The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This lovely little Pasque Flower is not unlike many of us. We like to let the sun warm our work weary faces at the end of the day. Its glorious warm light plays catch-me-if-you can with the shadows. I watched the shadows run up the hill as the sun was just ready to dip below the horizon. They were only half-heartedly into the game though. They knew that soon, they would overtake the landscape as they would join the darkness of night. In the meantime though, light put on a spectacular show, making anything willing to look its way, glow with a glorious light. I hurriedly set my camera up on the hillside joining in the race to capture the light before the shadows caught us. I’ve included a little behind the scenes cell phone image to show the setting.
Specific Feedback
I think the only artifacts from focus stacking are down in the foreground and a little bit on the yellow center of the flower. I darkened the background a bit due to some dead branches. I sort of like the little spears of grass showing the promise of new growth, but are they distracting? I’m always open to all types of critique on my images.
Technical Details
Nikon D850
Sigma 105 mm Macro
ISO 200, f/5, 1/20th
31 images stacked in Helicon Focus in mode “A”
Processed in Lightroom Classic CC to darken the background, brighten the flower, and warm up the lighting a little bit.
A fleeting beauty for sure. I love how some very early wildflowers are fuzzy to cope with the cold. These grow here, but much farther south on the prairie remnants. I’ll have to find them someday.
The grass is a nice touch, not distracting to me. What could from the light on that perfect blossom? The darkened bg looks natural to me and complements the flower’s position and prominence. Details are crisp where they need to be and the colors look natural. I like the different angles to the light produce slight variations in colors in the petals. Beautiful example of this flower. A welcome sight to a bee no doubt.
The light certainly did provide us with a spectacular show with this fine wildflower as the star! And of course we have to acknowledge the supporting actors/actresses (the grass) as well as the stage props (the spent foliage).
The BG is perfect, the glow on the petals was delicately controlled as are the highlights in the center.
Hi Paul - Your pasqueflower caught my eye and got me wondering where you photographed it. I see that you’re in Bozeman. I’m in Helena, and although I haven’t seen any of these flowers yet this year, they’re one of my favorites and a sure sign of spring. This is a beautiful image. I like the grass and don’t find it distracting at all. In fact, I think it’s a necessary element for conveying a sense of early spring. Thank you for sharing. I look forward to seeing more!
Howdy neighbor! This was on the Drinking Horse Trail just to the east of Bozeman. I found tons of them on the east side of the Bridgers last night too. Last weekend we found some blooming at Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park. They are a bit late this year, but I bet you will find some in the usual places around Helena.
Hi @Paul_Holdorf, thanks for the suggestions! You were right–there are also plenty of them blooming around Helena. I just hadn’t made it out to the right spots yet, but I was able to yesterday for a while. Also found quite a few shooting stars, which I really like as well.
