It’s been several decades since I’ve opened my photography up for critique. I was a photography major back in the day and gave it up as a professional track so i could feed and house myself. I now really only share my photos with three friends. But there isn’t much in the way of actionable feedback - I’d love to hear your thoughts.
This photo was taken on a piece of white paper under a skylight on a cloudy day with my iPhone. I made a few small edits to bring the reds out (such a hard color to get right in digital photography).
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Personally, I’m not too great at artistic shots like this. That being said - this is a great photo. It’s refreshing to me and I think that comes with the cleanliness of the background and the harsh flash-like lighting that you’ve got going on. The detail of all the little florets is striking and I really appreciate that the light was harsh enough to illuminate almost all of the shadows in that area of the photo.
One suggestion I can offer is that my eyes keep wanting to look at the petals that are out of focus. Which I suppose is intentional. But it kind of follows a golden ratio line and that could be why! Just some food for thought but you clearly know what you’re doing!
Thank you for all your thoughts! I’m really appreciating hearing how you are perceiving this photo and where your eye is drawn to.
Thank YOU for your contributions to this awesome little community!
Looks great, can you explain how you bring out the reds if, as you say, they’re such a hard color?
Thanks!
Yeah - so reds are tricky with Digital. They blow out easily (it’s something to do with the sensor being more sensitive to that part of the spectrum). Every picture is a little different, in this case, shooting under a cloudy sky helps to reduce extreme shadows while still achieving a perfectly white background with diffuse lighting. In editing I added back a tiny bit of contrast and depth in the black to get more distinction between the petals and the floret.
I kept the flowers and a few days later under slight brighter sky I desaturated and reduced the contrast.
A very instructive set of contents - I never realised that red caused any particular problem. Many thanks for the info and the tips on your workflow - they’ll come in useful when I’m out and about spotting red poppies (ie today).
So you took two sets of shots then (… a few days later you said) - no merging or photoshopping of them?
Good to chat, thanks again for the help.
It’s interesting. I like the composition, I like the hard light, and I like the fact that you can’t really tell what’s going on at first. There isn’t an obvious spot in the photograph which draws the eye, which is a bit of a problem I think, but you do make up for a bit by putting the center of the flower on the line of thirds.
Overall I feel like this is a fairly successful shot!
Thanks! Yeah - I can see there being a need for more of a place for the eye to rest.
Not entirely sure what to make of this one. It’s doing the opposite of what I expect of a withering flower shot. I was expecting moody soft light but the light is quite hard and I kind of dig that. It brings out the details in the flower. The thing that does throw me though is the white background a coloured background would do a lot for this shot I recon. Did you try any other colours?
It’s a scary thing to let randomers critique your work. I have only done it once myself but might post one later today if I’m feeling brave enough.
I hear what you are saying about the background. I have some on a black and white background (white computer paper and my leather couch). I’m kinda lazy about taking photos - I only use what I’ve got on hand.
I think wood - where the tone /richness of color was more similar to the flower would have changed the experience and the starkness of the photo in an interesting way. I’ll poke at that next time I’ve got some interesting flowers dying at home. Thanks!
I’m a product designer by trade, so I’m pretty used to critique. I spend so much time at work with people critiquing my output, I liked taking photos just for my pleasure. I’m not sure I’m growing in my photography any more though. So … here I am. I really do hope you feel courage to share. Your insights are fantastic!
I do photography for a living, but honestly I find shooting a billboard campaign less stressful then posting in a community like this. I don’t put paid work up but I’ll see if I have something else.
You are saying your kind of lazy when it comes to taking photos as well as not growing in your photography, but do they not go hand in hand? Obviously it’s about finding time as well and I sure could do with a bit more of a lazy approach sometimes.
Yeah - I can see that. Feels more personal here. So far it’s been a good experience.
Touché. Yup, improving on my craft doesn’t go to well with being lazy. You need some opportunities to approach it from a lazy view point, and I clearly need to up my game.
