The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I noticed this barrel cactus that seemed to be glowing with dappled light in the deep shade while I was trying to shoot hummingbirds and other small birds. After receiving comments, I re-cropped and cloned some flowers into the top area to try to diminish the impact of the brown dirt area on top.
Technical Details
Canon 7D MII, iso 400, f7.1, 1/2000 sec, -1 exp bias, 169 mm (100-400 lens/1.4 TC)
Nice! The contrasts caught my eye! The tonal contrast between the cactus and the dark bushes behind and the color contrast between the greens and magentas. One suggestion is that you might experiment with cropping it, maybe even to square. The background behind/above the flowers is a bit distracting and I’m not sure the sides and foreground are doing much to support your character. Also a nit, when I zoom in I see the lit-up strands of grass to the right of the cactus that could probably be “weeded” with the remove tool.
@Cathy_Proenza and @Denise_Dethlefsen thank you for your thoughts on this. I agree the top is a bit distracting. I tried to darken those areas to reduce their impact. I also thought about cloning in more of the flowers behind the top row. I hesitate to "modify things too much, but sometimes it is probably worth it. Thank you for your help.
Beautiful isolated lighting on this cactus and I think the DOF is perfect to isolate the midground subject. Perhaps an 8 or 9, but 7.1 kept the foreground grasses and flowers behind a nice level of softness. I also like the color contrast between the cactus and the background flowers, which are bunched nicely on both sides, since the cactua is almost more yellow than green. The bit of bare earth at top center is just a little distracting, but as Cathy and Denise both pointed out, cropping in closer might help emphasize the cactus… it’s the star of the show!
I took a stab at an alternate crop and also “weeded” those three blades of grass at the right, though I must admit I didn’t do the best job at it. (I used Lightroom instead of Photoshop, which in my opinion doesn’t do content-aware quite as well.) I also boosted the overall whites (+23) to give those needles just a little more contrast. If it were my image I’d likely do that with a mask of just the cactus to avoid also raising the white level on the flowers, but you’ll get the idea. I think in the closer crop that bare earth I mentioned recedes further to the background.
Wow, @kevin_dobo thank you for working on this for me. I love the spines of the cactus with the boost in the whites. I also like the new crop. You did a good job of weeding too. Thank you.
