REWORK based on comments
ORIGINAL
I photographed this submerged plant two weeks ago during a photo workshop in Härjedalen, Sweden.
The surface of the stones in the lake where a little bit disturbing, so due to that and the overall feel I underexposed the image in post-processing.
Any comments are welcome!
1/40, f/13, ISO 800, 60 mm (120 mm equiv.) lens, Olympus OM-D E-M1X camera
What a great find. I’ve tried to do something similar, but never succeeded in getting rid of all of the reflection like you have. I like the somber feel and the somewhat sinister aspect. I think reducing the visibility of the stones was a good idea. You could further play with the tonalities - especially the reds to see what increasing or reducing the luminance would do. I bet it would be interesting.
I’m a big fan of this image. It reminds me of the still lifes I’ve seen painted on a dark background. Having this plants coming out of the darkness is very evocative and even elegant in some way. I would darken the brighter round bits of plant to the shade of the darker ones next to them. They sort of jump out at you.
Lovely, Ola. To me, it is a really good dark moody image, sinister as Kristen suggested. It seems to me that humans are attracted to sinister and are drawn in by it.
As with the earlier comments, I would be interested to see what it looks like if you changed the tonalities and contrast of the reds and darkened the brightest areas a bit to match some of the other leaves. VERY nice. Cheers.
I think this is stunning!! It is a mysterious look, and not obvious the plants are under water. I love the tonalities and composition!! It is reminiscent of a botanical illustration.
Oh, this is gorgeous! I love the transition from darkness in the LLC to more brightness in the URC. And the subtle colors are just lovely. The teeniest thing that catches my eye is a slightly brighter stick just above the LRC - but that’s a real nit-pick. The melancholy mood of this is beautiful.
Ola,
Oh my, this is fantastic - and quite unique! Even without knowing the original or having been there, I can say that I love how you processed this image. Along with Igor’s thoughts, this has a distinct, “still life” look and feel - in addition to the dark, almost dreary feeling this portrays.
Not sure I’m reading this correctly as you write these plants are submerged? It appears a few of the leaves are on the surface? But you’ve done a great job in removing, or avoiding, any sign of the presence of water. Without a description I wouldn’t have thought there was water any where near this.
The end result is a uniquely beautiful image.
Maybe there’s too many to deal with, but my only suggestion might be to clone out some, or most of the “floaters” - Those in fact do give away the water’s surface. Not a biggie though.
Fabulous work!
Lon
@Igor_Doncov, @Lon_Overacker, @Kris_Smith, @Phil_G, @Bonnie_Lampley and @Diane_Miller thanks for your kind comments and advice.
I will digest and probably come up with a rework within a few days. Once again, thank you for giving advice!
You are right, the uppermost leaves are resting on the water surface.
@Lon_Overacker @Igor_Doncov @Kris_Smith @Diane_Miller @Bonnie_Lampley @Phil_G rework added at the top based on your comments.
Stunning, Ola, stunning.
