The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I thought this would make an interesting next photo after the shot of the perfect and fresh trout lily. This one is wilting and on its way to the state these plants take for most of their lives - totally underground with no visible structures above. I believe they spread by seed and rhizome. They are everywhere for a while and then; gone.
Specific Feedback
Another with many leaves and grass which I thought added to the story of where these grow and in what kind of proliferation. Any feedback is welcome. I did my best to smooth the background so it wouldn’t be so busy.
Technical Details
Handheld
Lr for initial crop and management of the luminosity. Used some masking to keep texture and sharpness on the wilting flower itself. Denoise AI cleaned it up nicely. Also did some work with colors so the flower casing would be more vivid. Then Photoshop to play with the beta Neural Filter for Depth Blur, but I didn’t like the lack of controls in terms of what it selected for subject(s), or I just couldn’t figure them out, so I switched to a Gaussian blur on a second layer, masked it and used different brush strengths to paint it in. Better. Used that same mask to lower the saturation in those blurred areas as well.
Wonderful interruption of the color green!
They may disappear in the grass IRL but it certainly stands out in this image!
We have some tiny yard flowers here that are similar to the common yellow buttercups that do the same thing, in early spring they’re everywhere , then suddenly they’re gone, then it’s nothing but weeds
I like the idea and as companion images the two would really work well, Kris. I do think a bit of healing brush on that one bright edge-on leaf below the lily would be nice-it really grabs my eye.
Thanks @Merv - a lot of folks consider trout lily weeds, too, but they disappear so completely that they can be tolerated. Not like some yellow flowers I could mention.
Ok, you shamed me into it @Dennis_Plank - I REALLY didn’t want to try to clone that bright leaf and now I know why. Took me a dozen tries with different tools and this is the best I could do.
Kris, This image defines you as a flora moderator. I think the composition is spot on. It would be nice if the left yellow stamen (if that’s what it is) were not touching the wide leaf, but you can’t mess with nature, eh - even with Photoshop. Do you think the image needs some Denise? Lovely.
Aww, thanks @Larry_Greenbaum - I was wondering if anyone would pick up on the two parts of the plant touching. I didn’t see it at the time since I was at a different angle to the camera. When I spotted it, I wasn’t sure I could convincingly make a gap there.
? Typo for Denoise? I didn’t attack the noise in this one aggressively since the blur did it for me in the background. I can live with what’s there.
Yeah, computers do crazy things with words they don’t recognize. I did not write “Denise.” That’s funny. I could live with the image as is too. Great job.
Kris, I like how you captured a flower on it’s way out. Usually we try for the best of the best (or I do), but I like the way this is drooping downwards as well to indicate the end of the cycle of life. Nice.
