The photographer has shared comprehensive information about their intent and creative vision for this image. Please examine the details and offer feedback on how they can most effectively realize their vision.
Self Critique
I think the mood, the color palette, and the unusual subject choice are successful. What could be improved? The plant is messy, with branches sticking out at the top, but that’s reality, so I’m not sure what I could have done. I’m also not sure about the background. Should I have given a sense of more dead plants in the back or just completely blurred the background?
Creative direction
I was aiming to convey the idea that there is beauty even in the dead-looking plants in the winter, plants that I would ordinarily walk by without a second thought.
Specific Feedback
I’d like to continue to take more pictures like this to make winters more bearable for myself and to have something to look forward to when the next winter comes around. Any suggestions on this line of photography? Anything I can do to improve my approach (with the Lensbaby or other lenses) as I take more pictures of wintry plants like this?
Technical Details
Lensbaby Velvet 56 mm.
Aperture somewhere around f/1.6 to 4.
ISO 125
Shutter speed 1/2000 sec
Description
This is another new image with my brand-new Lensbaby. I live in Minnesota and, sadly, I don’t like winter. Even if you disregard the cold and the icy roads, the gloomy days and the dead-looking nature outside just make me feel depressed. But tabletop photography is just not the same as photographing real nature. So going out and photographing the dead stuff outside with the Lensbaby was a revelation to me. The softness made these plants and the overcast day look ethereal! I suddenly saw that it was possible to see beauty in nature even in the depths of winter.
(Note: the revised image, based on the suggestions, is below).
Excellent work, Canan. I think you nailed the lensbaby trick on this one. The subject is in superb focus with everything else having that dreamy look. The echo on the left works just fine though there’s a slightly brighter orangish patch in it that I would probably subdue with a little low opacity cloning from the background. The stem continuing up does bug me a little bit. Perhaps throw a pair of pruning shears in your this kind of thing-you’re certainly not going to hurt a dead plant
I think you are on to something, Canan, to help you through the winter months. There is just beauty all around us in nature, if we would look for it. I think @Dennis_Plank as added some good suggestions. I can’t think of anything else.
Thanks, Shirley. So true about finding beauty if we look for it, although it sure is harder to look for it on icy pavements. Nevertheless, I’ll continue using photography to survive these winter months.
I mostly like this a lot, Canan, and agree with the positives above. I just think the aspect ratio cuts too much off top and bottom, and I’d prefer, say, a 4 X 3 look. But perhaps the surroundings would have made this difficult. As for winter, why not try bird photography, if you haven’t already? Birds are what get me through landscapes similar to yours in the winter.
Thanks a lot, Mike. I’ll take another stab at processing this picture based on these suggestions. As for birds, I see very few birds here in the depths of winter (December-February), not even many swallows. What bird wants to hang out outside when it’s around 0 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit or below? I did see a whole flock of migrating swans on a nearby lake in early December last year, which was cool. But that’s very rare.
Canan: Aptly titled and superbly captured. My only suggestion would be to tone down the orange area as it does pull my eye. The DOF on the main subject works great. Well seen, conceived and presented. >=))>
I missed this one earlier but just have to say that I think it is lovely!! You are indeed onto something and I can only echo the praise above! Keep it up and keep sharing!
It’s a choice, of course, but always interesting and instructive to post the revision above the original (above if you feel it is an improvement) so people can compare the before and after.
Go to the original post and at the bottom on the right there is a pencil icon. Click it and you’ll get an editor. The top of its screen can be dragged up to make it bigger. Put the cursor above the original picture and drag the new one there – or below it if you still prefer the original. Then you should edit the title to indicate something like “+ RP”.
