The extinguished flame

[robertwsimpson]

C&C is welcome.

 

[dhilberg]

Cool colors. I like the contrast between the green candle and the purplish smoke. Don't like the dead space to the right though. I think it would look much better cropped to a 5:4 vertical. It's also way underexposed, like in the 2-stop range.

I would shoot it again if possible, and add 1.67-2.0 stops to your exposure. Adjusting exposure by that much in post is probably going to create tons of noise.

 

[hopdaddy]

I wouldn't change a thing! grreat shott!!

 

[DoubleEphoto]

I agree with the composition. Seems off.

 

[hopdaddy]

To me the empty space to the right adds mystery,"who blew the candle out,why did they,what are there intentions etc.etc.etc.with out the dead space,it's a candle with cool colored smoke,.....it's just my 0.02 worth.but i like it as is,and that's why

 

[robertwsimpson]

thanks everyone for the comments. I agree it is underexposed, but that is not without good reason. my lighting equipment for this picture was 2 desklamps. to stop the smoke and get a proper exposure was a virtual impossibility, unfortunately. I finally have a proper strobe, so I might try a similar shot again.

as for the crop, I considered a vertical frame, but I quite like the empty space to the right. Different strokes for different folks, I suppose.

 

[robbie_vlad]

I like the lighting, but here's what I would do:

Straigten in upt (the candle looks tilted to the left a bit).
Crop so about the right edge of the candle is the boarder (here's a quick edit of what I mean):

 

[robertwsimpson]

I like mine better.

thanks though.

 

[dleightley]

It seems like you have a good idea of what you want any wayy, but I like the style and comp of your photo, I would not change it at all

 

[robertwsimpson]

thanks I just wish I had brighter lights... as mentioned, it is a tad underexposed, but I did the best I could with what I have... there's always next time!

 

[dleightley]

Well we deal with what we have got an dmake the best of it, like you have

 

[fiveoboy01]

Other than the underexposure, I like it. The dead space on the right works for me in this image.

If you like it, that's all that matters anyhow. Photography is subjective

 

[TJ K]

I think the original is great! The area to the right adds mystery and really sets off the pic. Nice shot have you tried lighting it up a bit in PP or does that really mess it up? Nice shot though and cool colors.
Tj

 

[robertwsimpson]

I tried helping it out in PP, but it gets noisy quickly. I have some new ones I took with a strobe, I'll post them soon.

 

[TJ K]

Please do so I would really like to see them! I'm going to have to try this sometime.