Trillium grows behind my sister’s garden shed in North Carolina.
Specific Feedback Requested
I have three main questions or issues with this one.
First, I intentionally took the photo in landscape format but then decided to crop it vertical. Is this vertical composition good?
Next, I desaturated the green, and that helped the green but also perhaps made the photo more boring?
I used Camera Raw Filter two times to bring down the highlights. Then it was way too dark so I brightened it a little. How does it look now?
Basically I want this not to be boring. If you think it is, how do I fix that?
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
1/320 at f/7.1, ISO 100
Aperture, pattern
Focal length 368mm
Canon EOS7D Mark II, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS II USM + 1/4x III
Beautiful shot, Barbara. I think portrait format is good because the main subject hangs down vertically. What about a little more space on the bottom? It may add more attractive visual flow to the image. Colors and tone are good as is. What about saturating the red color of the bud a little if you feel boring.
I think the composition is fine. My first reaction to the image was that it looks like it was taken with a flash. The light is very harsh and the shadow shows just how harsh the light is. If it wasn’t a flash (which I think is the case based on the camera settings) then the ambient light was harsh. I try to never take flower photos in full sun. I have a diffuser (one of those pop open ones) that really makes a world of difference in the quality of the light for subjects like this one.
Hi, Keith. No flash was used and there is not full sun back there. The lighting is in the woods and is dappled light. However, I do see the shadow, so obviously that part was in sunlight. But you have given me the realization that the lighting is what may make a difference in this image. If I come up with anything good I’ll post it here.
Both images work well. If I had to choose I would go with the softened or second image posted. Trilliums bow their heads so it is very difficult to get a good composition with the flowers opened. Your choice here of a closed bloom works well.
Barbara, I think your crop works very well. The softer light version is a nice improvement. My trillium flowers won’t open! They seem to be fading although they are upright. The upright or bowing is probably a species trait.
