The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
There was snow on the ground for about five minutes in January so I made the most of it and went up to some trails in Boulder Junction that I’ve never been on. Most of the time in winter I don’t bother with a tripod since I don’t need one, but for stacking you do and there is nothing like Indian Pipe to make me take the tripod off the pack. Especially when they are in snow. These are the seed pods left behind and they overwinter so nicely. My obsession with these flowers will never end. And luckily Northern Wisconsin has tons of them.
Specific Feedback
Stack look ok? Thoughts on processing welcome, too.
Technical Details
Tripod
10-image stack based on my manual selection of focus points. Deliberately kept the bg soft even though there are a couple shots where it’s clearer.
Lr for wb adjustment and some big moves with the whites and contrast. Kept black point a bit above where it would land and didn’t raise the shadows much. Added some texture & a bit of sharpening. Zerene for the stacking which is a blend of PMax and DMap. Lr to further massage the tonalities & blur / obfuscate the bg more in the resulting TIF and a crop to 4:5.
The stack looks fine, Kris. The color of the pocket the plant is in looks a bit strange to me and the transition to the surrounding snow feels rather abrupt. You might want to pull down the saturation in that area or bring it more toward white. I’d also get rid of the similar colored patch at the top that doesn’t seem to contribute to the image-I might even be tempted to crop this quite a bit tighter.
That was making the best of 5 minutes!! Do they look a little like poppy seed heads?
I don’t mind the slight color in the pocket – it seems to come from the color of the seed heads. Maybe find a bit more detail in the FG snow? The indentation at the top is a 50-50 for me but I think a crop from the top and blotting it out is a second option. I think the texture you captured in the snow (ice?) around the heads is wonderful!!
Looks very nice to me. I like how the seed pods are sharp, and I would keep the background soft so it doesn’t distract. I like the overall crop and giving the image space. I did get drawn to that curve at the top as well. Play with making it a little darker to give it flow up there and maybe echo the one below. Or go white and making it clean. See what feels right when you compare them. I think a tighter crop would lose the feel. And the color in the middle I think adds to the depth of the photo and the cold feel. Nice seeing.
Thanks @Dennis_Plank, @Diane_Miller & @patrick6 - glad you aren’t sick of these. I tightened up to a 1:1 crop and removed the bit of snowy sculpture at the back. Improved?
Or you could go halfway in between on the crop and remove the snow shadow. Such an unusual and interesting image that there are several very nice possibilities.
Kris: The crop 100% for me. Another great find and wonderful capture. I really like that I get to enjoy your snow from afar. In my old age I much prefer to sweat than shiver but I appreciate your efforts. >=))>
Thanks @Bill_Fach - it’s funny, the older I get the less heat tolerant I become. If it’s over 75 it’s too hot to move. 80 means just sitting on the couch doing nothing. LOL. Not quite, but darn if I hate heat. And humidity. Fuggetaboudit.
