The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I was looking back in my files for a particular image (that I didn’t find) and ran across this one from 2020 during the pandemic when I was doing a Prairie Blog for our volunteer group in place of our annual in person Prairie Appreciation Day. I used it on the blog but that was a quick and dirty processing job. I really liked the light in the background, so I thought I’d give it some more attention.
Specific Feedback
Looked at closely, it’s obvious that I didn’t have the depth of field I would have liked. I was trying to do focus stacking but there was enough breeze that the background vegetation was moving independently of the subject and the stack looked really, really strange. My question is, does the lack of critical focus in a couple of the blooms detract too much from the image?
Technical Details
Canon 5DIII, 180 mm f/3.5 macro, tripod, f/8, 1/160, iso 800, manual exposure, manual focus, processed in LR & PS CC. Cropped to 3095x4937. I did some extra manipulation on the background to reduce some bolder elements. Taken May 26, 2020 at our local prairie preserve.
Larkspur is a fascinating flower when viewed through a macro lens, isn’t it? I’ve never tried focus stacking because inevitably there’s been a slight breeze. Your composition is lovely and the purple pops against the background but I find the soft focus of the top bud a little distracting.
A very nice framing of the flower, and a wow! for the BG cleanup! I don’t mind the slight focus dropoff on the top flower – there is quite enough to engage my attention on the others.
OMG - stacking nightmare! But you made a single frame work really well. The bg, while not exactly natural looking, provides the right backdrop for the drama. Tall, spindly flower stalks are so hard to do, but I like the attempt. There could be some better separation in the individual flowers if possible. Overlaps like this just look weird, but are sometimes impossible to avoid. Of all the frames to choose to work with this one is decent with focus where it should be across most of the flowers. They are a bit over-saturated on my MacBook and appear a tad too blue, especially with how de-saturated the bg is by comparison. I don’t think I’ve ever seen these so I’m glad for your Prairie Project!!
Dennis, I am totally enjoying the beautiful color of the flowers up against the greens. Single image is fine to me. I haven’t really had time to get into stacking anyway. I love that tiny little bud that is near the top part. Excellent. Glad you went back in the archives.
Dennis, your post-processing for the final image looks great. The single image is way better than the stacked image. Well worth the effort of planning for the best single shot. Awesome…Jim
Dennis, when the background in a stack is moving (or the light on the background is changing during the stack) Helicon’s B method gives a very noisy/messy background. Sometimes you can fix that by combining the background from the C method and subject from the B method. (I have also learned recently that sometime in the recent past Helicon upgraded their A method and it now works very well…rapidly becoming my first choice.) Your single shot looks great. Because of their strong 3D shape, Larkspur make a challenging subject, so I don’t think the slight softness in the top flower is a problem. The background looks great.
