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Chloe Kramer's picture

Leafy Green

Looking for advice or possible changes:

Taken late afternoon.

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12 Comments

Hi Chloe! Welcome! You are off the a good start here. ( and in your portfolio - nice work).

I think all you need here is mood lighting. Everyone here is laughing because moody lighting is my answer to everything!

Here, I like the first image better but it is flat because the light is so bright and there is little in the subject to create depth. So, I took a stab at adding a little focus of light with a radial filter. Just a suggestion for fun.

Keep them coming! 🤗

Now I know how much you cheat in your own work, Ruth! ;-) Nice edit. Moody lighting IS the answer - now what's the problem?

It all part of the artistry my friend!

Hi Chloe! Nice job. I agree with Ruth's remarks.

What she didn't mention is that she rotated the image as well, which improves the composition for me, making it more dynamic, animating it (may seem odd for a static subject). Rotating it crops it further, making it feel a little cramped.

I've played with the same idea, compensating for the flat light a bit with tonal adjustments, rotating it further, and adding more room. I often like a subject "pointing" into a space or void in the image. It changes the feel.

BTW your posted images are pretty small in sze. Fstoppers resizes them, but you can post up to 5MB if I recall correctly, and I'd make sure your images measure big enough in pixel dimensions. I resize mine to be 1800 pixels on the long edge for internet use, but maybe it's possible to go further. Posting can make them softer, so give yourself the best chance. Others may have other recommendations about this issue.

This is beautiful!!!!

Thanks, Ruth. Your idea got me started.

How does this look? Am I headed down the right track?

Although you didn't rotate the image, I think that you are getting it. I'm not personally a big fan of the mood lighting, but that's just part of the fun. Everyone has their own style. If you are worried about pixelage when positioning it, I think your black is solid enough to add more as a border or a black canvas in post.I hadn't thought about rotating it, but that really did do something to it compositionally. As for Chris and Ruth's edits, I honestly didn't like Chris's.The colors were too contrasty for my tastes. I'm not a big person for post-processing, preferring to leave a more natural look, but it certainly can do wonders to an image.

I think this is an improvement. But... Like Matthew very accurately says, it is all personal opinion. That is what makes this interesting! Regardless of what you do with this image, getting critique and thinking about your work in new ways is the most valuable part.

Don't hesitate to comment on others' posts as well. This is a very accepting and active group and we love participation from everyone regardless of level. ALL input (that is constructive and well-intended) is welcome!

As you can see from Matthew's post in particular, there isn't one right track, Chloe! Just subjective reactions and opinions.

Your re-edit here does improve on the original to my eye, and perhaps leans more towards Matthew's preferences. My edit partly reflected Ruth's observation about the flat lighting, and I don't consider it the "right" approach, just one of many options, even for this seemingly simple subject.

Ultimately, it's YOUR image, Chloe, and surely a rendition that satisfies YOU is the right one.

Remember too that as the original poster you can add (or delete) images on the left, so viewers can scroll directly between them. Just remember that earlier comments may then not make sense to new viewers unless you point out the update somewhere.

Welcome Chloe.
Late to the party, but agreeing in general. The one thing I would add is to remove the distracting imperfections/holes in the leaves.
This is easily done (using spot removal) in most editing software, and just adds that finished look.

Hopefully now that you see this is such a welcoming group you will feel free to add more, and add your own opinions to others.

Thank you Alan, this is honestly the best groups I have found