The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Yesterday morning was a banner day; these were the first blooms of the season for our cactus flowers and day lilies and the conditions for capture were pretty good except for the wind which prevented much stacking. So it goes. On the day lily I focused on the bud and then the anthers.
Specific Feedback
Didn’t have to do a lot of adjusting on these except for taming some highlight in the BG in the LRC on the day lily. I left a touch of detail there instead of going full black. Your thoughts?
Technical Details
Sony A7rIII #1 Sony FE 100mm GM Macro, 2xTC
ISO 400, 1/320 @ f8, 6 image stack in Helicon Focus #2 Sony FE 70-200 f2.8 GM-II @ 178mm, 2 image blend in Helicon Focus
The pink flower draws the eye straight away, which I think comes from the contrast against the background. The bokeh works well — soft enough to isolate the subject, but still holding just enough shape to relate back to the flower.
With the yellow flower, the purple against the yellow is appealing, though it feels like it could benefit from a slight lift in the highlights and whites to give those colours a bit more separation and presence, both within the flower and against the background. The background itself feels a little uneven, particularly with the darker area in the bottom right compared to the top left. A more consistent green might help it sit better, though there is also a question of whether a darker, more simplified background i.e as you mentioned black, would suit it more? I think possibly so instead of the current background, but not so if the background was rendered more consistent in the green shades at the top left corner.
Focus is well handled in both, with good sharpness on the subjects and a clear separation from the background.
Both well photographed, Bill. I like the color and delicate nature of the first one and the dark background of the second. Excellent detail in both. The second one is my favorite as it has an artistic feel to it.
Bill, both look great. I think leaving not having a fully black background on the lily is important, makes is feel more real and less stark. The cactus flower has a fine warm inviting feeling…just don’t pet it
Wonderful!! I’m so fond of cactus flowers and this one is so lovely! The BG is just right for my taste, with the complementary colors and soft focus. I wouldn’t have known that the daylily flower was not a full stack – the detail is excellent. I love the hint of detail in the BG, and think you did a great job subduing the detail in the LR corner. I don’t mind the absence of green there but it would be possible to bend that neutral color to green if you wanted to.
I wonder about just a bit more detail in the petals in both. I often add a bit of the Texture slider and sometimes a bit of Clarity. Sometimes it needs to be masked to just the flower to keep the BG as soft as possible.
