American Lotus Pad

Gallery: FloraPosted October 2, 2016205 views8 comments

7/19/2016 – 8:07:22 AM
Canon EOS 7D Tamron 90mm Macro Lens
1/500 sec; f/7.1; ISO 250
Manual; Spot metering
LR5, PS6, Topaz DeNoise, Topaz Detail

I thought this was beautiful even with the shadows.

All feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Mark James Ford on October 2, 2016 at 7:18 AM

Hi Barbara, this is a difficult image to critique - you have managed to control the exposure extremely well for such difficult lighting and the fundamental composition is good, but in terms of the image itself I don't like the hash light on the outer rim of the leaf and the strong shadow in the leaf. For me a much stronger image would have been to crop much tighter for a composition on the droplet of water and the wonderfully backlit leaf and loose the outer rim completely (not possible with this image I know because the outer rim on the left bottom cuts too far into this region). You would have been able to increase the exposure even more and pull more detail out of the shadows inside the leaf. In terms of processing this image, I would try and reduce contrast and bring up some saturation on the outer edge (ie try and counteract the strong light) - hope this helps ...

Registered on January 16, 2015, 60 Posts, 430 Comments

Comment posted by Patricia Brundage on October 2, 2016 at 9:10 AM

The inner, translucent portion of the leaf is stunning. The outer portion in the harsh light not so much. Do you have another image with the leaf in shade, but with the back lighting in place? Can see why you were drawn to the scene.

Registered on March 23, 2006, 1111 Posts, 6531 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on October 2, 2016 at 5:58 PM

Beautiful because of the shadows, Barbara. I love all the different shadings that the light and shadow create in this leaf. Excellent dof.

devil

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on October 2, 2016 at 9:26 PM

Lotus again. Tough exposure! Mark has made some doable suggestions, which I agree with.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Fach on October 3, 2016 at 7:21 PM

Barbara: For me this is exceptional and I like the shadows and the harsh lighting. This is another well seen comp IMO and nicely carried off. >=))>

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments

Comment posted by Nathan Buck on October 4, 2016 at 12:27 AM

I don't love the super strong light, but I do like the transparency. The water in the bottom is cool. I think you may just need to work on the harsh light a bit.

Nathan

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1101 Posts, 13589 Comments

Comment posted by Giuseppe Guadagno on October 4, 2016 at 10:11 AM

I love the transparencies and the diagonal lines that create movement. The light is really tough for the glossy surface of the pads. For experimenting have you tried to starkly increase the contrast? Anyway I love the photo.

Registered on February 3, 2007, 827 Posts, 5052 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Fach on October 4, 2016 at 10:56 PM

Barbara: You don't mention it in your techs so I would suggest that in the future faced with similar lighting conditions that you break out a polarizer. I think CPLs are grossly under used for Flora photography and they can tame some of the reflectivity. >=))>

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments