The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I am excited to see what people think of this image. In addition to digital, I shoot black and white and develop at home. This is generally a fully analog process that ends with me making a print in the dark room. I scanned this negative using a pretty basic set-up so there are dust marks. I really enjoy the delicateness of the petals unfolding and the texture to the leaves.
Edit: Thanks for all the feedback!! @Diane_Miller I worked in some of your feedback and I am really happy with the result. I darkened the petals so they are less distracting and cropped to remove the stray bud on the bottom corner. Thanks!
Specific Feedback
I wish I framed it better so the other flower petals weren’t there but I don’t mind them too much. The large white flower petals distract but I don’t want to digitally remove them since that defeats the whole purpose of film. What do you think? Are the foreground petals too distracting?
Technical Details
HP5 film, developed and scanned at home. 100mm macro lens
Jay: I do think the leaves are a problem and the bud on the left is a major distraction for me. The grainy look and feel is interesting but the overall lack of a sharp focal point works against you a bit here. >=))>
Thanks for the great feedback! I agree with the bud on the left. Only a little longer and they’ll be blooming again and I’ll have another shot at trying to get it
Film is a real disciplinarian isn’t it? No easy do-overs or ‘fix it in post’ with this and I applaud you for it. Getting things right in camera takes a lot of time. I’m a part-time silver smith and believe me, setting up a piece for soldering takes way more time than the actual soldering part. If you don’t take the time though, things end up looking terrible or can be totally unusable. The focus on the opening flower looks good and the natural focus fall off feels like film in my brain as does the grain.
Some ideas for next time. Use the larger petals or leaves as a frame that sets off or emphasizes your main subject. Sometimes having them behind the subject works well, or very far in front and possibly smaller in the frame. I also wonder if presenting the folded flower in a more symmetrical way would make things more cohesive. Placing it in the center from a slightly higher angle and framing with petals or leaves might work. Having it be alone there with a dark background could work, too (literally burn in the dark room). Making sure there are no little bits poking in the frame is key with this kind of thing and I usually gently bend something out of the way or hold it for the time it takes to get the shot(s).
Yes, film can be tricky and really forces me to think things through first. I find I end up getting tunnel vision on the subject and miss the other objects in the frame. I love the idea of using the larger leaves as a frame. Thanks so much!
A very lovely quality to this – possibly as much from an older lens as well as film. I love the emerging bloom and I think the petals on the right are a good element as they gesture toward the bud. Since you are scanning the film you have the best of both worlds, and could darken the petals a bit, maybe with a graduated darkening toward the edge of the frame. I love the darker ghost in the BG toward the left and wouldn’t mind the small bud in the left corner because it points to the ghost, but I would clone or crop to remove the tiny bit of white in the corner. Maybe blur that small bud a little? Or even crop from the left just enough to remove it? If the petals on the right were a little darker I think the small bud could be cloned out (or removed with the new tools) and have a good composition, even if unbalanced. The subtle detail in the left half might be enough to balance the composition.
