The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic / Expressive
About This Image
Taken one evening in the garden, trying for a little more than just a macro shot. My tribute to Lucas Foglia’s photobook about Painted Ladies and their amazing migration (Constant Bloom). View/ crop is a bit unusual but I thought the light and colours were amazing.
Specifically loved evening sun and backlight through the wings. I hope the grasses and other background contribute rather than distract?
Simple PS processing with minor vignette and gentle dodging and burning.
Happy for any critique - I want to learn!
Feedback Requested
Any feedback Welcome - the more detailed the better. Does this work well or does it miss the point?
Technical Details
Camera: Sony ILCE-7M4
Lens: Sony FE 24-240
Focal length: 240mm
Shutter speed: 1/250
Aperture: f/11
ISO: 125
Flash: No
Hi and welcome to NPN. This is such a cheerful image and so full of life. I can see why you loved the light here - it does so much for the form and structure of the flowers and the Lady. Nice angle to be straight on with the butterfly and those wings!
A few things might improve this and future photos. First the stray bokeh ball in the upper left - if there were more of them and more uniformly spread across the top, I’d say leave them. With just the one it becomes a distraction (ok, well two). If you do remove them, maybe a crop since the upper portion isn’t really contributing much, IMO.
The dark bits on the right just don’t fit with the overall tone of the photo for me either and so I’d have cloned them out. And the two darkest flowers just feel out of place. Not sure if cropping will remove, but maybe just using Photoshop tools will do the trick. Of course this is entirely your call, some folks don’t like doing that much manipulation to their photos.
Phew! This is my first crack at using the new critique tools and I hope it makes sense.
What beautiful colors and light and vibes! The butterfly is “tack sharp,” as it should be, and the orientation in relation to the viewer is excellent. The backlighting is perfect. It sounds like the crop was very intentional, but I think there are two things in the background that are distracting: (1) that lone bokeh at the top left, and (2) the black thingies on the bottom right. I think if you crop more from the top, it would not take away from the good vibes and put more focus on the bee and the flowers . (2) I would try to lighten up those black thingies more or at least crop out some of them.
Many thanks for your comments today. I have already edited out the point #3 - so maybe the image hasn’t refreshed. #4 needs to go as well.
I will lighten up the grass on the bottom right as they are too distracting (less so on my monitor - so I will check my calibration).
Compositionally I intended there to be a diagonal top left to bottom right which pulls the eye to the butterfly which isn’t working as I intended. The 16:9 crop was intentional to try and play on a cinematic feel with the natural colour palette, although I may try to colour grade the image to makes the darks less green and the lights less magenta?
Huw: Welcome to NPN and thanks for a fine first post. I especially like your POV and I do like the left to right flow from the flowers to the butterfly. You’ve received some good feedback already. I’ve done a conventional tweak to include some of the other suggestions but one thing I would caution you about going forward is to try to please us. Every photographer has his/her personal vision and yours is obviously a good one. One thing you will find at NPN is that criticism is universally positive and aimed at encouraging your growth. Great to have you aboard and looking forward to more of your work and comments on other’s images. >=))>
Welcome to NPN! This is a warm community and a great place with an always positive look at posted images. You show us a very fine first post. Beautiful light and subject.
My predecessors have left little to add. I tried a crop and a few edits in line with the comments of others that spoke before me, which I also agree with. So I brightened
the dark weeds in the lower right corner and blurred the region afterwards. I cropped out the light spot in the upper left corner and blurred the similar spot above the flower. But @Bill_Fach is very right: it is alway YOUR image and be careful to drift away from your original intentions. You started with a vision that you pointed out, and my result can be too far away from your vision. Read it, look at it and throw it away, if you want to.
Thanks all. Your comments are all appreciated.
The image was visualised with a number of layers to make the scene as 3D as possible in a 2 D image.
When I removed the Bokeh and grasses bottom right - the image to me seemed much flatter and lifeless. I need to walk the path between 3 dimensional vs distractions.
My wife is a painter and has helped by discussing the “armature” or the structure of the image were it a painting (not sure it’s ever really considered in photographic critique, but definitely valid for a 2d image striving to be 3D. ??). The darker green in the bottom left and the flower behind the butterfly flower all help to push the butterfly to the front of the image , and the bright circular bokeh top left begins a top left/bottom right diagonal which brings the eye nicely to the Painted Lady. In other manipulations the background looks messy whereas in the original it really isn’t.
Two bright balls ??suns adds a little mystery/puzzle to the picture which adds to the “catch /appeal” of the image and makes one look at it a little longer.
I have lightened the background considerably, and gently colour graded the whole image - making the lights subtly warmer and darks slightly colder. This gives the image a early morning light feel I think and reduces the distractions.
Thanks again for your comments - I will try and be as helpful in return, and I welcome any further discussion.
First of all, welcome to NPN, Huw. What a fine image as presented for your first post! I also love the lighting in this, as well as the position you caught the little Lady in, making the lighting shine through her beautiful wings. Just an nice shot, with her in her environment. I agree with @Bill_Fach to take the critiques as suggestions, some may not fit your photographic vision. Everyone here seems to be quite helpful and friendly here. I have learned so much from them over the years. Critiquing also helps us to improve on our own images I think as well as helping others maybe see something they didn’t catch in post processing. I’m looking forward to seeing more of your photos as well as your comments and critiques of others’ images. Again, welcome to NPN.
Many thanks Shirley, I am quite experienced in receiving and delivering critique and appreciate any suggestions even if I dont always agree or use them.
