Purple flowers in lower left too distracting?

[Edwin Barkdoll]

As is often the case I thought this would be better while shooting it. The purple flowers in lower left that are cut off distract me. Mountains a bit soft?

Nikon D850, Nikkor 8-15mm @15mm f/16

[ericphelps]

Great shot, I wouldn't pay attention to the small flowers in the lower left corner, every pretty girl has a freckle.

[Edwin Barkdoll]

14 hours ago, ericphelps said:

Great shot, I wouldn't pay attention to the small flowers in the lower left corner, every pretty girl has a freckle.

Thanks, for your comment. I’ll try to think of the offending flowers as “freckles”! 😉

[mikemorrellNL]

I really like this photo too. Especially the composition: large 'in your face' sunflowers leading the eye across a field of sunflowers into the far distance where multiple layers of hills and mountains provide a wonderful background. The morning light is perfect.

I actually like the (light) purple flowers. IMHO, the color doesn't 'clash' with the oranges and greens. I don't know if this is a crop but I would like to see more of them in the photo. The purple flowers provide contrast (in form and 'cool' color) with the 'warm' sunflowers.

FWIW, I tried to figure out why this color seemed to fit in with the photo. It's not exactly a directly contrasting color with that of the sunflowers. Then I came across this 'triadic color scheme' which matches your photo almost exactly! More info is available at looka,com.

The only suggestion I would make for your consideration is - with the exception of the 'in your face sunflowers'  - to brighten up the foreground left (purple flowers) and middle ground (field of sunflowers) just a bit in PP.  The light in the foreground and middle ground still need to look 'natural'. But from this perspective, it's pretty impossible for the viewer to know where the sunlight falls over the mountains. So IMHO, a slightly brighter 'field of sunflowers' won't look too artificial. But brightening the middle ground does IMHO make the photo as a whole look a bit more 'lively'.

On the question of 'soft mountains', I think they look fine. Yes, you could sharpen the outline in PP but I don't personally think that this would have any positive effect on the viewer's perception. It may have a negative effect. In the sense that the further away things are - especially in this early morning light - the less sharp I expect them to be. That things that are further away at this time of day appear less sharp seems to me to be completely natural.

Bottom line: just enjoy the fact that you've taken a really wonderful photo!

Congrats,

Mike

 

Edited December 31, 2022 by mikemorrellNL

[Edwin Barkdoll]

6 hours ago, mikemorrellNL said:

I really like this photo too. Especially the composition: large 'in your face' sunflowers leading the eye across a field of sunflowers into the far distance where multiple layers of hills and mountains provide a wonderful background. The morning light is perfect.

I actually like the (light) purple flowers. IMHO, the color doesn't 'clash' with the oranges and greens. I don't know if this is a crop but I would like to see more of them in the photo. The purple flowers provide contrast (in form and 'cool' color) with the 'warm' sunflowers.

FWIW, I tried to figure out why this color seemed to fit in with the photo. It's not exactly a directly contrasting color with that of the sunflowers. Then I came across this 'triadic color scheme' which matches your photo almost exactly! More info is available at looka,com.

The only suggestion I would make for your consideration is - with the exception of the 'in your face sunflowers'  - to brighten up the foreground left (purple flowers) and middle ground (field of sunflowers) just a bit in PP.  The light in the foreground and middle ground still need to look 'natural'. But from this perspective, it's pretty impossible for the viewer to know where the sunlight falls over the mountains. So IMHO, a slightly brighter 'field of sunflowers' won't look too artificial. But brightening the middle ground does IMHO make the photo as a whole look a bit more 'lively'.

On the question of 'soft mountains', I think they look fine. Yes, you could sharpen the outline in PP but I don't personally think that this would have any positive effect on the viewer's perception. It may have a negative effect. In the sense that the further away things are - especially in this early morning light - the less sharp I expect them to be. That things that are further away at this time of day appear less sharp seems to me to be completely natural.

Bottom line: just enjoy the fact that you've taken a really wonderful photo!

Congrats,

Mike

 

Thanks for your comments, Mike.

Here's a shot taken slightly to the right of the one above – I missed this one going through some "old" photos – I think I prefer it. The purple flowers that bother me are not in this shot. Foreground and middle ground brightened somewhat.

Very interesting "triadic color scheme" link - thanks!

Edwin

[mikemorrellNL]

On 12/31/2022 at 10:03 PM, Edwin Barkdoll said:

Thanks for your comments, Mike.

Here's a shot taken slightly to the right of the one above – I missed this one going through some "old" photos – I think I prefer it. The purple flowers that bother me are not in this shot. Foreground and middle ground brightened somewhat.

Very interesting "triadic color scheme" link - thanks!

Edwin

Hi Edwin, I much prefer this version too! The sunflowers appear much more as a balanced, natural group and have more 'breathing space' on the right. The fact that the small purple flowers appear left, right and (even smaller) at various points in the background of the sunflowers make them a much more balanced and natural element in the photo. This makes the 'triadic' color scheme work even better.  It's only now that I realize that the (sunlit) left hand side of the sky harmonizes with the sunflowers  while the much bluer right hand side is pretty much a contrasting color.

IHMO the brightening is perfect - not too much as to look unnatural but enough the 'lift' the field of sunflowers out of the shadow. 

For me, this photo just 'works' on many levels. It has harmony, contrast (color, size), great perspective and lighting  and everything just fits together so well. If I had taken this shot and post-processed it as you have, I would be very proud of it. I hope you are too!

PS. FWIW, I know that people often buy large posters to match (or just liven up) their color schemes at home. There's no accounting for taste, but I can well imagine people buying a poster of this photo. Just because it's a 'pleasing' photo with a good balance between 'excitement' (large sunflowers) and 'tranquility' (the rest).

[Edwin Barkdoll]

18 hours ago, mikemorrellNL said:

Hi Edwin, I much prefer this version too! The sunflowers appear much more as a balanced, natural group and have more 'breathing space' on the right. The fact that the small purple flowers appear left, right and (even smaller) at various points in the background of the sunflowers make them a much more balanced and natural element in the photo. This makes the 'triadic' color scheme work even better.  It's only now that I realize that the (sunlit) left hand side of the sky harmonizes with the sunflowers  while the much bluer right hand side is pretty much a contrasting color.

IHMO the brightening is perfect - not too much as to look unnatural but enough the 'lift' the field of sunflowers out of the shadow. 

For me, this photo just 'works' on many levels. It has harmony, contrast (color, size), great perspective and lighting  and everything just fits together so well. If I had taken this shot and post-processed it as you have, I would be very proud of it. I hope you are too!

PS. FWIW, I know that people often buy large posters to match (or just liven up) their color schemes at home. There's no accounting for taste, but I can well imagine people buying a poster of this photo. Just because it's a 'pleasing' photo with a good balance between 'excitement' (large sunflowers) and 'tranquility' (the rest).

Thanks again, Mike for your helpfuland encouraging comments!

[dave_thomas8]

I think the second shot has more dramatic effect and would probably be my first choice for a show submission or whatever. But to me, the purple flowers in the first break up a large dark space which seems to me a good thing, and they add to the sense of depth in the scene.

That's my 1.3 after tax cents ...

[Edwin Barkdoll]

8 hours ago, dave_thomas8 said:

I think the second shot has more dramatic effect and would probably be my first choice for a show submission or whatever. But to me, the purple flowers in the first break up a large dark space which seems to me a good thing, and they add to the sense of depth in the scene.

That's my 1.3 after tax cents ...

Thanks, Dave. I agree that the purple contributes significantly to the first photo. The fact that they’re “cut off” distracts me, however.