Bleeding Hearts

I'd love for you to look and to tell me your reactions and thoughts

about this picture. Thanks for stopping by.

Wonderful photo. I like very much the reflected on the water and the color.

Beautiful! I like It 7/7

Wow! You've put that filter to wonderful use. This is beautiful. (Worth 7s, but they won't let me give them to you right now.) Warm regards, Joe

That is just...well, COOL!!! Colorful and intersting... congrats...LJ

Thanks so much for looking and commenting. You know how much it means to me! The flood filter is a bunch of fun with lots of potential... but I don't want to use it too often. Warm Regards, David

Thanks so much for looking and commenting. I'm glad you like this... that means a lot. Regards, David

David, very nice result with that use of the filter, but the composition is yours, and well placed the flower stem on the frame , with the shallow Dof that works very well . The colors are beautiful.

Thank you. It means a great deal to me that you write so positively about my work. Warm regards, David

This is really a great shot. Thanks for your compliment, I'm flattered.

Beautifully composed and nice use of the flood filter! Regards, Ken

David,

 

A lovely composition. A beautiful arrangement of shape and colour. The colours are gorgeous, what a delightful shade of fuchsia/magenta that is perfect with that vibrant green. I love it.

 

 

I'm so glad you like this picture. Thank you for looking and commenting. Your encouragement is very much valued and appreciated. Regards, David

Absolutely gorgeous shot! Extremely artistic.

 

Best regards.

Thank you looking and commenting. I am so glad you think well of this shot. Your comments and opinion are important to me. Regards, David

Nice image. I like the way your shallow Dof leaves the Bleeding Hearts suspended between the filter effect in the foreground and the very nice bokeh of the background. Even without the use of this filter you have a lovely image in the flowers themselves.

Beautiful image with great colors and awesome reflections. There is a nice sense of depth, especially in the bottom portion of the photo as my eye is drawn back from foreground to horizon in the reflection itself.

 

If you wanted to increase the depth in the top portion, I think that could be done too. Although the lighting in the upper part is flattering to both flowers and background, more varied lighting could assist the depth of field you've achieved in order to give more depth above.

 

The background above feels a little two-dimensional, I think, because of the consistency of the lighting. And the flowers, while standing out because of dof, could stand out a little more with a little more nuanced differentiation in lighting level to the background. Even from flowers to reflected flowers, note how similarly they both strike the eye.

 

Note, especially in the work of some of those photographers linked on Ian's homepage, how they create so many different layers and levels of depth, inviting your eye to move around the photo with a little more intrigue and the feeling that your eyes have many places to wander within one image.

 

Regardless, your color detail, composition, and feeling in this photo are really, really well done and very lovely to look at.

Well, Fred, I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with you once again! ;-) The background is definitely two dimensional, though not by design, but it has come out looking too much like a backdrop. So, having painted the scene with different light at shooting, or creating it in post processing, more depth there would certainly add interest for the eye. If I'm understanding what you've said about the flowers, I'm pretty sure varying the lighting on them would have to be done in post processing, but it would surely have the potential to expand the overall depth of the image.

 

After writing what I did above, I took off to Ian's page and then to his links. And I'll have you know you've caused me to look with "new eyes" at galleries I'd much more casually browsed when at Ian's page in the past. With your guidance in mind, I couldn't help but see the immensely greater depth achieved with variations in lighting. And the artists are (IMHO) not only extraordinarily talented shooters, but they're post processing gurus from my vantage point! To my eye, Mitch Dobrowner's images provide the clearest and most striking examples of what you described, and I can definitely see how similar principles could be applied to my photo with the good result of giving the eye more room to roam.

 

Accomplishing something in the range of Dobrowner's, Johndrow's, or Vercampt's level of skill will give me something to work toward for a good while, but most certainly worth the investment of time and energy.

 

Thank you, Fred, for a most thoughtful, careful and helpful critique. You've given me much to ponder, study, and practice. Thank you, also, for your kind words and encouragement, and for taking the time and energy to help me grow. Warm regards, David

I would like less intensity at the bottom so it's easier to focus on the flower itself. Don't lose the reflection, just muted, maybe.

 

David...You are one of the photographers I want to be when I grow up.

You're too kind. Thank you for the lovely compliment. Regards, David

David, there is a lot that I really like in this. The colours are what stands out to me as the best element. The cool white-balance makes the bright pink calming and not annoying. I really respond to the cool, refreshing colours here and this works very well with the choice to use the flood filter effect. I usually strongly dislike that filter, but I'm quite happy with it here and don't get quite the same 'plasticy' feel as I often do with the image.

 

The shallow DOF is well done as well. It gives a nice bit of separation between the mid-ground flowers and the background.

 

I guess my biggest concern is the feeling that this is a little 'chopped-up' and feels like three distinct images. I partly agree a bit with Fred that this is somewhat due to the DOF in the top part. It would have been nice to have more slightly OOF elements between the in-focus and the out-of-focus ones. But, I also think this feeling comes from the use of the filter. It is so clear and smooth and the background has a fair bit of noise. This makes the filter stand out to me as 'added' and once that happens it only increases the sense that the BG is also 'pasted' and not naturally OOF from DOF control.

 

I have attached your image with noise added to the bottom to match the top. I think it makes it feel more harmonious. You could of course try to go the other way and noise reduce the top; but, that is harder to do well (particularly if you don't have a plug in like Noise Ninja or Neat Image).

 

I'm not sure I got it matched perfectly. But, I'm sure the exact detail could be played around with until it was as seamless as possible.

Much better with the added noise. I'll play with that. I'm also planning to work over this image with Fred's comments in mind. I'm intrigued by the idea of creating depth via lighting variations. Part of what I'm planning is to also dim the reflection (read that: flood filter image) some, as well as add noise. I think adding noise here is better than using Noise Ninja (do have it) because I *think* doing so will cause the flowers to stand out better. Thanks so much for taking the time to study and comment on this pic. You've given me more dimensions to consider and adjust... you've increased my mental depth of field! Thank you! Regards, David

Great composition, colors and reflection, Perfectly done...

 

Thanks for you comment...

Elegant & exceptional photo with a rare beauty! Ciao, Alx

The flower & the composition itself is already very lovely. The filter effect adds a dreamy fantasy mood to it. Beautiful work, David.