I found this image while taking a break and admiring the view on a fall back country trip. The blue colors of the lichen grabbed my attention.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
My main focus was the pine cone. I thought about focus stacking but I have the opinion that not everything has to be sharp in the image for it to work. It was shot at F6.3 but in after review the image at home perhaps I should have shot at f8 or f11.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
shot with a 70-400mm lens on a full frame camera at around 330 mm. ISO 100, 1/50, f6.3
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Bryan: Welcome to NPN and to Macro. As an avowed single capture guy I like the options one has with selective focus. I think this is a good find and a solid capture. My only compositional suggestion would be to crop some from the top to eliminate the OOF pine cone in the ULC and some of the light colored stuff on the top edge. I also added a small vignette to bring more attention to the pine cone. Great to have you aboard and looking forward to more. >=))>
Bryan, a nice find and capture. Sometimes we step right over the obvious without checking it out in the viewfinder. I like what Bill did in cropping and the vignette. It brings more attention to the pine cone. I like the moss around it, and the pine needle laying across the cone. The low profile really helped make this shot too. I am good with the DOF you captured. If you had shot at f8 or f11, I think the background would really be drawing attention away from the subject. Very nice.
Bryan, I’m enjoying your subject matter, the mix of cone, lichen and that pine needle cluster are very attractive. I do think, in this instance, that getting the entire cone and the pine needle cluster would work best. The curly bits in the lower left corner are a nice addition, but letting them go soft in exchange for a sharp cone tip might have been a worthwhile trade. That kind of trade-off is inherent in single shot close-up work. Stacking lets you minimize that choice as it creates its own challenges.
