The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
From my brief time in the yard with just the camera & macro lens. I was just too excited to see actual flowers again. Of course two days later they were covered in snow, but it’s the thought that counts, right? This is one of a few bloodroots that were up, but also flowering. I fear it didn’t fare well given how fragile they are. But it was early and there will be plenty more.
Specific Feedback
It’s an unusual arrangement that I found kind of compelling - I did my best to frame it with the tree leaf and the OOF trout lily leaf that was piercing the leaf litter. I like it, but it may be to unconventional to work. Thoughts?
Lr for a global adjustment for contrast then a few masks to bring out the best in the flower and the supporting cast. Messed with color and wb to get things looking right and a slight rotation and crop.
This is gorgeous, Kris!
Wonderful soft white and vibrant yellow with lots of details and the stamen shadows work well in this one too.
I like the framing quite a lot!
I’m a little on the fence about the leaf just under the flower though (trout lily leaf?), maybe if it were a little more OOF and slightly darker? Maybe leave it as it is? Not sure. Hmmm.
It is an interesting element for sure.
Nice title! I wouldn’t have thought about naming a wildflower like this as the representative for spring.
Well done and a good reminder for simply scouting about with just the camera and lens.
Pretty brave of this flower to try blooming in your early spring! And very nice that its effort was recorded for posterity. I really like that is going on below and to the right of the flower, and that it is abstractly OOF. Hope they give you more chances! I stumbled on a Trout Lily a couple of weeks ago – under my Magenta Oak! I nearly passed out in amazement. Then I checked with my green-thumb neighbor (the Redwood and Dogwood Lady) and she had planted some last year. How one found its way over here is a puzzle. Between the deer, turkeys, gophers and ground squirrels, I can’t grow anything. (They have a fence and a dog.)
If you mean the leaf touching the flower, I think that’s a maple or an oak, the trout lily is behind and OOF. I can see why this could be weird, but I love the forest floor and all its disharmonious harmony, by which I mean that it all works together even if it may look like an incomplete jigsaw puzzle.
The stem and root exude a deep red juice when cut and I believe Native Americans used it for dye prior to European invasion. It’s a remarkably hardy, yet fragile flower as the petals fall off in the least disturbance, but it blossoms in very cold temps. One of my enduring favorites.
Thanks @Diane_Miller - they are coming up all over right now and should for the next couple weeks. Hepatica is up, too, and soon will be Spring Beauty, Trout lily and Wood anemone. Glad you get to see some Trout lily. So far as I know once seeds have taken root the plant will spread via rhizome so you could be overrun before long!
Ha, I just looked at how I worded that, I should have made it more obvious that I wouldn’t have thought of titling it that way because I’m not creative enough to think of it.
The flower is more than worthy
I can see the lily leaf shape back there now, some days my vision is worse than others, it’s never great.
