.jpg
First-Fruits-2025-05-01-22-17-34-(B,R8,S4)A7r3-25.jpg2000Ă—1329 1.32 MB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

Chrissy bought and planted this day lily last year but it never flowered and I kind of forgot about it until I went snooping in the garden yesterday morning and found it showing off. >=))>

Specific Feedback

Had a pretty messy BG so did a lot of cloning and burning. Does it look OK to you?

Technical Details

Sony A7rIII
Sony FE 70-200 f2.8 GM-II, 2x TC @ 340mm
ISO 400, 1/30 @ f8, 12 image stack in Helicon Focus

Critique Template

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  • Vision and Purpose:
  • Conceptual:
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  • Composition:
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1 Like
2

Bill - this is a beautiful bloom and buds. The greens set off the pink and yellow very well.
The black BG is pretty funky from here, with lighter and darker parts. I’m wondering if your monitor isn’t showing the lighter out-of-place parts? The bottom of the stem also has a big blip.
I downloaded this, inverted to the BG only, and did a simple “levels” adjustment to darken and blend the black BG, and filled in the stem with a little Gen Fill.
Perhaps better..
Still, the flower itself seems pretty “crunchy.”
Needs a bit of work :slight_smile:

First-Fruits-2025-05-01-22-17-34-BillF
First-Fruits-2025-05-01-22-17-34-BillF2000Ă—1329 985 KB

3

A beautiful composition, Bill. I can see Sandy’s comment about the background-it does look a bit funky in a couple of places and is easily fixed. The blip at the bottom of the stem looks natural to me, so I’d probably leave it. I kind of like the high texture in the bloom-at any respectful distance it will look a lot less textured and just show is smallish detail.

4

Sandy: Thanks for the comments. I didn’t take the BG all the way to black but probably should have. It’s an area with some azaleas and mulch that I couldn’t avoid. I like what you did with the BG.

5

I much prefer a bit of meaningful subtle detail in a dark BG, and this one works for me. The area at the base of the stem is a bit noticeable, though, Maybe a local darkening just there.

The flower itself is gorgeous with wonderful sharpness and detail. The lightest areas of the petals feel a bit hot-- I wonder about pulling down the Highlights slider…