The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I love shooting water lilies and when I was in the Denver botanical garden I was truly in heaven. I spent a whole day trying different compositions of them this is one of my favorite that has a good cloud reflection as base.
Specific Feedback
I tried to make the water more transparent in post processing and wasn’t able to. it looks a bit murky. I was wondering if I could have done something different in the field or in post processing to improve this issue.
Technical Details
Sony 7c mirrorless, tamron 17-28 lens, iso 200, f/11 20mm, 1/100 sec. Cropped the picture in post processing to isolate this section and did some adjustments of light.
A lovely and unusual composition! I could wish for more room on the left if you have it. The flower could benefit from more detail (less exposure) – have you tried to isolate it and pull out more detail? The raw file might allow that.
The color of the leaves is interesting – are they that unusual or is this some sort of color work with infrared?
Oh this is very cool. I sometimes see red or reddish leaves on water plants, but we don’t have the pink flower variety here. Diane is right about the flower and if you don’t have a photo with the right exposure for its whiteness, you might be able to extract more detail with a Linear Profile as your starting point instead of an Adobe profile which is probably what you have here. Not sure since you didn’t way what software you use. Adding more canvas on the left will be easy in Photoshop if you use that. Great arrangement of the leaves and I like the sky reflection - it adds a lot of interest and color contrast.
Thank you very much for your feedback. This section is a small part of a whole large pool of lilies that were close together so I am not sure how I could have created more space in the field. Maybe a longer lens. I am going back to this garden this fall and have a longer lens now so will try to isolate them better. Anyway, I did try to improve the colors. Used Lightroom and didn’t find a linear profile but changed to a modern one that I think looked better and added a linear gradient on the top and bottom. I hope that improves things. I also tried to find a way to add canvas but couldn’t figure it out so would love the learn how to do it. Thanks!
If you don’t see your camera there, he will make one for you as he did for me. Basically a linear profile flattens the luminosity curve so that all detail in shadow and highlight areas is unaffected by either the camera’s profile (Standard, Vivid, Lanscape, etc) or Adobe’s RAW profiles. Both lower blacks and lighten whites so can push an already hot image too far into clipping. Does that make sense? Anyway, Tony’s website explains it in more detail. The profiles are free!
Ooooh, I love lily pads floating on clouds. The water looks fine to me - I don’t get a murky vibe. I agree with the others on the close framing on the left. In lieu of adding canvas there, you could crop off the right so the right-most lily pad is as close to the edge as the left-most one. I do like the processing of your first version vs. the second. The first has a more gentle feel, which seems to fit the scene better.
You’ll need PS or some equivalent editor to add canvas, or to do the best job of cloning out any stray pads on the frame edges if you choose to crop from a wider shot.
Thank you. I have photoshop. Just not sure how to add canvas. I tried changing the canvas size but then I couldn’t move the image or get the background to be as in the picture. What do I need to do to add canvas in photoshop? Thanks
Just open the crop tool and drag out any edges, then go to the top and check Content-Aware. Magic, but it may need some slight cloning – nothing is perfect.
Tamar, I think this is very interesting and it works well as presented. Your placement of the lilies is novel as is your low contrast/high key treatment. What you have here is a “dreamy” view. The extra contrast version is much more “normal”, but seems overly dramatic to me. In a tight grouping small movements of your position can create a bit more space between what you want in and what you want out of the frame.
An unusual creative image - love the shades of pink and blue - just wondering if the image can be simplified some by blurring the background - and yes, a little more space to the left
This is a lovely image of lilies and the flowers (the smaller flower being almost hidden under the large one on top)!!
I love the reflection of the sky and clouds and to me, the amount of contrast in your first image looks really good, the lower contrast places more emphasis on the lilies and less on the sky and clouds.
Although, I like your higher contrast version, too!
Higher or lower contrast is mostly a matter of personal preference in my view.
The flower is a bit over exposed and you may or may not be able to lower the exposure in the RAW image file.
If you want, you could upload the RAW file to the Image Processing Challenge category so we can see if those details were actually over exposed during the capture or if it was done in post processing.
Image Processing Challenge Link>>> https://community.naturephotographers.network/c/processing-challenge/150
Do you use the histogram or the maybe the Zebra Exposure Warning Lines while shooting to insure there are no over exposed areas? (Side Note: The Intensity or strength of the Zebra Exposure Warning Lines is adjustable in the camera menu).
Personally, I find the Zebra Exposure Warning Lines to be more intuitive and overall easier to interpret.
Also, I like to use “Entire Screen Average” as the metering method but it sort of depends on what the scene is (Usually it’s the Entire Screen Average method for me). These are my personal methods, meaning it’s not right for everyone, it’s just what works for me.
And just to be sure I’m understanding correctly, are you shooting in RAW (ARW for Sony) or JPEG?
You probably already know this but, basically, Sony ARW images are pretty flat compared to JPEG even if you’re shooting with a Neutral Creative Style (for JPEG).
I always leave the Picture Profile OFF with the Creative Style at Neutral so the JPEGs I see in the camera monitor and viewfinder closely match the ARW version (JPEGs are still more contrasty).
Then I have the Color Space on Adobe-RGB because the only other option is sRGB and to me, sRGB color space is too limited for the RAW (ARW) image file.
BTW, The custom “Linear Profile” mentioned is applied to the ARW file in Lr and not the camera (for Sony anyway), there is no way to apply a custom profile to Sony cameras (that I’m aware of).
I made few screen captures for the process of adding canvas using the crop tool with Content Aware.
If you saved the layers where you added your signature, you could disable the signature before adding the canvas, then add your signature back to the image after adding canvas.
Anyway, I sincerely hope the above information is helpful and please feel free to ask for more details and/or clarification if needed or wanted!
Thank you mervin so much. This has been super helpful. I shoot in raw and always look at the histogram to make sure I don’t clip any highlights (that I am somewhere in the middle). I was however on a multi metering mode and on a landscape creative style so that might have affected what I saw. Now I changed the settings according to your suggestions and hopefully it will improve future pictures. I will also try to use the zebra option. I never tried to use it as I use auto focus. Again thank you so much. Super helpful!!
Just to be clear about what the Zebra function does, it is only used to tell if the exposure is too high in any part of the screen.
Your comment leads me to think that you’re under the impression that the Zebra function is associated with focus and I can see why. When I was learning I actually had a little trouble understanding that Zebra lines didn’t have anything to do with focus.
Also, the Zebra lines just show the areas that are over exposed, you have to make an adjustment to either the ISO, aperture or shutter speed (or the exposure compensation function if you’re using Auto ISO).
There is an adjustment for the strength of the Zebra lines as well, so check out the manual for those settings (I had to take a few practice shots to get the strength adjusted the way I wanted it on my Sony).
Here’s a link to the Sony 7C Zebra Function Settings: Link>>>Sony 7C Zebra Settings
Here’s a mocked up visual of what the Zebra lines would look like on your lily image:
Personally, I find that the Zebra lines are better than the histogram because it will show areas of over exposure even if the metering mode is set to spot, center or multi-zone.
I recommend trying a few test shots, then compare them on your computer so you can get the Zebra strength setting the way you want it. And remember that there might be Zebra lines in the camera monitor or viewfinder (the JPEG version) but the exposure might be just right in the ARW file, this is why you need to do a few test shots for adjusting the Zebra strength.
Ideally, you want to adjust the Zebra strength so the exposure warning lines match the ARW file rather than the JPEG that is displayed on your camera monitor or the camera viewfinder.
Anyway, I really hope this helps, there are so many things about these high tech cameras that can be very confusing at times (at least for me).
I understood what you meant about the zebra referring to exposure. I probably just didn’t phrase it correctly. But thank you so much for demonstrating it. My question is then to what do I set the exposure? Like in this scene I tried to get the overall exposure right and so the white flower which was only a small section got a little over exposed (not clipped). Is this a case of taking more than one exposure - one for the brightest and one for the rest? I know there are no clear rules, and each scenario is different. I am just trying to take it a step forward so I will know how to implement it in the field. I really appreciate your patience with explaining all this. I learned the manual of both my sony pictures. so finding the settings is not difficult. Knowing what to do with it afterwards in the field - how to implement it to improve the total exposure - is a bit different… Thanks again.
For me, the best way to handle it is to set the exposure for the brightest element of the scene even if that means that the rest of the scene will be a little too dark, then bring up the exposure of the darker areas in post processing.
In this shot, about 1 stop or so down in exposure would have took care of the blown area and the darker areas would be completely manageable in post processing, especially since your Sony has nearly 15 stops of dynamic range.
One thing to remember when under exposing areas to keep from over exposing other areas is to use as low of an ISO setting as possible because under exposed darker areas can be difficult to deal with when it comes to getting rid of digital noise (just in dark areas though).
Another possible option is to use a circular polarizer to help eliminate bright spots, at least in some cases I have found that circular polarizers are good for more than just removing glare on water (for example).
And yes, you could use a set of 3 images using exposure bracketing or… manually adjust the exposures of two or more images, then blend them in post processing as long as you’re willing to go through the trouble and if the wind isn’t a factor (the wind might move the lily pads around too much in some cases).
I’m pretty lazy so I always try to get the capture in one shot if I can.
Tamar, I have been looking through all the interesting feedback on your captivating picture. Mervin just mentioned a circular polarizer. Do you have one on your lens? You were concerned about the reflection of the sky. A polarizer changes the way light is reflected in the water and what you can see under the surface. I have polarizers on all my lenses that can take one, but I forget to use them. I’m learning they make a significant difference. Nice work.
Hello Tamar
This photo definitely captured my attention.
I took the liberty of not reading all the advice given by other members, just to give my own unprejudiced advice. I love the way the colours of the lilies complement the colours of the sky. The only thing that distracts me, is that the flower seems to be overexposed. I don’t know what the RAW looked like, but if the flower wasn’t overexposed there, I would start again with the post processing and make sure to not lose the detail in the flower. It might make the water a bit darker, but that might prove to be nice looking as well. Hope you give it a try
Thanks again.