This fragile looking grass growing on the edge of the raging Sol Duc River caught my eye. I tried to capture the delicate grass against the backdrop of the powerful river. Is it successful ?
Any.
Any
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
F10, 1/8s, ISO640, 70mm
Allen. I love this image. I like the concept of making the common grass the highlight of the image with the showy rapids in the background. The color balance of the green grass and the yellowish moss is perfect to my eye. The only suggestion I would consider would be to lower the camera angle and move a little bit to the right to put the grass squarely in the whitewater to highlight it better and to prevent it from getting lost in the dark water. Beautiful image.
@John_Moses, thanks for your thoughts and comments. I agree it would be a better image taken from the position you described. I had the same thought while editing. Typically I try a few variations to a composition while in the field, unfortunately I did not in this case.
I am glad you liked the concept.
I really like the composition you set up for this image. The grasses just add such a nice component to the image and their placement is ideal for me. Nicely captured.
It is successful. The contrasts in color and texture work well. I agree with John on framing the grasses, but this is still lovely. Perhaps just dodging the water a bit behind the rightmost stems would do the trick.
This is an interesting image. It is simple but tells a story. When I first looked at the thumb nail I thought you were high in the mountains and the clouds were moving through the valleys. Well seen and photographed. I do agree with the suggestions about composition.
I like the highlighted subject vs darker background idea here very many much. The muted swirling water makes a fine background. My only suggestion would be to raise the luminosity of the grass stalks and their seeds for greater tonal separation from by. Btw, there is a simpler vertical centered around the verticals that works well for me because it simplifies things.
Oh I love the swirl of the water here, Alan. It’s an excellent choice of shutter speed, too. I do think that having the grass against the brightest part of the water detracts from the grass. I think toning it down would work really well to bring out the grass even more, Alan. Another consideration that I would offer is the small “hump” on the top edge of the image right in the middle where the tones are slightly darker, I would brighten that part or clone it out completely.
An interesting scene, the contrast of the yellow moss against the cool water makes for some nice color contrast. I also like the contrast of the green leaves against the yellow moss as well. It does tell a nice nature story, especially with the inclusion of the grasses. The processing overall looks very good.
My concern about the image is the placement of the grasses against the water. Ideally you want to maximize tonal separation of the subject from the background. In the case of your image, the grasses are placed right in the middle of the boundary between light and dark water, so they do blend into the background a bit. I think the cleanest separation would be a move to the right to get them against white water, as suggested by @John_Moses. but with the comp as presented Igor’s suggestion to dodge them would be the best help.
Just gorgeous, Alan, and completely successful in my view. Granted the comment about maybe having taken this from slightly to the side, this still beautifully contrasts the delicacy of the plant and the energetic rush of the waters.
Alan, this is a really nice image. While I agree with those that have suggested a view from a little to the right, I like the way the long blade of grass on the left of the bunch interacts with the whitewater behind it, and you would lose that with the different angle. I think the dodging of the water suggested by Bonnie would help the separation. This is excellently composed, and a lovely scene.
Thanks to @Keith_Bauer, @Bonnie_Lampley, @Richard_Teller, @Igor_Doncov, @Adhika_Lie, @Ed_McGuirk, @Ian_Wolfenden and @Craig_Moreau for all of your comments and help on this one.
I will incorporate some judicious dodging to try and create some additional separation. I did add a repost below of an alternate vertical crop that hopefully shows what Igor had in mind.
Alan,
Absolutely successful - I love this image! Hindsight is one thing… but I love this as presented. the “concept” and what you tried (successfully) to accomplish is pretty clear. Looks like the wind Gods were in favor as you caught these grasses with sharpness and detail - against the soft, yet powerful flow of the bg stream.
The colors, especially the grass and moss are excellent, natural.
Not sure I have anything to suggest. Minor, but maybe elevate the darks a little? Less contrast in the moss along the edge of the water? Hardly worth mentioning. This is excellent!
Lon
Mr. @Lon_Overacker you inspired me to make this image! I saw this grass and instantly thought of your many beautiful Dogwood scenes on the Merced. The wind Gods were generous and I was thankful. Thank you for the inspiration, help along the way and the kind words on this one.
This is a very pretty intimate, Alan. You were fortunate to have such still conditions at the rivers edge. The composition works well and the river provides nice separation for the grasses. I could see doing a bit of burning of the foreground to place more emphasis on the grasses and small plant at center.
Well seen, I really like the composition. I would clone out the top two buds of the set of three on the far right (the difficult ones to see). The image displays impressive ability, bravo.
