Purple Peace

[pmiller76]

I am a beginner using the Nikon D3100 and need more feedback on my photos or I will always be a beginner!

I appreciate the feedback. This picture was taken outside my garage, I like how macro can make a beautiful picture in an otherwise boring location.

[lrivetz]

I like the lighting but not the composition. Every time I look at the photo my eye keeps wondering somewhere else. What exactly is the message that you want your photo to convey? Or, what is the focus of your photo?

[pmiller76]

You have a good point in your question. I think in my excitement to be "different" I placed the focus off center. My only point was that this small flower is beautiful when shot up close. I think I should of just kept the flower centered on this shot since there is no purpose for the background. Also I am really enjoying playing with the f stop and messing with my depth of field.

[utsuri]

While I'm also a beginner, my grandpa-in-law has been helping me a LOT while I've been getting some pics ready for a competition. His main point for me has been the subject, which has helped me a lot. (I know what my subject is, but do my viewers know?- a question I ask myself now) While I love the flowers in this picture (it really is amazing exposure), the background throws me off since my eyes wander off to that, and then back to the unopened bloom in the middle, which isn't as sharp as the opened flowers. Maybe just one bloom, with the rest of the flowers making a soft, unfocused background pattern, would help. I tried something similar this weekend, and while I liked it, my grandfather was focused on another picture I took of an entirely different subject that was, in all reality, a lot better technically, but didn't have the pretty colors that I favored, lol.

[DanielLane]

I personally don't mind the flowers be off center. What I think is drawing the eye away is the one stem in the back right going up and away from the flowers. That combined with the direction all of the flowers are facing keeps drawing the eye to the right. you could even try to crop out that stem or remove it in PS or something just to see what happens. maybe something like this..


I cropped it down. Then there was still some of the flower left in the upper right corner, so I used the PS Photo Raw tools and brightened and enhanced the upper corner until the flower disappeared.

I hope you don't mind that I did this. I was just trying to show what I would have done.

[windrider86]

Please be sure to read the guidelines and include the information asked for. Having that info helps a great deal tot he people who are willing to help you. Thank you

[JFSanders]

Just a composition issue and one that can be corrected by cropping to the square format. You have a bright spot sitting in the right third line and the eye is naturally drawn to bright spots. So this makes the eye jump back and forth between what the mind knows should be the subject and the distraction that is the bright spot. The out of focus stem in the right edge will lend tension towards that side as the mind tries to make out what is on that side of the frame. Crop it down to a square or slight portrait format. This won't completely eliminate the bright spot but will subdue it considerably, maybe enough to make the photograph work.

This edit has been cropped. A slight gray point correction. Has had a color correction done on the background. And has been sharpened with a high pass filter on the luminance channel.

Jim

[ALBERT WARD]

As a keen gardener and photographer (amateur), what I would like to see in a flower or flowers for that matter is detail and a vivid display of colour. From a gardener's point of view, one must remember to capture the characteristics of the plant you are photographing. When it is a plant that tend to produce bunches or clusters of flowers, that is what you would like to see - the whole picture. The only time this will differ, is when you want to single out one specific flower in the bunch and the best way to do this is to render the rest of the bunch out of focus or create a blurred image of some kind. If my memory does not fail me, this looks like family of the Agapanthus which displays its flowers in a fountain/bunch like manner. The same goes for the foliage and this is what you want to capture - well at least from a gardeners point of view!
A different story when it comes to plants with single blooms, then the entire focus will be on the one and only flower. The same applies to foliage.

In general, I like your picture, the only thing you maybe could have done was to dim the lighting on the back ground a bit or limit the reflection. I think if you go and look at your histogram, you might find some "clipping" on the light/white/bright side.

Enjoy - Albert

Ps. I dont like the cropped version - the purple is not natural - but that's just me!!

[JFSanders]

Ps. I dont like the cropped version - the purple is not natural - but that's just me!!

I didn't do any color correction on the flowers. Just a gray point correction on the background? I will have to go back and see if moving the gray point made a hue change.

Jim

[DanielLane]

I think it did. The purple is almost oversaturated... nice crop though