Julie,
I’m gonna start right out say that I consider this Fine Art. I’m talking in the league of the Westons, and other masters (one’s that I’m not familiar with cause I’m not a student…) This is beautiful; there is a graceful presence, a flow and even mystery portrayed here. Love what you have seen and presented.
I’m gonna post an edit below, but first I want to make some comments. Here on NPN we have had many discussions recently and in the past about image critiques. There is even have an article “The Art of Image Critiques”. And recently I watched some videos about critiques, self critiques etc. My comments here are actually more about my own growth as a photographer, artist and a critiquer of the same.
Let me explain. At the crux of NPN right in the “about” section, this site has always been about the “Art and Technique of nature photography.” In other words, not only the technical aspects, focus, color, saturation, composition, cropping… cleanup, etc. etc., but also considering the art, the story, the message, the vision, the intent.
Not too long ago I would have immediately wondered about the out of focus leaves, the shadow areas with no detail… what am I to look at when most everything is blurry.? These are technical aspects that are to easily judged, based on our own personal expectations, experiences and desires.
But I’m learning to step back to try and learn how to evaluate and not be so quick to come to any conclusions. Absorb what information is available and evaluate the photograph not just from an objective, technical point of view - but also listening to what is being said. This is growth for me.
So… I now recall your first post and the dialogue on that image. A very shallow depth of field, out of focus element right up front, etc. etc. We found it you intened to have the out of focus elements and you were exploring shallow depth of field… I remember and so looked more closely at your info, and discovered - you shot this wide open at f/1.2!!! It hit me. You saw this - you intended this, you created this. I literally now think and can see this hanging as a large print in a prestigeous art gallery exhibit. Kudos. Well done.
This is not about leaves and whether only a few are in focus. It’s actually not even about the light (although that’s the critical element,) but it’s about the design, the flow of those brilliantly lit leaves and how the softness follows the design fading from the front, to the bottom, the back… It flows like a musical Treble Clef note (and I’m not a musician either). Toss in the dark mystery of the forest beneath…
So, I’ll stop waxing on… but I still wanted to offer my opinion/suggestions. And Merv is right - you’re getting a lot of them! Which is great!
First, I think the bg is great the way it is. The overall image is dark enough, and the leaves are lit plenty all with beautiful light and contrast, that I wouldn’t want anything in the far back any darker. Not a distraction for me. And getting back to the “technical” first thoughts I had - I first thought the bright branch up top was also a distraction to be eliminated somehow. But NO! It’s elemental in your design. Any alteration to that element is merely opinion and tweaking, but it’s presence to me is key. From a tecnical processing perspective, my opinion it could be toned down. I don’t want to remove it, but keep it’s presence without letting it be a distraction; slightly darkenend and cloned out the little spur. Lastly, I added a little canvas bottom and left while coming in just a skosh from the right - just for equal space around that beautiful Treble form. All personal choices, which will be different person to person.
