|
| Group |
Round |
C/R |
Comment |
Date |
Image |
| 52 |
Jul 18 |
Reply |
I think my HDR comment may have been misleading or confusing. It was just my first impression. Maybe it was the bright green of the trees as well as the colors of the rocks and water. Not sure. Anyway, my take on it is that I love the overall composition but the main subject is the water coming over the rocks, and I felt that the sky and trees distracted a bit from that. I played with it doing some dodging and burning, reducing the brightness and clarity of the trees and sky and enhancing it at the rocks, attempting to make that the centerpiece of the show. Anyway, my take on this lovely image. |
Jul 23rd |
 |
| 52 |
Jul 18 |
Reply |
Thanks Tom. I'm leaning that way as well. |
Jul 23rd |
| 52 |
Jul 18 |
Reply |
Thanks Sharon. Interesting comment about the wall. I can't say I've been classically trained in art but I understand the concept. I don't think it applies, in my subjective opinion, to this image, as it provides the vista over which an imaginary person sitting on the bench would look, and I like the angle it provides to the scene. Concepts are good, in my opinion, rules are not and are constraining. There is a lot of art, considered great, that both follows and breaks traditional concepts so I think each piece should be judged on its own, without reference to outside constraints. A good example, having good eye contact. Usually very important. But some images I like a lot, say of a downcast model, are just wonderful. It's a good topic to bounce around. |
Jul 17th |
| 52 |
Jul 18 |
Comment |
Thanks for the insightful comments. I lightened up and applied some negative clarity and saturation to the foreground so that the bench is more visible. I'll have to give it some time to see which version I like better. |
Jul 15th |
 |
| 52 |
Jul 18 |
Reply |
It looks better to me Sharon. I assume you didn't crop out the top of the branch and can't bring it back. Depending on how much of a purist you are, it wouldn't be hard to borrow the portions of the branch and create a top, add more canvas and background and viola! Certainly it's a matter of taste. If you're unfamiliar with how to do that send me a larger file and I'll play with it and send it back with the layers so you can see what I did. |
Jul 12th |
| 52 |
Jul 18 |
Reply |
Thanks Lisa. I think the atmosphere did blur the horizon which, frankly, is something I like. But the fact that it bothered you is something I need to consider. The darkness of the foreground, due in part to the original exposure which could HDR from other frames, was intentional. I'll consider what you and John mentioned in that regard and maybe come up with a different version. Thanks for your thoughts. |
Jul 12th |
| 52 |
Jul 18 |
Reply |
Thanks John, I appreciate all your comments. In all honesty, I value critical comments above complementary ones as they are harder to pull from people and often reveal weaknesses in images I'm still to in love with to see. I'll take your comments into consideration and maybe play a bit more with this image. My goal was to create a bit of mystery and have a viewer have to work a bit, possibly imagining themselves or someone else on the bench as the light went down. So maybe the stress I created for you met that goal. I'll have to give it some time to gain some additional perspective and see what I think. Keep your thoughts coming as they are very valuable. |
Jul 12th |
| 52 |
Jul 18 |
Comment |
My version isn't showing up but all I did was reduce the luminance of green and magenta except close to the bee. |
Jul 8th |
| 52 |
Jul 18 |
Comment |
This well tells the story of a hard working bee, literally immersed in its pollen gathering. Very sharp on the bee and petals with nice bokeh in the background, even at f/18. The vibrancy and color combination is striking, but looks a bit over the top to me, particularly the magenta and greens. I did a very quick adjustment just to see a comparison. |
Jul 8th |
| 52 |
Jul 18 |
Comment |
Great rendition of what I think is a juvenile yellow-crowned night-heron. I enjoy the dark background and the wonderful colors you captured of bird. Nice work. Not a purist, I would remove the little bit of something sticking out the front of its bill. |
Jul 8th |
| 52 |
Jul 18 |
Comment |
Nice jog getting the eagle sharp with a very nice wing position and strong eye contact. I respect your artistic vision but admit that my initial reaction was that the colors looked off. The eagle looks, to my eye, too yellow, and the sky too purple. Of the three versions you shared, I would probably go with Original 2 and accept the white sky, a look I often like. That said, this is purely a subjective comment to let you know my tastes. |
Jul 8th |
| 52 |
Jul 18 |
Comment |
Very pretty. I like the crispness and how the flower stands out against the darker leaves. The only suggestions I can think of would be to burn in a bit hte hot spots, one about 120 degrees from the center and one about 280 degrees. (This is a nitpick) I might also cloene out the small dark dots on the lower pedals, another nitpick. Nice work. |
Jul 8th |
| 52 |
Jul 18 |
Comment |
I like the composition and angle that you chose to convey the scene. At first glance it looked HDR to me. Very, very subjective but I like HDR to either not be noticable, or over the top. What you might try, it so layer your 1/60 exposure as a layer over this one and mask out areas where you want this portrayal to shine through. Fo example, the rocks and trees this layer, but the movement of the water the slower exposure. Just a thought to play with.
I often read that f/22 causes diffraction which reduces image sharpness. I must admit that my eyesight doesn't see that but I'm passing it along. At 24mm f/11 has a hyperfocal distance of 1'2" (full size sensor), meaning acceptable sharpness form half that distance to infinity. Given your distance you could have shot at pretty much any aperture. Most lens sweet spot is 5.6 or 8. I think the same would hold true on a cropped sensor but it would be worth checking.
I keep in my head that at 24mm I'm good if my target is 4' away. The tables show 1'6" to infinity.
|
Jul 8th |
| 52 |
Jul 18 |
Comment |
I love the curve of the branch and composition in general. You mentioned that you cropped it. I was a tiny bit distraacted by the top leaf being clipped off. If you cropped it at it might be worth comparing it with a bit more room at the top.
The bird looks a bit dark to my eye. If possible I would bring up the exposure or dodge in to taste.
The eye looks sharp to me. If it doesn't on your computer, one method that sometimes works is to oversharpen with unsharp mask or a similar tool, then blur out the artifacts with a guazian blur or negative clarity. It often doesn't work but is worth a try, although it looks good to me. |
Jul 8th |
8 comments - 6 replies for Group 52
|
8 comments - 6 replies Total
|
