The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
These striking plants (Lycoris radiata) are popping up everywhere right now in Korea. The leaves appear later, once the flowers have withered. The bulbs also spread prolifically, and our local arboretum has swathes of them. As a bonus, they attract large Swallowtail butterflies.
Specific Feedback
The stalks can grow up to 18 inches. Here I was also attracted to the rock in the background, so I tried to balance the bright group with the dark rock, cutting off the lower half of the green stalks. As there was strong sunlight on the flowers, I underexposed quite a lot, hoping I could bring up the flowers again later. I wasn’t completely happy with the final flower sharpness (the red seemed to be smudging a bit, though I think I was faithful to the colour), so I also converted the shot to B and W. Which version do you prefer?
Technical Details
D500 + 150-500mm (@ 550mm) 1/1600 f25 ISO 5000 -2EV
Denoise, raised Shadows and Mid-tone Contrast, Color Correction of 10 points in PS.
For B&W version, converted in PS then ran through Nik Silver EFEX (High Structure template).
I definitely prefer the B&W in this case, Mike. The harsh light raised havoc with the color version. I wish there hadn’t been those lower blooms in shadow because to my eye they mess with both versions. I like the rock background, but I’d be tempted to bring down the upper surface of it as it tends to pull my eye to the top of the frame.
These are glorious flowers, so I hope you’ll spend a lot of time with them while they’re in bloom.
The B/W for me, too! The reds look like they have been desaturated too far in the color version, giving the flowers a tonal flatness. It might be worth going back to the raw file and trying some different slider moves. A different profile might also be a better starting place, or even the linear one if you have it. Start with one that is less saturated and increase saturation with the sliders (but don’t just go straight to the saturation slider – contrast changes will also change saturation). Leave it slightly underdone in LR and increase more in PS if needed. Once you have gone to PS you have baked in tonalities and can’t do a good job of lowering contrast/saturation.
Thanks very much @Dennis_Plank@Diane_Miller for the very useful suggestions. I’ve reworked the color version, trying to lower the distracting parts of the rock background, Dennis (though I left the B and W as is). The dark bloom at the bottom I left, as it shows the final withered state of a flower, and there are contrasting buds to the right, but I agree it’s a bit distracting. The bright flowers were a bigger challenge. I went back to the RAW file (in ACR, I don’t have LR), and I adjusted the Contrast, the Black and the White sliders, then into PS for Denoise and Sharpen, but nothing else there, Diane. I definitely prefer the result both in color and contrast. I think the problems were mainly caused by too much underexposure, and by my choice of lens (without tripod) - but I’d still be interested in any comments on the rework above.
