The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
The sun was setting behind an arch in the rock behind me as I scanned the rock in front of me for compositions. There was a moment when I realized something was happening. It took awhile to understand what it was. The flowering plant was not really visible to the naked eye.
Specific Feedback
The first image is “raw out of camera”, the second is my current interpretation. I’d be interested in other’s ideas on how they would interpret it. Do you see anything that needs to be fixed, and how would you fix it?
Technical Details
Fujifilm X-T5+XF 50-140mm F2.8 R LM OIS WR+2X tele-extender, Tripod mounted, lens OIS off, body IBIS on, RAW conversion in DxO 8.6, some local edits in DxO and Lightroom Classic. I used one gradient to darken the upper right, another to increase the contrast across the lower left, then a light dodge through the center from the upper left to the lower right with a brush. There was a slight motion type blur that may have been caused by leaving the IBIS on, so I ran it through Topaz Photo AI, which seemed to remove the blur.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Hi Bill,
The evening light has produced some beautiful warm tones in the sandstone. The diagonals with the striations in the rock also work quite nicely and have created a wonderful flow through the image. You also timed the light perfectly as it has created another nice element in the scene by illuminating that bit of brush for the viewer to find. Beautifully done.
The rich golden light is very beautiful, and Ed mentioned the diagonal lines are very nice. To take this image to the next level I would try tweaking the colour or temperature of that spotlit plant to something a bit cooler to make it stand out more and create some beautiful contrast.
Color is tricky over various uncalibrated platforms. And, I like the idea of tweaking the color to make the plant a little more. I’ll work on selecting and shifting the hue of the star plant to contrast with the orange. For me, everything is in progress until I forget and move on to a new image.
That great late afternoon light that caught your attention is providing a really nice glow on the rocks and particularly that single lit flower. There is a natural spotlight effect on that flower that really makes the image for me. The sandstone walls are great but for me this is about that single flower blooming in the spotlight. First of all, good of you to see this and capture it.
I think your composition works well. The top and bottom of the frame are well weighted and balanced and that sloping lines right to left provide visual interest in the rocks as do the holes/indentations in the rocks. As our eyes are drawn to the brightest parts of an image I find the upper overhanging rock ledge and the right edge of the frame to be where my eye immediately goes and I think it should go to the flowering plant instead.
I agree with @Tom_Nevesely about trying to make that flower stand out more. I hope you don’t mind but I brought this into LR for a quick spin and this is what I came out with:
I lowered the saturation on the entire image, brought the white balance down quite a bit on the flowering plant to cool it while also dodging just the plant to brighten it just a touch, and lastly I burned the top of the rock and the side of the rock so that most of the light is hitting just that little flowering bush. If you hate it just round file it.
Oh, and I would get this just right before you move on to another image. It’s well worth the effort. Thanks for sharing this one, Bill!
That’s close to what I will try to do with it; I may add a little complementary color to the stems of the plant and open the shadows more. Still working on the performance/remix of the moment. I have some other compositions using the shadow of the arch to go with it, too!
Both revisions are really great. I like having more shadow to the right of the spotlight but I like having the plant larger. Overall I think the interplay between light and dark is more important than the plant itself so I prefer David’s version. But I could go either way. The biggest issue was the brightness in the upper right which is no longer a problem. I also prefer the less saturated look. Nice image. Good usage of light as composition.
