Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
I know it’s a crappy background, but I just couldn’t resist these redbuds backlit by the last light of the sun before it dipped below the horizon.
Any and all feedback, suggestions and critiques welcome.
Nikon D200, 52mm, 1/5 sec @ f/16, iso 200
I’m glad you couldn’t resist, Michael. These just glow with redbud deliciousness. I’m not sure what can be done about the background. Maybe add more trees in the gap? Or just enjoy it as it is.
ML
I can overlook the BG because the redbuds are so lovely – the light on them is special.
And I HAD to play! Select > Color Range can be accurate at a pixel scale so I chose a mid-white in the sky and tweaked a bit and returned a selection, where I just darkened with a Curve. That showed up some cyan CA along the branches so I just desaturated Cyan and tweaked the color range to include a bit more into the blue. Then masked out areas in the BG that had some cyan. Did a number on your frame, which I didn’t bother to mask back, but you can see the idea.
And there was no profile so I assumed it was sRGB and assigned it.
Hi Mike,
The last light on those redbuds is sweet; I can see why you could not resist even with the BG. What I am going to suggest is a rather radical crop, but it does get rid of the BG while still capturing most of that wonderful warm light on the redbuds. I hope you do not mind, but here is a rework with what I was thinking. Just my opinion of course.
There is simply no way to resist taking that picture. What gorgeous light, Michael. Unless you plan on framing this one up and hanging it in the house of office, I would just enjoy the light on this one and the memory that came with it.
If you are going to do something with this one then I’d suggest either cloning or selectively burning down the bright spots as @Diane_Miller did. In either case, you really got some beautiful light on a beautiful subject!
Mike: Simply marvelous light hitting one of my favorite trees. We have several variations in our yard and they are always the heralds of spring. I’m Ok with the BG as the sky isn’t blown and I also like what @Diane_Miller did. Good find and a fine capture. >=))>
The gaps in the trees don’t bother me. Perhaps it’s because I know it will bother many. I’ve decided that they’re a natural part of the woods so why hide them. Now if I felt you were hiding them and some were left it would be another matter. But here they are confidently displayed so they are not ‘mistakes’.
On the other hand the trees in Diane’s rework feel balanced whereas in the original they feel too low. I think that may be due to the weight of the bright gaps up top.
Difficult situation. However, I think that the one large gap is the biggest problem. If that could be cloned in it might be very helpful.
Mike, I agree with everyone else that the light on the redbuds is wonderful. My suggestion is to do some lights burning of the background sky, especially in the “big” opening towards the left. Here’s a quick try that does include some mid-tone dodging in the redbuds. I also did some darks dodging of the trees around the bright area since they were going black.
Thanks @Bill_Fach, @Ed_Lowe, @Mark_Seaver @Igor_Doncov, @Diane_Miller, @Marylynne_Diggs @David_Haynes, For the comments and suggestions. Ed, Diane, Mark, thanks for taking the time to rework the image. They all look good.
I think @Mark_Seaver’s rework works nicely. There is one bright gap that still bothers me. It’s the lowest one in the right half of the image. Don’t know why I’m fixated on that one.
Now that you mention it, it bugs me too.
Michael,
While the Redbud is the star of the show, like others have stated that bright spot does steal the show. So I tried something, its rough, but just an idea. I cloned the biggest bright spot with PS replace tool using the AI mode, and then selected the other bright areas using TK mask Lights 4 and burned them down with 100% black paint, and then duplicated that burn layer. Although I am not thrilled with how the rough cloning came out, it does help keep the attention on the Redbuds.
Really appreciate this image Mike. Only suggestion is to pull back on the crop so that the lit blossoms are surrounded and set off by by more dusky darkness. I often tend to crop landscapes too tight myself. Am trying to shoot them differently so that I have more options in crop/composition.
Thanks @Youssef_Ismail for the comments and taking the time to do a rework. Thanks @james7 for the comments. Your comment about the crop is valid, but as with everything, there is always a compromise. I was trying to keep the BG to a minimum.
