Milkweed and Meadow Mist

[michael_kucinich]

[gb3]

A really nice green there. I'm drawn more to the further away portion of the image than the bottom up close part.  I like how it fades out.

gb

[httpwww.photo.netbarry]

Nice looking photograph. To me the question, and I bet you have the same 1 is whether to keep the wayback of the photo at the top, or crop it off. It's cool the way it fades, but overall I think it detracts, depending on where you think the viewer's eye should go.  That little transition area pulls my eye to it and away from the foreground. If that's what you want, I would leave it. For me, I would probably crop it as I think bringing the eye more to the foreground makes a stronger photo.

[michael_kucinich]

Thanks very much for your thoughts and suggestions. Appreciate your comments.

[dcstep]

This doesn't work for me. I think that my problem is that the mist only takes up a small percentage of the frame.  I'm thinking that it'd be stronger if you step further into the milkweed patch and make the mist around 33% of the total frame. You have another take on this scene in your PN Gallery that I prefer, but it doesn't emphasize the mist.

[hjoseph7]

Not sure if you meant for the background to be blurred, but I would have used Hyperfocal distance to keep everything sharp from front  to rear. Otherwise, nice composition and colors. 

[MrAndMrsIzzy]

I'd probably crop down to a little above the four flower stalks in front, lower the brightness a little (very little), and maybe play around (or not) with the contrast.

Either way, it's a nice shot. 

[michael_kucinich]

Thanks very much for your comments. I regret not using a reflector to bounce more light into the foreground. I think that would have made it a more pleasing image with the foreground better illuminated; balancing the light with the background. Thanks again for your input.

[dcstep]

On 4/6/2023 at 6:27 PM, michael_kucinich said:

Thanks very much for your comments. I regret not using a reflector to bounce more light into the foreground. I think that would have made it a more pleasing image with the foreground better illuminated; balancing the light with the background. Thanks again for your input.

If you want that effect, try a graduated ND filter in RAW conversion.

[michael_kucinich]

 Thanks dcstep for the recommendation. 

[mikemorrellNL]

@michael_kucinich, Hi, I'm sorry but I'm very late to this party. I missed your request the first time around and I saw your recent response to @dcstep.

I  like your idea for- and your composition of - the photo.  In general, I think it's turned out fine! The only improvement I can suggest is that I would have liked to see a bit more 'crispness' (= sharpness) in the first 2 or 3 milkweeds in the foreground,

In the critique forum, I'm occasionally curious about the  shooting settings. In this case, I wondered about the sharpness in the foreground. So I hope you don't mind, but I downloaded a copy of the photo to look at the Exif data. As always, I immediately delete any downloaded copies!

From the Exif data, I see that photo was taken in 2013, so I assume that your skills and technique have developed a lot since then!

For this specific photo, what struck me (if I interpret the Exif data correctly) was that you took it with:

- a very small aperture (f/29)

- a low ISO setting (100)

- a long exposure time (2 seconds)

If this Exif data is correct, then with a small aperture, I assume you wanted to create a large DOF. The downside - with a 2 sec exposure time - is that any slight breeze would compromise the sharpness. All in all, with these settings, you did a great job!

However, in general (and with hindsight!), you might have used a wider aperture (f/4 f/8 ?), a higher ISO and focused more sharply on the foreground. I just imagine the first 2 or 3 'milkweeds' being sharply in focus and the focus gradually becoming less sharp as it fades away to the background mist. Again, this is largely true in your photo. With the only exception of a 'crisp' (sharp) focus on the first 2-3 milkweeds.

Hope this helps.

PS. If my interpretation of the Exif data for this photo is completely wrong, please let me know!

Edited April 15, 2023 by mikemorrellNL

[hjoseph7]

The picture does give the impression that you are walking through a milkweed field.  The focus and colors are just fantastic. Most lanscape photos like these are taken in landscape orientation, but you chose portrait orientation which I guess adds more depth to the scene. However there seems to be a very sharp deliniation between foreground and background, which sort of negates that depth. A more gradual approach might have been more realistic, unless you were trying to portray the unusual growth in that section of the filed.

[michael_kucinich]

Thanks Mike and hjoseph7 for your comments. As far as foreground sharpness, perhaps the image files I am uploading are not large enough to allow for closely  scrutinizing focus. To my eye, the sharpness in the foreground is there in the larger file that I use for printing. 

Concerning the sharp delineation between foreground and background illumination , in retrospect, I do wish I had used my reflector to bounce a little more light in the foreground and thereby balance the lighting better between foreground and background. I may go back to that image and see if I can tweak it with Shadow/ Highlight or Levels tool. Thanks again to both of you for your constructive criticism.

[JDMvW]

Late to the party, but I quite like it just as it is.

If the disparity between background and foreground is troubling, I'd crop somewhere near the fog line at the top., but that's a different picture.

Edited April 18, 2023 by JDMvW

[michael_kucinich]

JDMvW,

Thanks very much for your weighing in on my image. Appreciate the comments.

Mike

[Robin Smith]

The eye definitely runs out of the top of the picture. Not sure that works very well. I think darkening the far distance would improve it. Add a linear mask to the top third is my suggestion.

[michael_kucinich]

Thanks Robin. I appreciate your comments. To my eye, the darker forest above the fog line prevents my eye from being drawn out of the picture.