The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
A few days ago it was 50 degrees out so I had a wander down to the river on the Ice Age Trail to see what I could see and to play with my new camera, a Lumix G9 M2. My lenses, though some are over a decade old, performed perfectly. This was shot with the original version of the 35-100mm f/2.8 which is a mainstay of my kit.
As you go down river, the trail winds up and over lots of granite ledge and the sun was hitting this little group of rock cap fern perfectly, while the ledge behind was still in shade. I’ve told myself that I need to work more with ferns and so this is a start. Who knew it would be in February?!
After I took this, I walked far out into the river itself on one of the many ledges that are easily accessible; I just sat in the sun for 1/2 an hour or so and soaked it all in. While there I noticed a great composition in the landscape and think it might be a good spot for sunset and will keep it in mind if things look promising in the future. I hadn’t been down that far in several years so am glad I took the time.
Specific Feedback
This is the same image, just processed differently and I’m curious to hear your reactions. Any PP advice/ideas are welcome, too.
Technical Details
Handheld
RAW processing in Lr for a crop, some masking of the fern and backgrounds to further separate the tonalities. Texture, sharpening and then into Ps for some distraction removal. The B&W version got a bit more clarity in the ferns themselves as well as some reduced highlights in the bg and I cropped it differently so simplify things even more.
Very nice – the B/W sings with silvery tones! I like the softer BG and the crop – the visual weight feels more balanced. I think you could trim a bit off the top, too. I wonder about a little burn of the OOF stuff in the FG?
Good opportunities for shooting things in your strange spring weather! I have trouble staying inside and my motto has become, “Patience my a_s, I’m going to go out and shoot something!” And you have prompted me to go fern hunting.
Kris, both images are appealing although I prefer the cropping and tonalities of the B&W. It’s good to see an early-season sprout as it illustrates life cycle. But I understand if some people prefer the color version since green is associated with new spring growth and ferns.
I’m generally not a fan of dead-center compositions and so I prefer the off-center and counter-balanced composition of the B&W. I also notice in the colored photo some distracting bright spots lower-right of the two vertical fronds. I would see if a linear gradient from the bottom or a radial gradient centered on the 2 vertical fronds with exposure darkened would enable those bright spots to balance.
Thanks @Diane_Miller & @Matt_Lancaster for your thoughts and input. I should have mentioned that Rock cap fern is an evergreen and so they are this color all year, but normally right now they are mostly buried under snow.
I hadn’t noticed the centeredness of the original composition because I was looking to include the whole of the sprawl of two plants. The B&W version cut off that other plant and so I decided to go with it in the color for the sake of off balanced-ness. I did what I could about the bg - in the field I got as low as I could without cutting off the view - the camera was nearly on the ground, lol.
In a few months more ferns should be up and I’m going to figure out a strategy. Mostly it’s the wind that stops me, especially with Maiden hair fern which we have in abundance here and is my favorite fern. We shall see.
