While out on a walk (we are allowed here, solo) I decided to take some photos of flowers but not the everyday flowers... but very tiny flowers most people have been walking on. These are roughly an inch tall and I wanted to take the shots without using my macro lens... So, all of these were taken at 300mm, at minimal focus distance with the camera on the ground. Auto focus was worthless on my camera for this exercise, so all manual focus; not an easy task being 6ft 1in tall and the camera on the ground. All but the final image was taken under blight blue skies with hard afternoon light.
No crops, only post was Exposure/Basic Tab in Camera Raw and a single pass of noise reduction. I know "center subject" is kind of boring but I don't mind it in this case. I could have cropped in but felt by leaving the surroundings it gave the subject room to breath and left the photos more interesting.
[Edit: Adding in Cropped versions of each photo over time. First will be an image showing my "crop thoughts" then a full image of the cropped shot. When I upload each edited crop I will also make a companion post on the Right explaining my thought process of that particular crop]
Soo delicate and pretty! I love tiny wildflowers. I think your yellow one might be Creeping Daisy but the second definitely is one of my favorites - the Common Meadow Violet. A very photogenic little flower!
The DOF in the second is great. I don't mind the centered subject but I do think a tighter crop would be helpful. The solid green leaf in the left creates a flat look when the rest of the image has soft detail and sparklely light.
The last one has great focus and DOF. I understand your rational for not cropping. This one might really benefit from a crop though. I don't think it needs so much of the setting to be successful. But this is just personal opinion! It works either way!
Keep these coming Joe! We could all use a little outdoor beauty right now!
PS - just a crop suggestion for fun.
Thanks for the feedback Ruth! Yeah I don't disagree at all with your thoughts... I'm always yes/no, yes/no, yes/no on cropping a shot.
The third one is tricky. I think what's throwing me off is that there is an out of focus blade of grass that passes right in front of the flowers face. It starts bottom center, passes the face then bends off to the left... I think anyway, or my eyes are playing tricks on me.
... and thank you for giving the names! I'm still learning names but was pleasantly surprised how photogenic these tiny little flowers were.
Nice job Joe, these certainly evoke Spring and bring a bit of an escape from our indoor isolation.
I agree in general with Ruth. Personally, I find it rare with my own images that they cannot be improved by a crop, and even typically shoot a little wider to allow flexibility in post.
I think you should at least experiment with cropping these to see what you like best. It is not only the placement of the subject in the frame that matters, but everything else in the frame has a bearing on balance and feel of the image.
Of course, everyone has their personal taste so you should crop (or not) to suit your own.
Following Ruth's suggestion, I feel that #2 would benefit from a crop from the left as there is an imbalance that draws the eye. Feel free to disagree, but I'd recommend trying your own crop and see if that adds anything for you.
--- Sorry, I couldn't resist playing with #1 also as it has such interesting compositional elements.
Thank you very much Alan! I use to work in "production art" (3d animator) back around 2005. I always welcome feedback and suggestions and understand we all have our own eyes... but the only way to improve is to see thru another's eyes sometimes. So, it's always welcomed (as long as it's not bluntly cruel, which helps no one).
The more and more I look over these images the more and more I agree that they can be further improved thru cropping. Hum... Let me see what I can come up with... and I really like both yours and Ruth's edits!
<-- Crop of image 1 added. Thought process was to remove the other yellow flowers to focus on a sole, in focus, flower while still keeping in the four large blades of grass on the far left. With that in mind I also wanted equal spacing between the top and left edge where the one blade of grass curves and loops back. I am still debating if I should clone out the blade of grass right up against the edge of the frame.
Your first crop looks good to me Joe, although I like to have a little bit of a base to the stems that lead out of the image. Not a big deal as the stems are darker at the bottom anyway.
I would leave the grass far left of the frame. It's not a distraction to me and if anything acts as a border to keep the eye in the frame. If in doubt try it and see what pleases your eye the most.
<-- Crop of image 2 added. Thought process.. Balance the bottom of the frame with the yellow out of focus flowers with that of the backlit leaves. I left the two tall grass sprigs on the left but removed a distracting twig out of the lower left flower and since I copped in, the bight leaf on the far right was too detracting and since it wasn't part of this composition, it too was removed. Debating removing the blade on the top right that shoots in and back out of the frame; but it might also add some balance and framing. (I'm torn on that one).
I prefer that crop to my own suggestion, and like that the distracting leaf on the right is removed.
As with the last, I don't find the blade of grass on the right distracting, and being dark/of a similar tone to its surroundings there is little to pull the eye away from the sharper/brighter subject.
Again, this is something you can try and if you still can't decide then both are equally as good.
<-- Crop of image 3 added. Thought process... This one was easier for me. I cropped in using the bokeh as framing for the subject; to just something that was pleasant visually.
Agreed, the area removed from the crop has little interest and does nothing to help the image.
Thank you again for all the feedback, it's very much appreciated.
Guess I can only upload 10 images for the main post... So I will post the final two images here..
Crop for image 4... Went a little crazy and tight, really creeping in on the resolution of my sensor but I feel I'm still safe.. Just right up against that line.. you know? Went with a vertical and framed the flower with spacing in the upper right corner. Tones may have changed a little in this version as I...Okay I admit it, misplaced (prob deleted) the edited version of this file; though I still have the Raw of course. Toned it back to the way I had it, though it may not be 100% identical. Only true edit of the image was that I repaired a tiny hole in one of the flower petals..
This post is exactly why I started this group. To share feedback with people who really want to work on their stuff! I'm so glad you both (with Alan's participation) are here! And the outcome is an example of how this process should work! I think you have two really great images now.
The first is in the main post if you count down to the eighth from the top. This is a winner! It totally works! The background supports the subject and the little flower is perfectly posed. Now the lighting, focus, DOF and composition all have synergy and the result is a really nice image. I'd put this in your portfolio!
The second is the violet portrait in your last post. Even though I might open this up a bit, I think this is on the right path.
Nice work Joe!!! I enjoy these posts so much and appreciate you and your participation!