Prairie Smoke

The seed pod has an interesting formation and hence the name.

What technical feedback would you like if any? Any

What artistic feedback would you like if any? The brownish stem on the right - is it a distraction or not? If it is, how can I get rid of it? How can I improve the image?

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

Canon 7DII + 180/3.5 + tripod
f/8, 1/500, ISO 640


DPP4, PSCC, NIK tonal contrast

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2 Likes

Ravi, this is way too cool. I am not familiar with this seed pod, but you sure captured it nicely. I love how it branches out in different directions. Wonderfully sharp details. The colors contrast nicely against a nice smooth background. The one oof brownish piece in the background would be my only nit, and it isn’t a big one. It just seems to be competing for attention too. Wonderful shot as it is.

Ravi: Very nicely composed and superbly captured. I’m not sure I would have noticed the OOF brown streak but since Shirley mentioned it I do see it. I think the image would be marginally better without it but not a big deal. Well done.>=))>

Beautiful photo! I love the subject, it evokes an image person with wild hair for me (so many people have longer-than-normal hair right now). I love all of the fine details that you captured and the contrast between the white and the red. The brown streak is a bit distracting but maybe it is because you mentioned it. I wonder if you could clone it out in Lightroom? Or use a graduated or radial filter over the area?

Ravi, this is a great take on Prairie Smoke, clearly shows where its name comes from. The details and colors in the seed head look great. Your dof choice works well. That oof bit to the right is a very minor detail in a fine image. The easiest way to reduce its presence is to dodge (brighten) the darker parts of that stem. Then it will look just like the other oof stems in the background

Thanks Mark, Shirley, Bill and Becky. I did selective color changes with adding cyan to yellow and that pretty much softened up the oof brown stem, but that left some artifacts on the rest of the background. I applied gaussian blur to the background and here is what I got. My weakest point in photography is post-processing and I have been making an effort to learn, especially layer masks.

Ravi, this looks great to me. I think it helped make the subject stand out better. I know what you mean, post-processing is a weak point for me as well. You did great with it though.

Backgrounds are always problematic in macros. Your repost is good. Lighting and other attributes of the image are fine and the subject is a very cool prairie plant that is always worth the shot. Well done…Jim