Old Log and Lupine

I've tried to process this file before and was never happy with the finished results. Thanks to John Mumaw for his suggestions, I final got it right..I think. This little meadow/flat spot on the side of a mountain in the Gallatin Canyon south of Bozeman, Mt. It was a cold morning..37degrees when I left my house, and it was cold on the fingers. I forgot to grab my gloves when I left my Blazer. There was ice/frost on some the leaves, and you can see hints of it in the image. All comments welcomed. Don't sugarcoat your responses. I can handle it if they are blunt.


Harold

Thanks for any and all comments in advance..

I admire your bravery for shooting on such a cold morning! It looks like you found a great field of flowers. For me, there is too much going on in the picture...my area of interest is really the log and the nearby lupines. Maybe a crop with the lupines that are in the center of the frame over to the right and down to the bottom would be nice...it might also show off more of that interesting frost on the leaves...just my 2 cents.

I agree with Jamie. Id crop this square, eliminating the 'empty' lhs. The pp looks good.

I agree, lots going on and no clear subject. But nice color and exposure! If you revisit, maybe try a lower perspective concentrating on the log and close flowers in a more intimate composition.

I agree with the above comments; the log and fg lupines are the focal point imo, the bg lupines for me get lost in the sea of green. I would definitely try a crop, and if you go back to this location try a more intimate composition.

Another vote for the crop on the left.
Thanks for the 'thanks', Harold. It was a pleasure working with this one!

I like the light and color here. I also really like the hint of warm light on the foreground conifer; I agree that a square crop is the way to go, but I would crop it to keep the foreground conifer, eliminate the distracting dead branches/needles on the right-hand middle side, making sure to keep enough of the log that it looks purposeful.

A more intimate framing would've been choice here. The real subjects are the lupines/log and there is just too much extraneous stuff to have any impact. This is a lovely scene you have with great light. Processing looks good too.

Pam

What most people have said (crop the left side out - I'd crop as far as removing the small tree in the foreground entirely.) I'd also crop out the dead conifer needles(?) on the right side, which distract me from the rest of the image. That leaves you with the main focus of this image - the lupines - and a nice diagonal of the log in the foreground. The image ends up being vertical, I realize. Not sure how large it could go with such a dramatic crop, but if it were mine that's what I might try.

Of course, you always have an excuse to go out next summer and shoot it again! I say a cold, miserable day of photograpy beats the best day at the office, hands down.

Erik