I was trying to photograph the flowers along my deck with water droplets when I noticed that the light was perfect to form reflections against the white vinyl of the deck. I had not seen this before, and I haven’t been out at the right time to catch it since. This series of images is among my favorites as a happy discovery. I was surprised to find how many “wet” images I have, but this might be one of the more unusual.
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Is this a composite: No
Sony a6000 with Tamron 90mm macro, 35mm equivalent on this camera is 135mm. f2.8, 1/160s at ISO 800.
I’m not sure what I did on the original edit (old image), unfortunately, but my usual method is a levels adjustment and possibly some clarity/exposure changes in Capture One. I remember that I adjusted the exposure to see the reflection better. Before upload, I removed a distracting bright spot in the shadow area and some yellow spots on the vinyl from the decaying flowers.
I think I should search for education on how to choose a crop. I always struggle with feeling free to crop unconstrained or even much in different ratios. Are there any “rules”, or what motivates you to the crops you choose?
Karla, I’ll go along with “unusual” as well as interesting. The subtle reflections are a good addition. While I’m reluctant to suggest crops, in this case, I think cropping from the bottom to a 4x5 ratio would work well by emphasizing the flowers and their reflections.
It sure does, Karla. The line of in the vinyl and the line of the leaf are now continuous and it separates the flowers from some of their reflection in a really pleasing way.
But in terms of this one…I think Mark and I saw that the line would nicely underscore the beauty of the flowers themselves and also eliminate the part of the image that wasn’t doing much for your subject. Negative space is a tricky thing, but in my experience works best with minimalist images.
@Kris_Smith Thanks for the link to the cropping discussion and for your additional comments about the crop. I hadn’t really noticed the strength of the lines. They were just there and possibly in the way. I sometimes have space just because it’s in the original aspect ratio and if I don’t crop at a different ratio I will lose parts of the photo I don’t want to miss. I need to look at this more (among MANY other things ). Thanks again.
Karla, I do my cropping thinking that some day I might want to make a print. In a print, if you don’t have a “standard” ratio, the print comes with extra space around the picture. If you then want to mount and mat that print, you are forced to use non-standard sizes, which costs quite a bit extra. (Thus, for me, it’s strictly practical.)
@Mark_Seaver Thanks for your perspective. I feel like most of the photographers I have read/heard from do the same, generally speaking. I suppose depending on primary output, it might not be a bad idea to make one variant for digital use at the crop I feel best fits the image and one for print at a standard ratio.
). Thanks again.