The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Since Bill & Allen have posted some photos of Blue Dashers, I thought I’d add mine. The scientific name is Pachydiplax longipennis and there were a million of these it seemed all whizzing around madly, but only this one posed so nicely near my boat.
Specific Feedback
Anything to improve either in the field or processing.
Technical Details
Handheld in the kayak - may have had a CPL in place, but I forget
Lr for all processing - reduced exposure a bit, basic panel to adjust tonalities, texture and vibrance. Regular sharpening & nr. Masked the dragon to increase exposure and whites. A bit of a crop to position it off center and avoid a big dark bunch of plants on the left.
Sweet, Kris. The focus is right where it needs to be. Great job getting parallel with it. Youmight want to look at the reed along the left edge, particularly the brighter area in the upper left corner. It tends to draw my eye that way.
Wow Kris, and from a boat, too. I can imagine around a lake you do have lots of these DFs. We have a few around our house and the field next to us. I was quite surprised that when we go to the camper which has a creek (salt water) right there near us that I haven’t seen any DFs there. Nice look at this one. I wonder if you can lighten the darker green running on the left side, if that would help some. I like his perch, and that nice oof BG.
Hi Kris, really nice capture from your boat. Interesting light angle coming in from the side. Good details throughout. I think removing the dark green on the left would improve the image.
Thanks @Dennis_Plank, @Shirley_Freeman, @Bill_Fach & @Allen_Sparks for letting me dogpile on your Dash theme. It’s really interesting to see how similar or different the same species can be in different regions. And of course all the interesting poses and antics.
Ok…I knuckled under and removed the leaf altogether. It took a few tries in Photoshop and finally the CAF action in the new contextual toolbar did the trick and only needed some touching up with the Remove tool. Much better. Thanks peeps!
Oh yes, Kris, this looks so much better, and it was a great shot to begin with too. I’m not that good with my editing, so for me, I really need to start thinking about things that can distract while I am taking the shot. Really nice!
Excellent! Removing the leaf was a good idea. The plain old Clone tool would have done it, too.
Juggling the size, opacity and closeness of the sample point lets you be a painter.
The color in the wings is displayed very well. Ours have less color.
Sorry ladies, I’m going through threads I let dangle and this was one of them. Glad the new image works better. I’ve become braver and more accepting of making bigger changes to images if they make them work better. This is a prime example, I just needed a nudge.
