Hi all!
I took this photo today and I am totally frustrated with it. There was some beautiful morning light, the colours of the plant stood out and whispered to me "Take a photo, take a photo!" and then... this! I cannot put my finger on the problem(s) and this is bugging me. What would you change? Any insightful links to discussions, articles, videos?
@whimsicalgrateful it's very difficult to offer helpful suggestions without sounding big headed or rude, but I hope you find these thoughts helpful. I think the main issue from my point of view is that there is no focal point! If there had been a large terracotta pot behind the plant it would have given some balance to the shot. Read up about the rule of thirds, this shot has no defined subject it's too vague and open. Also you could have tried a much tighter shot, say a macro right up close..... Just a few random thoughts, hope they help. 😊
@paulty Paul, thank you! Yes, I do agree there's nothing grabbing the attention. I do not have a macro lens (I, in fact, only have a kit lens and a 50mm), so going macro was not much of an option. But, yes, I could have definitely changed my POV and included the pot in the shot. Please do let me know if you have got any other insights. I am here for learning as much as I possibly can. Photography is my creative outlet, my release valve from stress, but as I perfectionist, it is a path of learning. So, thank you.
I agree with Paul @paulty that a clear focal point or going closer would help the image. If you don't want to invest in a macro lens you can buy inexpensive close-up attachments that you screw onto your lens like a filter. You can get them in various "strengths" - the more extreme ones will get you REALLY close ;-) http://365project.org/helstor/365/2013-03-17
Marta, first, I see that you started this discussion at the suggestion of another user, and I think it's great that you're putting yourself out there. It can be a very vulnerable thing asking for critique.
I see from the rest of the photos in your project that you do have an eye for detail and composition (although Paul might be right that the rule of thirds is something to muse on a little more), and while at first looking at this I thought you might need to think more about POV, that hasn't been an issue for you in other shots.
So looking at it from the point of view that you were going for in light of that, in my humble opinion there's too much gradation of darks and lights here, and yes, a lack of a focal point. The eye really doesn't know where to go here. There are actually some interesting ways you could crop this photo that might bring out what you saw.. for instance by getting rid of the upper lefthand corner...
My thoughts are probably an extension of what @kelsi87 and @squamloon have said, in that there is probably too much contrast going on here. As I'm sure you know, human eyes can handle far more contrast in a scene than our cameras can, and what looks like a lovely splash of golden light in an otherwise fairly-well-lit scene to our eyes, looks like a tiny well-exposed bit against almost-black to our camera (or a totally blown-out bit against a well-exposed background). I have often looked excitedly at this kind of light, tried to get a shot and failed too! I'm sure it can be done (perhaps by people more experienced than me), but for me, I'm usually also disappointed by attempts in post to bring up the shadows or whatever. The other problem with this light is that even if you do focus in on one flower it can be really contrasty as well.
Personally I love the grungy texture of the pavement, and perhaps this could work really well, like others have suggested, with the focus on a single, radiant bloom (or cluster of them, if your lens can't get close enough) with some of that great texture as a dark, grungy background.
I agree with the others, but there is a lot to love here also. Like @aliha I really like the look of the pavement, and also the darker flowers in the upper left contrasting with the brightly lit ones. Cropping off the left side of the image would do wonders, I think. That would take care of some of the busyness of the image and bring the focus back to the great light, as you intended.
Be bold and crop hard! The well lit body of the plant is rather mundane but there are some lovely muted colours and interesting textures in the top-right corner: select just this area and process it as a low-key image. Just sayin'... ;-)
You got some good advice already; no need to repeat.
Next time, you could try this: get as close as you can, or use the zoom on your kit lens. Sometimes you have to step back to be able to focus. Try to expose and focus on the brightest part of one flower, and let the rest of the picture disappear into darkness. If you close the lens to the smallest F stop the depth of field will be small, and the background will be blurry.
With this one, let your creative juices flow, and play around with an editing program.
@helstor@kelsi87@kelsi87@squamloon@aliha@polarvrtx@vignouse@transatlantic99 Thank you all for the extensive feedback. It surely did get my mind thinking and I will try to take the shot again (well, I had a go at it this morning, but the lighting was very different and it'd really like to have another crack at it in the same lighting conditions. Now, let's hope the rain will go away soon. I did already see some massive improvements though).
@helstor Thank you for the tip! I am starting to "crave" a macro lens, but I'd first like to get good at using the gear I have got already, although that can be limiting at times. Maybe I should think about rewarding myself with a macro once I've completed the project though ;)
@kelsi87@aliha@squamloon Thank you for pointing out the harshness of the contrast of tones. It was indeed what I liked about the subject, but didn't think about how the camera would handle it. Lesson learnt.
@squamloon@paulty Thank you for telling me to go back to the rule of thirds. I've been practicing it a lot when shooting my kids in the last 18 months and then decided to experiment out of it a little. I guess I'd best stick to the rules for a while longer :)
@vignouse@polarvrtx Thank you for giving me licence to crop. I always feel a pang of guilt when editing in general, but even more so when cropping. I've only started touching up my photos 6 or so months ago when another photographer told me that editing was ok and was not cheating at all. I also realised that I do need to learn a lot more about editing and tickled my brain a little :)
I agree about the contrast. Bright sun is lovely when one is there, but for me a bit of overcast to soften it all down works far better in a photo. I also agree that getting in close on (say) one of the clusters of flowers would have worked far better. Here each of the flowers is shouting for attention (red and strong pinks do that) and they are drowning each other out. Can you go back and have another try?
@fifescapes I have had two attempts already and managed to take much better pictures, but still haven't quite captured what I wanted. I think that @aliha was spot on with her comment about the way cameras cannot handle contrast quite the same way our eyes do. I will have a go at processing those couple of images I have taken and post them some time this week (possibly tonight, we'll see).
I think those are getting there. I feel the one from the 26th is underexposed, and also that you could go in even closer so there is just one flower cluster as the subject. BTW what is the plant? It's very attractive.
@fifescapes I am not sure of what kind of plant it is. It was given to me by a friend and I used to have one the same, but with orange flowers during my University years in Italy. I got in as close as the 50mm lens allowed me to, maybe next time I'll give it a go with the 18-55mm that came with the camera. Thank you for the feedback though. I'll try again when the sun is out again at the same time and the kids are not around (i.e. the weekend, weather pending).
It might also be a matter of moving around and maybe moving the pot around to get a more isolated bunch of flowers with a plain background preferably not close behind the bunch. If it's too close it's hard to lose the background detail using depth of field techniques.
I was looking through your photos and I noticed that you have an artistry to them that I do not always see in photography. You clearly have a perspective you wish to share. Even this photo, slightly off kilter with a stream of sunshine hitting it so drastically, begs to tell of a moment or of a feeling. Although compositionally it does have some issues, I still get a sense of what you are trying to achieve here. In this case, I don't think moving in would have improved the photo. Actually, I feel that it would have been better if you moved further out, if the plant had been upper left with some negative space in the bottom left. I agree that it would have helped to see the pot of the plant as well. The picture is somewhat dark and opaque, which is not always a bad thing, but in this case it took away from the beauty of those delicate rays of light. I think a different angle would have helped let in more light. Another option is to try a higher ISO or aperture setting as well. I'm still learning myself, so I don't know if any of this is helpful. The only way to know for sure is to try it out.
@theoriginalsylvia Thank you for kind comments and feedback. I don't know if there's an artist in me, what I am starting to realise though is that I like light and I try to capture it in my photos. I like the way lighting creates moods, shadows and colours. The weather and timing has not played along with me to take some more pictures of the plant in the same conditions, but I keep looking at it and thinking about how to make it work. Fingers crossed that I can catch it soon!
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http://365project.org/helstor/365/2013-03-17
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I see from the rest of the photos in your project that you do have an eye for detail and composition (although Paul might be right that the rule of thirds is something to muse on a little more), and while at first looking at this I thought you might need to think more about POV, that hasn't been an issue for you in other shots.
So looking at it from the point of view that you were going for in light of that, in my humble opinion there's too much gradation of darks and lights here, and yes, a lack of a focal point. The eye really doesn't know where to go here. There are actually some interesting ways you could crop this photo that might bring out what you saw.. for instance by getting rid of the upper lefthand corner...
Personally I love the grungy texture of the pavement, and perhaps this could work really well, like others have suggested, with the focus on a single, radiant bloom (or cluster of them, if your lens can't get close enough) with some of that great texture as a dark, grungy background.
Anyways I'm no expert, just my thoughts :)
Next time, you could try this: get as close as you can, or use the zoom on your kit lens. Sometimes you have to step back to be able to focus. Try to expose and focus on the brightest part of one flower, and let the rest of the picture disappear into darkness. If you close the lens to the smallest F stop the depth of field will be small, and the background will be blurry.
With this one, let your creative juices flow, and play around with an editing program.
http://365project.org/whimsicalgrateful/extras/2015-01-26 http://365project.org/whimsicalgrateful/extras/2015-01-31 http://365project.org/whimsicalgrateful/extras/2015-02-01