One Drop

[Gill_Vanderlip]

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

I saw the leaf after a rain and and it was getting kinda dark. I used artificial light to help with the natural light but not to much because it might ruin the effect i was going for…

Specific Feedback

I know this shot may break a few rules of DOF. The stem is soft in foreground and leaf in the back is soft. My focus was the water drop and the leaf it was hanging from. The texture of the leaf in the middle gives the photo a different vibe in my opinion. A little distracting on the right but thats the light source … I could darken some … Sometimes i feel if something is white or lighter try to keep it that way. I didn’t try to over edit this photo.

Technical Details

High ISO 60 shutter speed… f 8 or 11 this is my guess.

[Shirley_Freeman]

Gill, shooting water drops after a rain is what got me hooked on macro photography. I was so excited about refractions in the drops. I don’t think I ever tried making one in B&W. Interesting though. It looks like you accomplished what your goals were. Is this a large crop? It seems to distort when I enlarge it to the largest view. I like the square crop for this.

[Gill_Vanderlip]

It’s not perfect. I do manual focus on everything so it not perfect sharp. I did crop it some. When I look at Edward Weston photography there is a delicate softness in some of his work. I guess I’m always trying to catch that vibe. This photograph wouldn’t work blown up. I use it as 5x7 for my greeting cards. And my book/journals.
I love your green plant with all the drops. I commented on it.

Thanks for showing interest.

[Gill_Vanderlip]

https://www.photographersedge.com/Single-Border-Cards/departments/5/

Hi Shirley I make my own cards. They are blank and you can put your photo into the card with your own messages.
Why pay 5 dollars for a card when you can do this. And they are 5x7. You can frame them. Photos are 6x4.

Photographers Edge is a great company. You can call and they will help with any questions.

[Shirley_Freeman]

Thank you, Gil. Yes, I have used Photographer’s Edge before. Thank you for the info though.

[Diane_Miller]

This is a nice image, but I have to ask why such a tight crop with the one leaf just touching the edge? But you have answered that many times – just to be different. So there isn’t much need to comment on it – it is what it is.

If you really want reactions, in most cases a tight crop just interferes with the subject. So does extraneous material and overly high contrast, although those are not issues here. I like the selective focus but Edward Weston did it with a view camera and very high quality lenses and managed contrast with careful printing. Not easy to emulate with a point-and-shoot approach.

The image would look more natural rotated CCW so the drop is hanging vertical, but I assume that wasn’t the intention. I think this has a lot more potential than you have brought out here. Maybe one version for a card and another for a more serious image?