The Wallflower + Alternative Crop

[Marylynne_Diggs]

Hi Folks,
I did a minor dusting off of some of the debris in my original post and I’m offering an alternative crop (wider crop of a different frame, but same subject and time of day. If you have preferences for either of these, let me know.

ORIGINAL

DUST-OFF REPOST

WIDER COMPOSITION

Critique Style Requested: Initial Reaction

Please share your immediate response to the image before reading the photographer’s intent (obscured text below) or other comments. The photographer seeks a genuinely unbiased first impression.

Questions to guide your feedback

I’m especially interested primarily in first impressions here, whether this is a composition with potential:
Did you look closer because of the thumbnail image?
Once you clicked in, did you feel like looking around within the image?

Other Information

Please leave your feedback before viewing the blurred information below, once you have replied, click to reveal the text and see if your assessment aligns with the photographer. Remember, this if for their benefit to learn what your unbiased reaction is.

Technical Details

Canon 5d3 at ISO 160, f/16, 1/200s
24-105mm at 97mm

I should have taken a tripod, but I was feeling like winging it. The left side is a little oof, and I don’t know whether it’s lack of steadiness, edge distortion (but at 97mm?) or not being on a parallel plane with these flowers. I’m going to shoot them again if they remain, and if not, then I’ve got an calendar alert for next spring!

Specific Feedback

More specifically:
Do you find the brilliant color and empty black spaces interesting?

Did you notice the late bloomer, the wallflower?

Conceptually, I was hoping to capture the multitudes, but also the spaces between and especially the one holdout, the sense of being in the midst of one’s peers but standing out or perhaps holding back. I liked the tension of that, but it feels pretty subtle, like maybe something only someone reflecting on 7th grade at the moment might actually notice.

And of course, alas, how much does the oof left corner detract?

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Critique Template

Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.

• Vision and Purpose:
• Conceptual:
• Emotional Impact and Mood:
• Composition:
• Balance and Visual Weight:
• Depth and Dimension:
• Color:
• Lighting:
• Processing:
• Technical:

[Dennis_Plank]

I like this image, Marylynne. I wasn’t sure at first about the left side feeling a bit darker than the right, but I find that it helps make my eye move through the image. The dark channels between the flowers are great at keeping my eye moving around in the image, and the little yellow centers are nice little bursts of a contrasting color the also make me pause as they almost look like bees and make me look more closely.

[Kris_Smith (Kristen M Smith)]

Yes I looked closer because of the thumbnail - it’s such a vibrant photo that I had to. Once I clicked, I looked around for bees. It’s a habit. I noticed the slightly closed flower and think the placement is good although there is such a sea of sameness that it does get a little lost. Nothing you can do about that and leave it natural looking.

The dark/blank areas are part of the scene to me and don’t stand out as unusual or uninteresting. The saturated color with the yellow highlights is a treat for the eye. Returning to the shy flower, it isn’t a stand out simply because it is so similar to the rest of them. That doesn’t make it bad or uninteresting though. Sometimes we need words as well as photos to get our point across and there’s nothing wrong with that. You could selectively color it differently if you wanted to make this point visually only, or if it is taller than the rest, shooting from across. Ditto if it’s shorter and you could isolate it from the taller ones around it. If that makes sense. The OOF left is harmonious and doesn’t look out of place in a single-shot like this. Thanks for posting - I can use any pop of color right now!