Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, 2020 is the first year since 2013 that I did not travel in mid-June to photograph lupines in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. In New England where I live, we do not have vast displays of wildflowers like in places such as Mt. Rainier or the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. New Hampshire’s lupines are the only thing like that here. So I really missed my lupines this year !!!
Here is one from 2019, when I photographed the lupines on an NPN field trip with @Ed_Lowe@Michael_Lowe and @Patricia_Brundage. We had rain during the first couple days of our trip. But as the weather cleared out on the third morning we were treated to a spectacular display of lenticular clouds over the White Mountains. Conditions like this made it worth the risk of braving the mosquitos, black flies, and ticks in the meadow.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Any critique or comments are welcome.
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Manual Blend of 2 exposure for dynamic range, and different ISO’s for wind control.
IS0 100 for the sky exposure, ISO 400 for the flowers / landscape.
What can I say but, “Ah”. The image has such depth . I’m drawn in through the meadow of lupines by the light. While the violets and greens are most dominant, it is the yellow, I think, that really draws me deep into the frame. And, of course, the clouds are spectacular - a worthy climax and a feast for the eye. Two things that might be worth trying but are strictly a matter of taste. The first is the aspect ratio. There is logic to the 2:3 that you’ve used but, it was probably an Alister Benn webinar I watched, where he talked about his distaste for vertical 2:3. I mostly poo-poohed it at first, but more and more I’m edging towards that point of view. Of course, in this image it would mean cutting out some of the foreground lupines, which are both lovely and get the ball rolling but I do like it with the two leading lupines cropped out. So, you might give it a try and see for yourself. Also , I wonder how you’d feel about bringing down the saturation and/or the vibrance a touch, especially the sky. It feels a bit to me like this image is shouting when it really doesn’t have to.
Very nice image, Ed. I agree with Kerry about the 2:3 ratio for verticals but wouldn’t crop anything here to achieve that. The 2 bottom lupine are critical to the comp, the high point of the flower section, so they need to stay. I like how those clouds are stacked on top of one another, like pillows.
A small suggestion would be to clone or crop the small clouds at the top edge of the frame. Make it blue straight across the top.
“I Miss My Lupines”. You and me both, Ed! I just hope that everything has settled down enough to make a trip this upcoming fall. I still remember hauling butt through the wet meadow that morning as the clouds were starting to be kissed by the warm glow of the impending sunrise. It truly was a spectacular morning that I will never forget.
I have no suggestions as this is perfect in my eye. The lenticular clouds were magnificent that morning and capped off this scene beautifully. The lighting is sublime on the lupines and I am enjoying the color palette here with the shades of blues and greens. I particularly like those two lupine front and center as they seem to point me into this lovely scene. Gorgeous image!
The only thing I could add to the discussion above is that you can get a different aspect ratio without cropping by using the free transform tool in PS. It’s a little bit like flipping an image that it takes a few minutes for my eyes to get used to, but minor aspect ratio transformation usually results in quite a natural result.
Having said all that, I think this image works in the 3:2 ratio, Ed. I also have a distaste for that ratio in both vertical and horizontal orientations. But it does work for some images.
Beautiful lupine image to go with some great clouds. I would either burn or clone the cloud on the top edge, right side, but otherwise, looks really good to me. Love the depth.
Great shot,Ed. I’m not buying the talk of the 2:3 ratio. To me the scene dictates the ratio and to me it is fine here with a little crop from the top. A 4:5 crop makes the image too “stubby” imho. I love the inclusion of the two fg lupines. I would be inclined to dodge the fg corners a little, since the shadows draw my eye. Beautiful capture of that morning.
I like Michael’s small but significant changes. I actually thought that the dark area at the bottom made those lupines stand out better but Michael’s changes has shown that it does indeed hurt the image overall.
Thanks to you all for your comments, as usual it was an interesting discussion, especially of aspect ratio.
First let me start by giving a big thanks to Mike Lowe. Mike, your rework is subtle but elevates my shot substantially. I have fallen into the bad habit of (almost always) applying a Lightroom vignette preset at the end of my workflow. I really need to be more careful, and apply vignettes in a more manual way, only when and where needed.
Igor, on other images, I have noticed that you make similar comments about clouds near the top frame edge. Is this a preference to have a layer of blue sky above the big cloud to separate it better? Or do you prefer this approach for another reason? Just curious and trying to learn.
Adhika, could you please elaborate on the free transform technique as it relates to this image. I rarely use transform or warp my images (primarily because I’m too lazy). If you have the time, I would greatly appreciate you demonstrating it on my image in a rework, with a brief description of steps.
The Vertical 3:2 vs. 5:7 aspect ratio debate appears to still be alive and healthy. I’ll betray my age by confessing to having learned photography on 35mm slide film. As a result, I’ve had a hard time moving away from 3:2, my brain was just wired that way from shooting slides. Intellectually, I know that the 5:7 ratio does have advantages for some vertical images. For this particular image, I think the 3 foot height of these lupines (much taller than those out west) makes the 3:2 ratio feasible. And in real life it is hard to get a pleasing arrangement of foreground lupines without cutting them off. The 3:2 feels right to me in this regard as well.
Ed, I have enjoyed all your images from this trip, and this is no exception. I agree with Michael Lowe that the scene dictates the format, so I think your 2:3 works well.
I also agree with the others who have said to crop/clone the top clouds. For me, it’s about not having the bright white at the edge of the frame. A crop like Michael’s feels like a better edge to the image.
One thing that I noticed is the sliver of lupine on the left edge down toward the bottom. It feels a little too cut off for me, although I know that crops in a field of flowers like this are always a challenge. I tried a slight crop off the left, and it worked for me.
* You can also “shrink” canvas to 5:7. Interpolation to a smaller resolution is always better than extrapolating it to a bigger resolution. But it’s easier to show it in a screenshot if I expand the canvas.
PS. You may want to convert this into a smart object first otherwise, transforming this more than once will destroy the integrity of your pixels.
PPS. I still think that 3:2 works for this image. The 5:7 offers a slightly different perspective.
@Adhika_Lie thank you so much for taking the time to provide this example and such a clear and detailed explanation. This is a great example why NPN rocks, it’s helpful people like you who are so generous with their knowledge and time. I never would have thought of doing something like this in a million years.
I agree the 3:2 ratio works for this image, but this technique is an important tool to have in my toolbox. Thank you again.
I don’t have any set approach on this subject. I look at each image individually. When the sky is full of clouds like Harleys recent image I usually don’t look at frame edges. I thought the rework was an improvement due to the omission of clouds. The eyes work up from the flowers to the sky and there’s something worthwhile up there. Many images use clouds to eliminate a totally even blue but don’t go beyond that to have it composed well. It’s either about clouds or they are background. Here the clouds and land are well composed and that makes the image stronger.
Beautiful scene Ed. I like the complimentary color palette with the purple lupine and the overall cool color balance in the mountains and sky. The composition works well as there is interest throughout the frame.
