LUSTROUS

[mishele]

Which do you like better and why?!! Or none and why....lol
1.

2.

:thumbup::thumbdown:

 

[Overread]

The second one by far! I think its because in the first the petal on the near right is acting kind of strange and throwing the viewer (at least its kind of throwing me) whilst the second one just works far better (though I'm not 100% sure about the rather central horizontal divide between flower and background on that one)

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

"Dislike"

 

[mishele]

You forgot the why Bitter. lol

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

SEE!

 

[Bynx]

I like them both. Beginning to a nice set. Perhaps a yellow flower and some other predominant color both done in same focus style. Wall hangers for sure.

 

[o hey tyler]

I like the first one because the angle gives the flower more dimension and adds to the scene. The second one appears to be too visually "flat" in my eyes. It could also be because I'm wicked baked. I don't know. :thumbup:

 

[Fleetwood271]

I like the 2nd one much better. Just enough of the second one is in focus and just sharp enough to draw my eye. Not so in the first one. Both are really good however.

 

[clarinetJWD]

Post-processing is a double edged sword.

Let's start out by saying that I'm a fan of the second as well, but not necessarily from a "photographic" point of view. For me, because of the ludicrously shallow depth of field, neither of these work as "flower shots", but both work very well as an expression of abstract form and color.

The first one: I am a huge fan of monochromatic photos, especially when it's a more abstract composition. It is a striking style, and works well for me. However, it is not quite as monochromatic as I had hoped. In other words, you have the purple flower just barely in focus, and the blurry forms of other flowers around it, all of which is great. What I would like to see, however, is the brown/tan upper right and the black upper left also filled with purple. Of course, I don't expect you to plany flowers there just for the sake of the photo, but maybe there's a closer composition, or a different angle that does that? In the absence of a re-shoot, I'll suggest something that is almost painful for me to mention in a day when every amateur photographer does this to be artsy: Selective color. Nothing extreme, but I'd take that brown and make it neutral to not distract from the lovely purple, and maybe burn it down to be more in line with the other corner. The other thing I'd mention is, oddly, for me, a bit too much is in focus. This seems crazy, right? But remember, I'm looking at these from an abstract point of view. There's just enough in focus to see the imperfections in the flower petals: darker spots, a slightly ragged edge, etc. The photo is 99% other-worldly, and that 1% brings us back to Earth.

The second one: This one as an abstract is perfect to me. Sure you can tell what the subject is, but the point of an abstract is that the photo is more about the evocation of a feeling than the subject, and this does that brilliantly. The blurred lines of colors that are not only layered in 3 lush areas, but also complement each other wonderfully make this great. This time, while it has the same level of focus, there are no imperfections to speak of, so it works. If I had to choose something to critique, and I'm not the sort of person to leave that out, it's the collection of tiny white dots on the green, in focus section. Clone it out, as it's distracting, and a leftover from aggressive sharpening (I think). The other, very minor, thing is there is a flower petal about halfway up on the left hand side that is on nearly the exact same plane as the main flower, and as such, ir nearly in focus. This draws the eye left, and I think it would work better without it. Whether that means a re-shoot, or some deft cloning in photoshop, I'd like to see the result.

Now, back to my original comment. These are very clearly, and strongly processed. I do not say that as a negative - It's a style, and I think it works here, but it was one of the first thoughts that entered my head. If that's what you were going for (the stylized, photo-manipulation look as opposed to a more traditional photo), than congratulations, I think you did a great job!

(I know we've both been around a long time here, and you've probably got a pretty good handle on me, but I always put this disclaimer on critique posts. I don't spend as much time as I should in the photo galleries. When I venture in to comment, it might seem like I'm tearing photos absolutely apart. That's what I do. I pick nits--I am a nitpicker, but I only comment on the photos that I think have a high level of potential and/or artistic merit. Needless to say, I really do love these photos.)

EDIT: Holy crap, sorry for the TL;DR.

 

[Derrel]

I do not "get" the purple hued background in photo #2...it's solid toned, and very dominant, and its sheer size makes me wonder how the heck it got there...it just doesn't seem quite "right". Except for the dominant background color wash, I like photo #2 more so than #1.

 

[mishele]

Thanks for all the comments guys!!!!

Overread.......I see what you are saying about the middle composition. I played around w/ that a lot and just never ended up completely happy w/ it. Funny how you can spend tons of time cropping!!! After a certain amount of time you just can't figure out what works anymore.....lol You almost start to over think it.

Bitter.......I "dislike" you.........

Bynx....Thanks for the comment!! I have a yellow one that might fit along nicely w/ this set! Maybe I'll post that one up. =)

Tyler........my work is always best viewed trashed or high!!! So it sounds like I nailed the first one for ya!!!

Fleetwood....I always struggle w/ DoF and focus like you are talking about. There is a thin line when I take flower shots. I don't like to just document a flower....I like giving you a new view on a flower. Sometimes it works sometimes not.......=)

 

[mishele]

Ok Derrel and clarinetJWD

Since you 2 had some comments on the PP, I figured I would post up the originals to let you see for yourself how much work I did on them.
1.

2.

Derrel....I know you commented on the background looking somewhat out of place......as you can see that is the way it was in the original. I took it at angle that there were lots of purple flowers behind it. Now that you see the shot, do you still think it is too over the top?

clarinetJWD.......I never take offense to comments......I can learn from anything...... I do tend to over PP my flower shots.....lol So I'm interested in hearing what you have to say after seeing the originals. =) I agree if I would like to make these perfect, there is some blurring and other stuff I should do to spots on these. I can see the imperfections that you mentioned. Thanks for the in depth feed back!! It was a lot of fun to read and I appreciate it!

Thanks again guys!!!

 

[L0vemedead]

I like both of them, but the second one more. Most because it was more focused than the first one.
Although, very nice.
I wish I could take pictures of flowers and make them look good.

 

[Derrel]

Your PP on both shots really elevated the originals. I dunno...I just have a less than positive reaction toward that purple-hued background in shot #2...not sure why...it's oddly hard to explain...just a visceral reaction...this has been a good thread to read through, and I really appreciated the C&C clarinetJWD provided, as well as your measured, rational responses to the various C&C posts.

 

[Mike Lamb]

I think both are stunning but not good or special if that makes sense. The first falters because of a weak point of focus. Great color and balance but where’s the beef?

The second does a lot better with the pointy pistle as the show, but the background still looks too blatantly noiseless and dreamy and doesn’t seem to blend.
​