The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This was taken at a local nature preserve last March. At the time, I didn’t try to process it because of the noise level. However, I’ve been impressed with the quality of the LR AI Denoise, though it’s very slow on my computer.
Specific Feedback
I think I might need a bit more room on the left. Would you clean up the shrooms?
Technical Details
Sony A1, Canon 180 mm f/3.5 macro, tripod, f/14, 1/1000, iso 64000. Processed in LR & PS CC. In addition to the LR noise reduction, I applied the Neat Image noise reduction in PS. Cropped to 4418x5106. Cleaned up the background, but left the blemishes on the mushrooms, though I did increase the luminosity on them a fair amount.
Oh, those are just enchanting! The gesture of the right-hand one is wonderful. The only distraction for me is the background. That dark, angular shape against the lighter gray competes with the shrooms. Perhaps bringing up the darks in the shape and bringing down the light in the gray (to equalize them somewhat) would be beneficial. Here’s my not-so-good attempt at that. The dark background blob is still mildly distracting though. The little bits on the shrooms don’t bother me at all.
Really like your composition here Dennis. The dead log makes a nice diagonal line through the frame plus the two mushrooms growing out of the hole straight up create dynamics in the whole scene. The Third mushroom, certainly the runt of the litter, seems to be bowing in reverence to its two, more mature siblings . They are all set off well against the darker BG and I especially enjoy the green hues on the log.
Spring mushrooms - how unusual. At least here. And March? Nope. Too much snow.
I like this little group. It’s amazing how animate they seem over their fruiting. They look like a type of hygrocybe, but I can’t tell which. The strong diagonals make for an excellent stage for this little scene. For a portrait, this tight crop works just fine. It is still kind of noisy, but in a small size it isn’t noticeable. Not sure why you needed to go to such a high ISO - musta been pretty dark! I like Bonnie’s treatment of the background and think it improved things.
I’m always torn about how much to clean up a scene before and after I capture it, but you could get rid of the two biggest bits of debris and leave it at that. Sweet little scene.
Dennis, I had the first same reaction as @Bonnie_Lampley on this with respect to the right hand mushroom adding some animation to the scene. I also like what her edit adds (or rather subtracts) from the image. The diagonals remind me of geologic rock outcroppings. Personally, I lean more toward art than documentation and I would clean up the mushrooms if it was my image. To each his or her own, of course.
Dennis: What a neat find and a fine capture. Looks like the right shroom is taking a bow. I do like what Bonnie did with the BG. I hear you regarding the AI denoise feature. I have a pretty fast machine but sometimes the progress seems glacial. At least it does work well and I’m glad it enabled you to present this. >=))>
. They are all set off well against the darker BG and I especially enjoy the green hues on the log.