The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
In June, @John_Williams and I spent a couple wet, rainy days on Mt. Hood shooting rhodies. There was a bit of fog at a slightly higher elevation, and we kept hoping it would come down and help us isolate the blooms from the chaos, but unfortunately it stayed away.
Specific Feedback
The flowers were densely packed in the bushes and it was difficult getting isolated comps. Is this too busy, with all the branches, etc.? Are the blooms too bright? Any comment is appreciated.
Technical Details
D850, 70-200 @ 150mm, f/3, 1/250 sec, ISO 100
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Stupid uncooperative fog. I do love it even though it’s a bit of a cliche with this flower. Other than the bright bud on the edge left, I think the bg is fine. I miss laurels of all kinds and so this is a nice treat. With a little Photoshop magic, you can probably extend the sides to include the tips of those leaves and get rid of the bud and the branch in the lower right. It might help to balance and give things a bit of polish. The pink and green is divine and the flowers look fresh and crisp. Must have been a sight to see in all its profusion.
These things are so difficult to photograph but you pulled it off here! I don’t mind the tangle of branches and BG foliage as it is pleasing and interesting. I would like to see the flowers a bit darker, though – maybe just lower exposure on the whole scene? I would definitely prune the bud on the L edge. The triangle in the LL corner is a smaller issue but I would remove it or at least try a 50% clone-over. I wonder about pruning the limb in the LR corner. The trunk on the right edge feels a bit like it should either go or let us see more of it. If there isn’t more, I think you might just lower its contrast in the UR corner. Lovely scene in any case! Sounds like a magic place and time!
This is such a tranquil, beautiful scene Steve. I like the DOF you got here, but could see toning down the BG just a bit more to help the rhodies pop out a bit more. Wish I was there. . .
Gorgeous blooms that really pop in the soft, muted BG. That dark edge along the right draws my eye a lot; you have several choices to fix it, if you chose. The BG is fine for me, although a little cluttered - that’s where the rhodies live! A little edge clean-up of the cut-off blooms would be good.
Very nice image of difficult-to-shoot blooms,
It would be easy to say “a half step to the right” on this one, but I suspect it would have just introduced different problems This is really nice. I do think a little playing with relative brightnesses might make the blooms pop a bit more. I’d definitely clean up that left edge and think about doing something about the partial trunk on the right, The background is fine with me.
So simple, yet so lovely. The new version is especially appealing.
Looking back at my images, I’m amazed at how difficult it was to capture beauty without clutter. I think you’ve used bokeh perfectly here to make the flowers “snap” out of the background, and I really like it.
Thanks @John_Williams ! Sorry it took so long to respond. This was the shot right after I had to reset my camera back to factory settings, and I didn’t notice that meant it came out as a JPG instead of RAW.
No worries! I’ve been away a lot myself, and am finally settling down and will be trying to participate more. I have images from our trip I hope to post in the next month, or so.
I too have made the jpg instead of raw; always frustrating.
