Not only do flowers bloom in the spring but new leaves are also making an appearance . This is a Split Leaf Philodendron leaf. It unfurls first one side and then the other. Without proper sunlight the leaves will not split.
What technical feedback would you like if any? I am always open to suggestions.
What artistic feedback would you like if any? Rotated to put stem in lower left without going into the corner. what do you think?
Pertinent technical details or techniques: Nikon D850, Nikkor 105macro f/2.8: .6 sec f/36 ISO 320. Natural diffused sunlight, black background, single exposure.
(If the background has been replaced, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
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Kelly, I am enjoying this with the curls and shapes it provides. The composition works just fine for me. That black background really makes the green subject pop. In the smaller version, I don’t notice any extra brightness, but in the larger version, the top leaf of the center curl seems to be pulling my eye up to it, but the shape of the subject seems I would want to follow the curl to the center. Not sure that you need to do anything to it, could be just me, because it isn’t blown out or anything like that. The exposure throughout seems perfect to me, but wondering if you selectively pulled the brightness down on that one leaf, if it would improve this wonderful image. Great image.
Thanks for the feedback Shirley. Actually that top leaf is already burned in. I felt if I had made it any darker it would have flattened the lighting too much and appeared unnatural. Sometimes we just have to make sacrifices. I had to diffuse the sunlight to keep that leaf from blowing out altogether (put a pool float outside the window.) I used my wife’s notebook cover on the floor under the leaf for the background.
You are welcome. You are probably right then to not try to darken anymore. The lighting really is nice on the subject. It sounds like you were very creative in the lighting setup. Looking at this image, one would never know that a pool float or a notebook was used to make this gorgeous image. Great job.
Absolutely love the shapes and designs made by unfurling leaves at their different stages. Nice lighting and the black background makes the subject stand out nicely. Beautiful image!
Beautiful presentation and light, Kelly. I like the rotation to angle the stem. Since the right leaf is starting to curl back to the left, it’s shifting the energy of the image in that direction so I think you might want to trim a bit off the right side,
Love the contrast of the dark background and the green leaves. Nice lighting. Diagonal composition works well. the curls add to the image. I am not a good judge of finer aspect of composition and flow, so it is good for me to learn from others comments.
