A study of yellow---comments and critiques welcome

Leigh · Apr 21, 2005

Tried to capture not only the color, but the artistic element to some degree. Please help...what did I do right? where did I go wrong? Thanks so much!

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

beaucamera · Apr 21, 2005

Interesting pics, Leigh. I liked #2 here best because it is the most eye catching. The first one is cute, but to me it would have been better to have one, not two subjects. It's hard to combine two features effectively. Maybe a closer crop on the grasshopper would be fun.

I'd like the last one better if it had a greater DOF.

Hope this helps.

Virginia
aka beaucamera

Leigh · Apr 21, 2005

beaucamera said:
Interesting pics, Leigh. I liked #2 here best because it is the most eye catching. The first one is cute, but to me it would have been better to have one, not two subjects. It's hard to combine two features effectively. Maybe a closer crop on the grasshopper would be fun.

I'd like the last one better if it had a greater DOF.

Hope this helps.

Virginia
aka beaucamera

Your comments do help. That's exactly why I asked for the comments. I'll go back out and see what I can do...I'm lucky as these roses are in my own backyard! Thanks Virginia!

greyflash · Apr 21, 2005

While the little grasshopper does fight with the center of the flower for attention I think it is really cute. The colors and the crop on the second image are right on and I like it a lot. I really see what you were trying to accomplish artistically with the last image but to me you have some things working against you. I feel you have included too much; i.e., try holding a paper over the right 1/3 of the image and see what you think. Also, it lacks a vibrance that could easily be brought up with further processing. Try just a tad more contrast and suppress the green channel saturation a little. These are just a few of my thoughts for what they are worth. All in all a good photo outing for you and I can see you are learning every day.

DMcG · Apr 21, 2005

Good shots.

What was the weather like when you shot these ? The light appears to be a bit "flat" so I'm guessing it wasn't sunny.
On the second one, if you could re-shoot it from marginlly to the right - it might "tidy up" that loose stamen (if that's the term) that appears on the left hand side behind the petal.

I'm very guilty of accidentally including stalks of grass or the odd pylon when I'm shooting, but that's why I love digital photography - you just shoot again !

greyflash · Apr 21, 2005

Leigh, this may not be what you intended for your image but I have given it my rendition for you to look at and see what you think. By the time I got through cropping it the image was pretty small. It would have been better if I could have worked with the full JPEG.

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Leigh · Apr 21, 2005

greyflash said:
While the little grasshopper does fight with the center of the flower for attention I think it is really cute. The colors and the crop on the second image are right on and I like it a lot. I really see what you were trying to accomplish artistically with the last image but to me you have some things working against you. I feel you have included too much; i.e., try holding a paper over the right 1/3 of the image and see what you think. Also, it lacks a vibrance that could easily be brought up with further processing. Try just a tad more contrast and suppress the green channel saturation a little. These are just a few of my thoughts for what they are worth. All in all a good photo outing for you and I can see you are learning every day.

I agree completely w/what you mean about covering the right 1/3...I totally missed that when I was looking them over to begin with. As to the processing, as DMcG pointed out "The light appears to be a bit "flat""....Actually, I was shooting these in bright sun under shade (does that make sense?). Anyway, I didn't know how to compensate for this as I also felt it was a tad green from the tree that caused the shading.

Thanks for all your help and keeping me encouraged. Thanks to you too Doug. I do get rather discouraged because I'm a perfectionist at heart and it's frustrating to not learn it all in one afternoon (i know, i know, i have my whole life ahead of me.....) Anyway, thanks so much and I'll post more as I take your advice and try again!

greyflash · Apr 21, 2005

When you are shooting a bright yellow flower in full sun, keep in mind what the meter is trying to do to your image; i.e., make it a medium grey. That is the same thing that happens when people photograph snow and when they see their image it comes out grey looking. To compensate for that increase your exposure by a full f stop and push the bright yellow from grey (the meter) to bright yellow. Try it you will like it. That is especially true when the bright yellow covers the full frame.

4labs · Apr 21, 2005

Leigh one thing I learned from a friend when shooting these types of pics is to use a tripod if you can. You will notice a huge difference in sharpness. I drink too much coffee to have steady hands.

Leigh · Apr 21, 2005

4labs said:
Leigh one thing I learned from a friend when shooting these types of pics is to use a tripod if you can. You will notice a huge difference in sharpness. I drink too much coffee to have steady hands.

I hear that....I hadn't even considered that my two cups of morning coffee would have made a difference....maybe i should switch to decaf AND get a tripod! Thanks for looking.

PGB · Apr 21, 2005

Think i'll build you a new computer, one thats faster in capture and PSCS so you can work with the channels more effectively Leigh.

How's a dual Xeon sound to you?

cmpalmer · Apr 22, 2005

I think that in pic #1, the idea of a tiny grasshopper being overwhelmed by the size of the flower makes it visually interesting.

#2 is very striking, also.

Leigh · Apr 22, 2005

cmpalmer said:
I think that in pic #1, the idea of a tiny grasshopper being overwhelmed by the size of the flower makes it visually interesting.

#2 is very striking, also.

Thanks so much....I just couldn't resist that little grasshopper...he was just too cute. Thanks for looking and for the nice words.

Greg · Apr 22, 2005

Patrick, I thought that dual xenon was for my office? just kidding. Though I'll have to admit, What she could do with it is far prettier than what we do.

daodang · Apr 23, 2005

Hi Leigh,

Nice pictures indeed. The green grasshopper in #1 is a little touch needed to attract viewer's eyes to the whole picture. Nicely done.

I'm neither a good artist (nor a good photographer) but IMHO. the #3 shows your very promising potential to see forms in subjects. That's one of the qualities of an artistic photographer. Develop that quality and soon we'll see in this forum an emerging artist.

Leigh · Apr 24, 2005

daodang said:
Hi Leigh,

Nice pictures indeed. The green grasshopper in #1 is a little touch needed to attract viewer's eyes to the whole picture. Nicely done.

I'm neither a good artist (nor a good photographer) but IMHO. the #3 shows your very promising potential to see forms in subjects. That's one of the qualities of an artistic photographer. Develop that quality and soon we'll see in this forum an emerging artist.

You flatter me...because I know from seeing your work the you are indeed both a good artist AND a good photographer. I guess when I have an idea for a photograph I tend to look at form first and technique second. I try to think ahead as to what my end shot will be and think "inside the box" or flower or whatever....rather than seeing the flower as just "a flower". Sometimes it works against me, but sometimes I feel like I succeed at what I wanted....The second series of yellow I shot really proved it for me. I went back and was much more pleased w/the results.

Thanks so much for your kind words and encouragement.