Inspired by Lon Overacker’s recent meadow grass images, in early November 2018 while shooting some salt marshes in Massachusetts, I attempted something similar. I quickly came to the conclusion that it is not that easy to do well. I was attracted to the curved patterns left in the marsh grass by high tide, and the warm golden color they turn in late autumn. The tide created patterns that sort of reminded me of cowlicks in hair. This was shot just at sunrise just before the grasses received direct sunlight.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Is this pattern interesting enough to carry the image? Also looking for any other critique or comment.
I like it, Ed. I would crop up from the bottom to eliminate the bright LRC grass and I would back way off on the cyan. It has the warm/cool thing going, but the cyan looks odd to my eye in this warm scene. My $0.02.
I LOVE this Ed. Here in Florida, we have Spartina Grass, or some folks call it Cord Grass. I don’t know if it’s the same in Massachusetts or not. I love the golden color you captured, and I especially love the contrast between the golden and silver (gray) colors. This is gorgeous. This grass appears more supple than our Spartina Grass, but the colors appear the same. My only suggestion would have been to capture a bit more of the bottom so it doesn’t appear to be “cut-off” on the bottom. Still, a beautiful image.
This is actually really different than Lon’s work. Wild Thing. It’s like a lion’s mane. Untamed. Full of exuberance, energy. Virile. Whether gray or cyan I like those cool colors within. Whereas Lon’s images are serene, this is not. It’s really interesting how the same subject can have different interpretations.
This is an interesting image. I read the caption first so that gave the game away for me. You could easily think this was animal hair. An for that matter I like the ambiguity it creates.
Yes, I think it carries itself, just for the ambiguity. My only cc would similar to @Bill_Chambers in that the bottom seems a bit cut off
@Harley_Goldman, @Bill_Chambers, @Igor_Doncov, @Eugene_Theron, thank you all for your comments, I appreciate the input. I was a little torn about the cyan/blue, this image was made just at sunrise while the grass was still in shade on a blue sky day. I may have to play around with the hue of the cyan grass, but I think the yellow grass is warm enough already. I admit it feels tight at the bottom, but there was a big patch of dark area just out the frame bottom, that I did not feel Content Aware Fill could handle. @Igor_Doncov, I agree this “Wild Thing” looks like a lion’s mane, the dynamic “flow” in this tidal grass was really interesting, next October I’m going to have to go back and try stuff like this again. after mid-November the golden grass turns a dull brown, so it’s wait til next year. I was not trying to imitate the look and feel of Lon’s meadow images, when I saw this scene, remembering Lon’s work gave me the inspiration to try this, something that I normally might not have done.
Hey @Ed_McGuirk, yeah I’m know I would be all over this and thank you so much for the kind words! Glad to know someone else likes grass… (ha! )
As you’ve found out, it’s quite a challenge to put something together that’s cohesive in a sea quiet detail. And I think you’ve certainly done that!
I’m with some others that without a title referenced, this could easily be impressed as a lion’s mane, parting of hair, etc. I really love the rich, warm color and while when pointed out the cyan is apparent, it’s not a big deal for me.
I’m really enjoying what you’ve presented and kudos for taking the time to “see” this. Any suggestion from here would just be personal choice tweaks. For example, I agree with Bill and Eugene about the bottom, but then as we all know, there was likely something below that helped make the decision to frame where you did, so I’d bet this was the best compromise with what was out there. Along those lines, there a few darker areas along L and R edges that might warrant a slight crop on the sides. That could take care of Harley’s suggestion about the brighter grass in the LRC. So here’s an attempt at some minor tweaks - including a slight color select tweak dropping the cyan in the lights. Very minor changes I think.
Oh, one other comment. The grasses in the LR quadrant are laid down a bit and kind of draw the eye out of the frame. The slight crop off the right minimizes that flow and keeps the eye on the “part”.
Lon, thanks for taking the time to make such a thoughtful critique, it’s nice to hear it coming from the “meadow master” himself. Yes, there was a big dark area below that limited me in that direction. I think your recommended crop tightens this up substantially, and works much better. Thanks for taking the time to do the re-work.
I prefer the original composition. Here’s my attempt at a rework. I felt this was more about texture and less about color. I tried to add more contrast and sharpened the image as well. I tried to raise the highlights in those individual light tone strands of grass that abound throughout the canvas. The lighter tones in the lrc don’t bother me at all. Let’s see how NPN displays this. I also desaturated the orange/ yellow colors to emphasize texture over color. I should have desaturated the yellows in the llc area. That bothers me.
Igor, thanks for taking the time to critique and re-work this. After seeing your post, I noticed that the original post indeed appears a bit soft. I struggle with sharpening, and tend to be pretty conservative about it, generally only using export sharpening in Lightroom. I agree with you about the textures here needing some more crispness. I think your re-work goes a little too sharp, but when I re-do this myself, I’ll aim for sharpening something closer to this.
Wonderful warm tones and luscious textures, Ed. To me the most compelling aspect of the composition is the “movement” in the grass. While I like what Lon did, I would also experiment with taking a bit off the top. I see more interest (movement) in the bottom 2/3rd of the image.
This is very nice. I think I prefer Igor’s version, but do agree with Dave’s suggestion to crop from the top. If you do crop from the top, crop out the dark area near center-top. That spot draws my eye.
I really enjoy the colors and the varied textures in the grasses. Nicely seen.
-P
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