The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This is another cactus blossom from my favorite regional gardens. It was in shade, but the little touch of sunlight made the blossom seem to be lit up from within.
Specific Feedback
I accentuated the saturation and the light in the blossom and significantly decreased the light in the BG. Not sure if it was too much?
Technical Details
Canon 5DMiii, f8, 1/500 sec, iso 200, 100-400/1.4TC at 401 mm, Topaz denoise and sharpen.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Very nice, Ed. I love it when light works like this. I like you accent though I think I’d back off just a bit on the brightness as it’s a touch overpowering on the pistil. I tend to prefer a glow to an explosion, but that’s probably just my taste.
Another striking beauty, Ed. The light is perfect for the subject and I think toning down the brightest bits helped a lot. What a perfect specimen - I bet the bees love them. Incredible shading from that palest orange to the pink and lavenders. The green at the base of the petals is interesting as well. Desert flowers sure are special.
Gorgeous shapes and colors with wonderful lighting and subdued BG! I think toning down the highlights was a good idea but they look a bit too gray. You can use the channels in Curves to darken highlights by darkening individual colors instead of just adding gray – which is an equal mix of the 3 color channels. (Go to the channels in Curves and pull the UR corner straight down for each color channel to add that color. Mix the 3 as desired.) You may want to mask to the brightest areas to confine it there. Be sure the mask is appropriately feathered.
Amazing! I agree with the others that it seems a bit bright, but also, cactus blossoms in general often appear to be lit from within, so it’s difficult to say what’s too much here. I like the obscure background. Its a lovely image!
Ed: A marvelous flower and an equally marvelous capture and presentation. The original was fine but the repost is a nice refinement. Most excellent.>=))>
Basically I like the picture, but for me it could be much better if the outer petals of the flower were brighter so they better “belong” to the “core” of the flower. To me the “poorly lighted” outer petals don’t really “belong” to the nicely bright “core.” Light them up but not so as to “compete” with the center petals.
