The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic / Expressive
About This Image
I noticed these two lily pads nestled up against one another on a recent trip to Longwood Gardens, PA. Mike and I only live about 45 minutes away so he met me at my house on a rainy day. The hope was to catch some water drops on the lily pads as well as the flower petals and we were not disappointed. Longwood adds a black dye to the water to help with algae, plus it makes for a nice backdrop. For the sake of honesty I removed a pad poking into the frame in the URC.
Feedback Requested
Looking back I wished I had shot a few more frames so that I could have focus stacked this as the tops of the pads are starting to go a little soft. Does that bother you? Anything else you notice please feel free to mention it.
Technical Details
Camera: NIKON Z 7
Lens: NIKKOR Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S
Focal length: 155mm
Shutter speed: 1/40s
Aperture: f/14
ISO: 400
Ed, the pair of wet leaves look great. I don’t notice the sharpness fall off, maybe an NPN size issue. The other thing that a stack would add is some complexity in the meniscus around the leaves, like a ring of brightness. Although maybe not on a rainy day…an idea to explore… The dark water sets the pair of very well. The stems add a sense of the two pads reaching into the frame, which is nice.
This is a feast for the eyes. What lovely symmetry and such a clean and crisp presentation. Wild water lilies don’t have it so good and I always give up trying because of the sheer amount of stuff on the water, junk on the leaves and general wear-and-tear on them as well. I could see bringing up the highlights just a touch on the leaves themselves, but honestly that’s all I can think of. Did you try a black and white conversion? I bet that would be stunning.
Ed: What a perfect pair and the drops are great icing on a pretty fine cake. The CPL really helped to define the drops. Simple indeed but superbly crafted. >=))>
This is a fantastic image. I like the background going black, it emphasizes the subjects. I am tempted to flip the image with the stems coming up from the bottom. Would that change the feeling of the image?
A finely crafted image, Ed. I could stare at all those perfect water drops for hours. Well, not hours. that’s just hyperbole. But for awhile. We had great conditions that day. the green is also beautiful.
I have to say “faultless” - the faint meniscus adds to the highlighting of the leaves, and I love how the drops are spread out all over, and varied in size. Congrats!
Many thanks everyone @Mark_Seaver, @Kris_Smith, @Diane_Miller, @Bill_Fach, @Steve_Diephuis, @Michael_Lowe, @Huw_Thomas and @Mike_Friel for your thoughts on this image; always appreciated. I have another lily pad loaded with raindrops that I will share shortly. Here is a B&W rework per a suggestion from Kristen. I like it as well. I have included a rework with Steve’s suggestion as well.
Both have me drooling and I think both orientations work, but in the color one I love the subtle color differences in the drops and the BG. This is close to a monochromatic image and I’d bet that tiny differences in BW might bring out even more difference. Maybe worth a look if you haven’t.
Can’t wait to see the next one! And congratulations on the EP – very well-deserved!
