Taken this past spring in Henry Coe SP in California during the backcountry weekend. I came across this meadow of pink owl’s clover and lupine. The meadow seemed to glow under the soft overcast light and it reminded me of an impressionist painting. I framed this composition.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Does the image have an impressionist painting feel to it? That is what I was trying to achieve?
Are the colors to “over the top”?
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Single sheet of film. I scanned and processed the image in PS CS6. I added both an Orton effect and a TK “Make-It-Glow” effect as well as a linear curve layer set to screen mode to achieve the soft impressionist effect.
Shen-Hao 4x5, Nikon 300 mm f/9, set a f22.5 and 1/15 sec shutter on Fuji Provia 100F.
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I like this image very much. You achieved that ‘impressionistic’ look really well. What impresses me the most, however, is the sophisticated composition. Photographers often complain of the difficulty of coming up with a comp in woods but the same can be said of flower fields. This is really well done. I can see this hanging in a living room wall. I honestly can’t come up with a suggestion of how to improve this.
PS. Henry Coe was one of my favorite parks for hiking in the Bay Area.
Hi Youssef, long time no see! I quite like this image. For my tastes, I find the Orton effect a little heavy. To my eye, it is kind of in limbo between impressionist and traditional. That said, it is not an image killer by any stretch. Colors look good and overall, quite an enjoyable image for me.
Most excellent, Youssef. I am usually not a fan of this kind of glow but I think this is done very beautifully. The golden overtone in the image is just very emotionally satisfying. Thanks for sharing this!
Lovely. Works for me. I had to reread the definition of impressionism that I learned years ago and I think this fits. The orton looks good to me, not too over the top and I think suits these types of images well.
I think that this is really beautiful and you did a great job with it. I don’t think that it’s over the top and it definitely has that impressionist feel to me.
It’s also great to see that you’re still using a Shen-Hao 4x5. I had one for a little while but unfortunately sold it because I wasn’t using it enough and I wanted to buy a tilt-shift lens. I still miss it every once in a while.
Hi Youssef, great to see an image post from you!!! Welcome back. And what a gorgeous image it is. Impressionism, or whatever-ism, it’s just beautiful. the colors, the arrangement and composition, this has it all. And your processing just elevates this to another level. Well done!
No nits or suggestions. Just pure enjoyment. Ok, well I must point a small detail out. It appears you have an accidental stamping of your watermark along the middle left edge. Hardly visible, but it’s there. Well, I’m assuming it was an accident given the prominence of your main watermark…
And you’re still capturing images with the 4x5! Must be just waiting til your film stock runs out?
I miss it… but then I don’t.
@Lon_Overacker, Wow how did you catch that faint watermark? Good Eye. I am almost out of film and looking to buy more. I still like using film and 4x5. I think I would go digitally completely but the financial impact of getting equipment good enough to rival my 4x5 slides is a hindrance. So I will just prod along with film as long as they make it.
Youssef, a really cool and wonderful edit of this scene. I thought it you pulled it off masterfully. Even prior to to seeing the title this image reminded me of an impressionistic painting.
My only small nit is that the very bottom of the image and the lower right corner of the image feel a tad too dark compared to the rest of the image.
Youseff, this image is a true delight, I love the combination of the warm color palette and Orton/Glow. This image has such a rich feeling to it. I also like how many layers of colors/flowers you were able to include in this image, it creates a very three dimensional look to the image.
I also agree with @Luiz_A_Arroyo about the LRC feeling a little dark, perhaps from a slightly strong vignette. While this image is excellent as presented, I’m going to get very nitpicky and say that the bottom 10% of the image is the least interesting part of the composition. In addition to the darkness in the LRC, I am also slightly bothered by the lone pink flower in the LLC, I’m not sure if it balances or unbalances the composition. It definitely fills space there, so I would not clone it away. My other thought would be to consider a crop from the bottom, with some slight cloning. See below. This is very subjective on my part, but I like how the green in the LLC becomes the “frame”. I think losing the lone pink flower in the LLC, avoids it competing with the larger row of pink above it.
@Ed_McGuirk , thanks for the feedback. I am now considering the crop and cloning you suggested. I for some reason did not consider that approach. The two buds in the center bottom did concern me with regards to being in focus and had they not been in focus I think I would have considered a crop or clone or as you did, both. Thanks again.
