I have been trying to expand my photography to a wider range of genres, one of which is a category that I am trying to understand through trial & error - fine art.
While I recognize that the modern definition is somewhat of a moving target, I would like the community's opinion on whether the attached image successfully heads toward the direction of fine art or if it is nothing more than another flower on a blurry background (image 1) / just another boring shot of sun rays (image 2). Does the meaning or the motivation behind the reason that I took the shot contribute to the image's legitimacy as a fine art photo?
Let me say that I am not trying to troll or re-hash a topic that has been debated on many forums. Rather, I am looking for feedback that may guide me in forming my own framework when I decide to take a scene / subject into the fine art route.
The flower was taken handheld, with the Kamlan f1.1. For those unfamiliar, this is a crop sensor lens, mounted to a full-frame body, so I cropped out the edge vignetting & distortion. The mountain was a 4 / 5 shot pano (can't remember exactly) processed to bring out the rays. It may be a little heavy handed with the NR in which case, I would go back to fix.
Thanks in advance for everyone's feedback.
Honestly for the first photo I don't know what to think. As if something missing, the flower seemed to hover, flow without some kind of 'support' (maybe a thin stem as a leading line helped).
For the second:
Thanks so much for the input, Radisa. To provide a little more reference for the flower shot, I was trying for a little abstraction in camera, without too much post. As a result, I shot wide open instead of stopping down to capture the stem / background. Will take your suggestion and experiment with other flowers to compare though.
Meanwhile, I like the crop you used for the second image. Part of me felt that the bright top border was competing against the sun-rays.
Most importantly though, what are your thoughts on these images as they pertain to the fine art category? Do they sway you in that direction or are they mundane and lack the certain, "look?"
Maybe the first image with flower, the other one is somehow ordinary to me.
I like the flower. I get a sense of solitude with it. I was looking for a little more of the sun in the second shot...it did leave me wanting more.
I appreciate the work that went into both and the desire in following your intuition in this discipline.