After being away from photography for a few decades, I purchased a Nikon D850 and a few prime lenses. This photo was taken on my first outing with them. The fungus caught my attention, but it was the glow of the moss in the setting sun that really grabbed me. I wanted to shoot this from above, but the branch was too high. I found the best angle I could and later cropped it in during processing. Everything was quiet, the sun was low, and I was surrounded by lush nature. I tried to convey that sense of calm and stillness through how I exposed and composed this shot.
Feedback Requests
I’d appreciate an overall critique of this image. What works, what doesn’t, and your general impression.
More specifically, I’d like feedback on:
• The balance and direction of the light
• The depth of field at f/1.4 and whether it supports the composition
• The overall mood and whether it conveys the stillness I was aiming for
Pertinent Technical Details
Camera Data:
Nikon D850 | Nikkor 58mm f/1.4
1/25 sec | f/1.4 | ISO 64 | Aperture Priority | Handheld
Lighting: Late-day sunlight filtering through trees
Processing: Cropped, exposure +0.25, slight color enhancement
Natalie: Welcome to NPN in general and to Macro in particular. Great to hear you’re getting back into photography and I think you will find this a great place to learn and share.
I do very much like your subject and the overall comp. I’m not completely sold on the shallow DOF and the plane of focus. The mass of OOF fine details in the bark and lichens distracts somewhat from the main subject and the bright bokeh pulls the eye a bit as well. I like the bokeh and would be tempted to paint in a little of that beautiful light green BG color into it. This is a subject that would lend itself really well to a stack if you’re interested into getting into that phase of processing. All in all this is a very worthy subject and fine comp. Great to have you aboard and looking forward to more of your work and your comments on other’s images as well. >=))>
Natalie, Welcome back to photography and to the NPN site. How I wish I had something like this when I first started messing with photography, but we didn’t even have the internet back then. I agree with @Bill_Fach comments on this nice image. In Macro I find that using a tripod or a flash helps. Kudos to you on this being handheld at 1/25! I don’t particularly like being held down with a tripod, but it allows a faster shutter speed and an aperure that will give you more DOF.
Hi Natalie. Welcome to NPN. I really like the look of the bottom half of this image. I see where you were coming from on the moss-it’s beautiful, but the mass of the log and the bright moss tend to pull my eye away from the mushrooms and the lovely background below the log.
I can see shallow depth of field in the lower part of the image as it works there. As an aside, I notice you were at iso 64. That’s a film days setting and there’s no need to stay anywhere near that low with modern sensors and software. I routinely shoot at iso 4000 or more if I need to.
Welcome again, and I look forward to seeing a lot more of your work and your comments on other’s efforts.
Thank you for your thoughtful feedback and warm welcome! I learned the basics with my dad’s old Kodak, a pair of Schneider lenses, miles of T-Max film, and my college darkroom. It was a simple setup, and the film was a bit forgiving and malleable. My struggles with transitioning to digital are very real… and this beast of a camera isn’t helping. Still, I’m reassured that my inner critic noticed much of what you pointed out.
I didn’t know stacking was a thing until recently, but I’m very interested in learning it!
Hi Shirley, thank you and thank you for your feedback!! I agree, I may have stuck with it if I’d had this kind of resource years ago. I’ve since purchased a mono-pod and tripod, neither of which I care for. But they do reduce they do help reduce my frustration level.
Hi Dennis, thank you! I actually looked for a way to climb the tree to get a better view of the moss. But to your point about the ISO, I’ve been experimenting but still have much to learn. It’s a far cry from a roll of ASA 250 film.
