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
Earlier this year I submitted a similar but older version of this setting. This new image was taken a month ago and I sought to apply what I learned from your critiques, such as hyperfocal distance and options on cropping. I am thinking of submitting this image into a local competition and would like critiques of all aspects of the image.
Creative direction
The setting is a prairie conservation area in south Puget Sound (Western Washington State). I was seeking to convey the joy of the return of Spring with the blue Camas blooms while also conveying the key prairie features of open fields and bright sun.
Specific Feedback
All areas of comments are welcome. One question is about the crop – it is currently at 8x10 and the image looks great on my monitor’s screensaver but I’m wondering if a 16x20 framed image might have too much sky?
Technical Details
Fuji XT-3 with 14mm 2.8 lens. At ISO 200, stopped down to f16 pointed into the sun, on tripod, 1/75 sec. Post-processed in Lightroom Classic. Single image, lifted foreground out of shadows.
Description
I think I’ve covered this in the creative direction section, seeking the beauty of sunrise to convey the beauty of the ancient prairies.
Its a gorgeous picture. Personally I find it hard to think of a single thing to critisise. If it were mine I would print it and hang it and I cannot think of a single good reason to crop the sky to a lesser percentage than you currently have displayed. If you want an extremely minor critique it would be with the bottom right corner, it is just about the only dark area on the image and as such grabs ones attention and pulls the eye off to that corner. If you wanted too I think it could be lightened a wee bit to make it more closely match the hue and brightness of the rest of the praire grass.
Hi Meredith, I immediately liked the image from the gallery. The softness of the light is truly delightful, and we get the sense of morning freshness and purity. It is a gorgeous atmospheric image! I really like the transition from the softly lit, yet clear, flowers in the FG through to the fog through to the diffuse light of the sun. The trees in the background provide an extra layer of depth, which works really well and the sun being slightly off-centre is perfect!
My only thought would be about the cropping. The cropping gives me a bit of a sense of imbalance between the top direction and the sides. The blue sky is wonderful to see, but I feel that my eye escapes too rapidly to the top of the image, and not able to easily return to the flowers in the FG. Cropping out most of the blue sky restores the balance for me, but it results in a different image (some blue was left in the UL and UR corners, which I just painted over with a low opacity brush for a quick job)
That said, formats are as subjective as everything else and it is possible that I may have a natural, unconscious aversion to the 8x10 format, never using it myself. I hope you don’t hate seeing your image cropped , and apologize if you do.
Meredith, this is a lovely image. You really convey the light in the scene and the feelings that you are trying to get across. I slightly prefer Laura’s crop, but both are good. You should definitely submit to your local competition.
This is a fantastic photograph. The light is so rich and gives the photo even more depth than just the hyperfocal used in getting foreground to background sharp. The light fog and mist clinging throughout the frame really add so much to the atmosphere. With regard to the crop, I do not think anything should be cropped out. The blue in the upper corners helps balance the soft yellows from the sun and acts as a counterbalance to the blue tones in the Camas flowers. As long as you can maintain sharpness at 16x20, then make the print, mat it, frame it, hang it, and enjoy it. Wonderful work.
The atmosphere in your image is captivating. The flowers are small with gentle colors, which personally I find wonderful because they attract just the right amount of attention, while allowing the eye to travel further into the image towards the delicate fog - which complements the scene so nicely. And that spider web is a beautiful detail to award those who look closely.
Technically, I’ve noticed that the sun and the region around it is blown out. It’s probably not feasible getting it in the same exposure as the rest of the image, seeing that it’s already a bit high above the horizon. While it does fit the general brightness of the image, I think that if you have a darker exposure - you’ll be able to get a more natural gradient by blending it.
Regarding the crop - I think it works nicely. The slight blue in the sky adds to the overall composition, although I do like @LauraEmerson 's crop too.
A beautiful, delicate scene.
, and apologize if you do.