The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I can’t seem to resist this stuff and there was a lot of it this year, after a very wet winter. But I have yet to ever find it in an area with a clean BG – this was about the best I did this last trip. It was too windy to stack, but I’ll trade that for the wave clouds I got.
Specific Feedback
All comments welcome! I decided I needed to invent a way to blur the BG pleasingly. I’m interested if I succeeded. It was a challenge due to the variation in DOF of the flowers themselves. If I opened up more I lost too much DOF on the flowers.
Technical Details
Global Shadows and Highlights adjustments in LR and a bit of Saturation. Into PS I did a select by color range, clicking on the red. Duplicated the BG and used that selection (inversed) to do a Field Blur. Then put a mask on that layer and painted in black with a soft-edged brush at 50% to reveal a little more of the original stems and petals. Some 50% opacity cloning to touch up a few darker and lighter areas in the BG I didn’t care for.
One of my favorite wildflowers. Every spring, my wife and I take the 40 mile drive from Mannford to Stillwater, Ok. on Hwy. 51 just to see the Indian Paintbrush blooming in the bar ditches.
I think you did a nice job of blurring the background. The flowers certainly stand out nicely. I wonder if you toned down the background a bit if it would be any better? Still, nice as is.
Diane, what a lovely image you shared here. I am always surprised to see Indian Paintbrush from other regions. In Texas, they look quite different. The brush is more compact.
I like your BG edit for distraction removal. On the other hand, my eyes keep seeing the flowers pop more in the RAW version. Maybe @terryb 's suggestion would help make the flowers stand out more against that BG.
This is a beautiful capture. You did a great job in taming that BG.
Thanks, @terryb and @Egídio – interesting viewpoints that made me reconsider the image. To my eyes the blurred BG made the flowers stand out more – or at least that’s what I thought I saw because that was my initial idea! (Do we ever really see what is there, or just what we expect to see? It must be about 10% eyes and 90% brain.) Anyhow I decided maybe toning down the BG (separately from blurring) was maybe not the best approach, so I removed the vignette layer – and couldn’t resist the tiniest tweak of global saturation. (I like the subtle warmth in the BG.)
The second version is posted above – I’d be interested in reactions. It started as an exercise in BG taming, which is so important in so many images but often neglected. It has grown into an image that I think has some merits on its own.
Diane, you are very welcome. Are the labels on the revised version switched? The image that appears below the label “A revised version” actually appears to have a brighter BG than the second image. I am now on board with your line of thinking whether we see what we expect to see or what is there. I am seeing the top image with a BG brighter than the one below it. I do like the subtle warmth you have in the BG. I think it goes very well with the flowers.
Like Egidio observed, this is not what Indian Paint Brush looks like over this way, or on the east coast either although I have seen these before. I like the principal focus placement and the supporting cast of slightly OOF flowers. The color looks natural and vivid as it should be without being overdone.
For me the second version works very well, primarily because the brightness and contrast are harmonious and consistent. In the original the background looks muddy and as if it was taken on an overcast day, while the flowers look pasted in from another photo. In terms of blur, I think it works well - I’d have blurred the bg too given how close it is to the blossoms.
Lately harmonization has been my watchword when it comes to backgrounds and what I do to support and showcase my subjects better. Some of what I’ve been experimenting with is blur, but also hue/saturation, white balance and exposure. Sometimes knocking highlights and whites all the way back helps, but in this case I don’t think so since the light wasn’t variable, but consistent through the scene. The new photo looks more realistic and balanced and also punchier. Definitely my choice!
Thanks @Kris_Smith and @Egídio! The top (lighter) version is correctly labeled as the revision. I had thought, when initially processing, that a darker BG would make the flowers stand out, but then after posting I decided maybe it was muddying things a little. Possibly the reason you felt the flowers stood out better in the raw file was actually due to the lighter BG, even though it was distracting. Maybe… So I decided to try a version with the BG lighter, simply by turning off a vignette layer. Sounds like backwards reasoning, maybe… But it sounds like that top version works for both of you. Thanks for the confirmation – I often don’t know if I should trust my instincts.
Hi Diane,
I’m a little late on this now. I just wanted to say that I really like your rework.
In my opinion, the reason why the background is distracting in your original image is not the brightness but the contrast. You have fixed this very well in your revised version.
