Hepatica is an early spring flower. These particular flowers were found growing at the base of dolomite cliffs along the edge of a small wash. Due to obstacles, positioning my tripod was a bit of a challenge. The day was sunny with a slight breeze. While there were breaks in the breeze, it was too breezy to stack photos. So, this is a single exposure. I waited for a break in the breeze to take the photo. I used a light diffuser to even out the light.
Specific Feedback Requested
I would like feedback on composition and post processing.
In the top left corner there are old stems from the previous year. They were still attached to a living plant, but I could have cut them without harming the plant. Should I removed them?
Also, I put a pretty heavy vignette on this photo to focus your eye to the flowers. What are your thoughts about the vignette?
All CC welcomed.
Technical Details
Canon 5D IV | EF100 Macro | f32 | 1/40s | ISO 100 | 100mm
PP - ACR and Photoshop
Very pretty little flowers and I think the mossy background works nicely here!
I’m curious what others have to say about removing the old stems. If it I was in my garden, I’d likely have removed them without too much thought but I’m sure I were in a less managed environment I’d have left them alone too.
I think the vignette is a bit strong overall. I feel like I might want to see more of the base of the flowers. Linear gradients coming in from the corners may help give you finer grain control over the strength and presence of the vignette in the different areas of the photo.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. It’s very helpful.
I attached a version where I lightened the vignette. I do like how you can see more of the base of the flower, but I think that I would like to have the upper corners darker. I guess that is where a linear gradient might work. I still have a lot to learn about the tools PS offers, Gradients is one of the tools I have play with in tutorials, but haven’t used yet. Looks like this might be my opportunity.
One thing that I didn’t mention. This photo was taken in a nature preserve. I did clear a lot of detritus from around flower before shooting. I try to take care to not damage the flora around what I’m photographing. I hind sight, I could have trimmed the dead stems without damaging the plant.
This looks like pointed-lobed hepatica to me. Taller stems, brighter colors and bigger blossoms. I’ve only found them once here in Wisconsin, but that’s because I’m lazy and the bugs make me crazy. Once they start coming out, I start kayaking. Anyway, an overall pleasing image. The forest floor is full of beauties like this, and spring ephemerals are especially good for photography since not much else has grown in yet. Good job waiting out the wind. Monsoon guaranteed every time I get my macro out, Lol.
But onto your questions -
I would like feedback on composition and post processing.
Composition looks pretty good - the flowers are all leaning one way and the side-on angle works well. A nice change from a front view. I would have done what I could to further separate them from the mossy background - maybe getting farther away and /orusing a longer focal length. This works ok, but…
In the top left corner there are old stems from the previous year. They were still attached to a living plant, but I could have cut them without harming the plant. Should I removed them?
the flowers are really close to them and nearly converge so I’d have gotten rid of them. And the farthest one at the direct top. Same with the ones in the foreground. Anything you can do in the field to remove distracting elements without killing anything is always easier than trying to get rid of them in post.
Also, I put a pretty heavy vignette on this photo to focus your eye to the flowers. What are your thoughts about the vignette?
The vignette is too hard and obvious IMO. The flowers’ vibrancy and crisp detail are nearly enough to do the job of getting my attention on their own. Whenever I add a vignette it’s light and I usually will vary the roundness, feathering and threshold. That’s in Lightroom, if you use the TK8 Plug-In for photoshop there is a freehand and a standard vignette action. Freehand is more flexible than doing a vignette in Lr because you can make it any shape you want. By using either of these you can further tweak it by protecting shadows so they don’t get too dark.
I think that the vignette works well, but you can try experimenting with modifying the strength of the vignette. Comp is pretty good and overall, a very pleasing image…Jim
Gorgeous flowers in a lovely setting! I don’t mind the dead stems at the bottom as they point to the plant’s base, but the ones at the top aren’t the best. I don’t know what color the flowers should be but I wonder if the moss is a bit too reddish? Maybe a Selective Color to work on reds and yellows (globally) wouldn’t mess with the flower color too much.
I’ll chime in here if David doesn’t mind - the flower color looks right to me. They can be a medium-pink and I’ve seen them darker and closer to fuschia as well. Moss can get yellowy brown if it hasn’t rained or retained water and the red could be sporophyte stems. I’ve seen that as well.
