Kolob overlook & some wildflowers

Tango · August 4, 2009

went up the the cabin last weekend, (family cabin,) and it was our weekend, but ofcourse other family members decided to come up anyways, so i got pissed and took off on the four-wheeler not to return until it was time to go home, kinda glad that happened or i would have likely sat around eating chips & burnt hotdogs...

i messed around with my camera, 12gb of images, after lots and lots of deleting i was left with these...
please please, provide me with any comments you feel necessary to make these images or me & the camera better. (minus the temper part of me)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

marcpro · August 4, 2009

Wow, I don't know if you were shooting mad, or madly shooting, but keep doing what you're doing, they're all great! 2,3 and 4 are my favorites. Was there any PP done on 4? It seems a little blurry, which adds to the mood of the picture in my opinion. The white balance seems off on 5 and 13 (on the warm side), but that might have been intentional. 7 is a nice "echo" with the blur in the background.
Cheers,
Marc.

e mari ad terram · August 5, 2009

I am a sucker for tones so 1 and 12 are my hands down fav's. I like the warmer tone of 12 and would try to apply that to 1 as well, it is just a smidge cooler than the other.

I am good with flowers (I try shooting them myself), but end up not liking any of them I shoot, because to me they all start to look the same...

sooo for flower shots if they don't really hit and pop, ehh... ya know?

of the flower type ones, I like 10. simple and interesting. and 2, although i would consider a portrait orientation (with the flowers at the bottom)...

in 4, i like the idea, and the pattern, for me it just needs a place for my eye to "land", it tries to land in the lower right but not quite...

anywhoo, that's my c and c... just what's on ma brain...

Ryan

Allan FG · August 5, 2009

I like the composition of #2 but the center flower looks blown out, it would be nice to have some detail on the petals.

Other than that great series.

thapamd · August 5, 2009

Beautiful shots with excellent variety in subject matter, processing, and artistic effects. Wonderful job!

CWSkopec · August 5, 2009

Aaron, great series!! If this is what happens when you get pissed and need to blow off some steam, it's time to hire an insult comic to follow you around a couple days a week!

Try as I may, I've never done a good job shooting flowers (I tend to blame it on equipment, but deep down I know I just need to spend more time trying it) so take these comments with an appropriately sized grain of salt...

2 - I love it! I love almost everything about it... 2 nits, I can see a little detail in the petals of the center flower, but would like to see it a little more. I see a green blob (probably an OOF leaf) in the upper center that's a bit distracting, clone that out and give me a little more texture to the petals, and it's perfect!

3 - I think looks super cool! I don't really have a nit, I'm just curious how you did it. Mask out the background? Or night shot with a flash?

4 - I really like the feel of this one, but a couple things are detracting slightly. Consider cropping down from the top a little bit more to get rid of more of that blown out spot near the top middle and the darker spot in the upper right corner. And I'm not sure I like the DOF on it. I can't really put my finger on it, but I think my eye is trying to see the abstract repeating pattern of the grass and isn't finding it because of the shallow DOF

7 - I love the comp and colors! The repetition looks amazingly good! I just wish the flowers weren't wilted. (I like the similar repetition in 8, but the color changes in the background are pulling my attention away)

The others all look good too, these are just the ones that I could formulate any sort of close to worth while comments on!

Miguel Delinquento · August 5, 2009

Aaron, your back story had me laughing. Other family members, ah yes, I like your solution to the problem and how you converted your energy to a very productive day.

Some thoughts about the shots:

1. This is a lovely shot. I like the foreground, and the sepia-esque tone, and the view. Only bugaboo is the little white cloud on the far left, it just distracts.

2. It's OK but the center daisy is blown to obscuring the petal detail. I also don't like the bottom left specimen, too raggy.

3. Nice color and black background is good. But the plant (lupine?) form is a little too ungraceful, especially the stalks on the right. Too much going on in the frame.

4. I like this one. A little too crisp on the edges, but I like it anyway, especially the color and patterning.

5. I'd cull this one. Too overbaked, the bee is not well detailed, too much stuff in the frame.

6. Same here. White in bright summer is so difficult to get right in a closeup. Also too much in the frame and my eye is not riveted.

7. Might be my favorite, great color, bokeh, simple sharp form, and the replication in the background is at a perfect angle and distance. Very nice.

8. Not quite. The angle of the sun and harsh shadows blocks some detail without providing drama. Too much going on on the bottom third of the frame.

9. Too much. The lighting is a bit too strong (I don't like shooting nature in peak summer much for that reason) and the two flowers do not compliment eachother. Nice try though.

10. Nope. I've seen too many of these shots from too many people during the past 3 months.

11. Technically I like the shot, crisp contrasty color and fun to look at. But something about the crop or the frame is buggin' me. It looks too chopped off. I think a field of these shot from a wider perspective would be amazing.

12. Gotta like this one too. Like that tone again. Mostly, it's just a contemplative picture, worth hanging up near a desk.

13. See no. 5.

Few things can beat being out there alone for hours with rich shooting material. I'd say you had a fine afternoon.

M

wfeller · August 5, 2009

Looks good Aaron. I like #1 the best. No critique- show me your taste and judgement.

-

Eia · August 5, 2009

No critique but I know what I like... 1, 10, 11 stand out for me!

theNOIZ · August 5, 2009

My brutha from anutha mutha (a mutual name that Aaron and I use for each other

),

Per my comment on FB, now I can see the smoke from the fire on the left side of the first image. I really like this image in the sephia-ish tone that you used. It looks like the same tone that you used on #12. However, I like the first one better. #12 gets a little dark at the bottom, but it could be my monitor. I'm going to hold out on my comments until I see what you-know-who says.

Tango · August 5, 2009

excellent excellent feedback from you all! thank you!!!

I want to respond specifically to each of you tonight when I get home, so tune back in tomorrow... also possible; I can fix many of the points made and I will repost the revised images for further eval.

Awais Yaqub · August 5, 2009

very nice photos ! 11th is my favorite

coscorrosa · August 5, 2009

You asked for it!

Caveat: I don't know what the hell I'm talking about in general, and about photography in particular.

#1: I think there's a little too much foreground in this one, makes it hard to appreciate the scale of the scene. If there was a single isolated foreground subject I think it would be better. But I do like the concept of silhouettes and the tones of the photo.

#2: Perfect. Love the spot light effect and the dark background.

#3: I think the black dark background works better in #2 than this shot, mostly because there's too much stuff in this shot. If it was zoomed in more and only showed part of the flower rather than the petals, leaves, etc. then the isolated effect/black background would work better. IMO.

#4: Great subject. Hopefully you have some close ups too. I think a close up with narrow DOF would be great.

#5: Too much color contrast to me. Need to see the eyes on that bee

#6: Really really like the composition and narrow DOF on this one. Just wish the left flower wasn't clipped. Otherwise perfect.

#7: Like the parallel flowers. Might work better cropped to eliminate that one perpendicular branch in the lower right which doesn't fit in with the rest of the flowers.

#8: Like the narrow DOF, composition, and green background. The blue part of the background is distracting though, if you could have shot from a higher angle and had it all be green I think it would be better.

#9: Light is a little too harsh for me. I've found that on sunny days wildflowers can look great in shade, either natural, or human (by standing in front of the sun and casting a shadow on the subject0.

#10: This one is great. Uniform background color, great comp, subject and details.

#11: Awesome flower. But I think there's too much of it in the photo. Either zoomed way out to get some of its buddies in the frame (if there were more), or zoomed way in to isolate the individual details and great colors.

#12: I really like the tones on this one too. I think the silhouette would be more striking if it didn't intersect with the background.

#13: A little too bright to me. I see what you're trying to do with that flower, but whenever I try and get clever and shoot flowers that aren't at their peak it never works. I usually try to find the strongest specimens, especially for detailed shots like this.

My general advice for flower detail/macros:

* Shoot in overcast light if you can. Strong contrasty light *can* work in some cases (specifically if you can light up a flower with some nice back light, or if you cast a shadow), but usually overcast is best. Shade is also good.

Here's an example of strong back light:

* Isolated subjects look better close up. Don't feel obligated to include the entire subject in the frame. Often the little details are better anyway. Much like a waterfall, sometimes people want to get the entire thing in the frame, when the better compositions are often found by zooming in a bit on the interesting details.

* Narrow DOF is usually better (IMO) on detailed flower shots. Several of your shots show this already.

All of this is highly subjective of course. Feel free to ignore any or all of it

Tango · August 5, 2009

marcpro wrote:

Wow, I don't know if you were shooting mad, or madly shooting, but keep doing what you're doing, they're all great! 2,3 and 4 are my favorites. Was there any PP done on 4? It seems a little blurry, which adds to the mood of the picture in my opinion. The white balance seems off on 5 and 13 (on the warm side), but that might have been intentional. 7 is a nice "echo" with the blur in the background.
Cheers,
Marc.

thanks Marc!, #4 has nothing special to it, other than a little slower shutter with a little wind present... everything was moving so i just waited for that one leaning grass steam to stop for a moment and i snapped it hoping to get some blur everywhere except on my main grass steam....

Tango · August 5, 2009

e mari ad terram wrote:

I am a sucker for tones so 1 and 12 are my hands down fav's. I like the warmer tone of 12 and would try to apply that to 1 as well, it is just a smidge cooler than the other.

I am good with flowers (I try shooting them myself), but end up not liking any of them I shoot, because to me they all start to look the same...

sooo for flower shots if they don't really hit and pop, ehh... ya know?

of the flower type ones, I like 10. simple and interesting. and 2, although i would consider a portrait orientation (with the flowers at the bottom)...

in 4, i like the idea, and the pattern, for me it just needs a place for my eye to "land", it tries to land in the lower right but not quite...

anywhoo, that's my c and c... just what's on ma brain...

Ryan

Tango · August 5, 2009

Allan FG wrote:

I like the composition of #2 but the center flower looks blown out, it would be nice to have some detail on the petals.

Other than that great series.

Thanks, Im not sure what to do with this one just yet...Im going to print it (5 x 7) and see how the details turn out on the petals... however I do have alot of room to tone them down because I did add alot of luminance to the Yellow on this image......

Tango · August 5, 2009

thapamd wrote:

Beautiful shots with excellent variety in subject matter, processing, and artistic effects. Wonderful job!

Thanks!

Tango · August 5, 2009

CWSkopec wrote:

Aaron, great series!! If this is what happens when you get pissed and need to blow off some steam, it's time to hire an insult comic to follow you around a couple days a week!

Try as I may, I've never done a good job shooting flowers (I tend to blame it on equipment, but deep down I know I just need to spend more time trying it) so take these comments with an appropriately sized grain of salt...

2 - I love it! I love almost everything about it... 2 nits, I can see a little detail in the petals of the center flower, but would like to see it a little more. I see a green blob (probably an OOF leaf) in the upper center that's a bit distracting, clone that out and give me a little more texture to the petals, and it's perfect!

3 - I think looks super cool! I don't really have a nit, I'm just curious how you did it. Mask out the background? Or night shot with a flash?

4 - I really like the feel of this one, but a couple things are detracting slightly. Consider cropping down from the top a little bit more to get rid of more of that blown out spot near the top middle and the darker spot in the upper right corner. And I'm not sure I like the DOF on it. I can't really put my finger on it, but I think my eye is trying to see the abstract repeating pattern of the grass and isn't finding it because of the shallow DOF

7 - I love the comp and colors! The repetition looks amazingly good! I just wish the flowers weren't wilted. (I like the similar repetition in 8, but the color changes in the background are pulling my attention away)

The others all look good too, these are just the ones that I could formulate any sort of close to worth while comments on!

#2 (note post to Allan)
#3 that was just the result of having the last light shine through the trees onto just this portion of the plant, there was no ambient in the BG... no special PP needed.
#4 will forsure crop, thanks for the good eye!

Tango · August 6, 2009

Miguel Delinquento wrote:

Aaron, your back story had me laughing. Other family members, ah yes, I like your solution to the problem and how you converted your energy to a very productive day.

Some thoughts about the shots:

1. This is a lovely shot. I like the foreground, and the sepia-esque tone, and the view. Only bugaboo is the little white cloud on the far left, it just distracts.

2. It's OK but the center daisy is blown to obscuring the petal detail. I also don't like the bottom left specimen, too raggy.

3. Nice color and black background is good. But the plant (lupine?) form is a little too ungraceful, especially the stalks on the right. Too much going on in the frame.

4. I like this one. A little too crisp on the edges, but I like it anyway, especially the color and patterning.

5. I'd cull this one. Too overbaked, the bee is not well detailed, too much stuff in the frame.

6. Same here. White in bright summer is so difficult to get right in a closeup. Also too much in the frame and my eye is not riveted.

7. Might be my favorite, great color, bokeh, simple sharp form, and the replication in the background is at a perfect angle and distance. Very nice.

8. Not quite. The angle of the sun and harsh shadows blocks some detail without providing drama. Too much going on on the bottom third of the frame.

9. Too much. The lighting is a bit too strong (I don't like shooting nature in peak summer much for that reason) and the two flowers do not compliment eachother. Nice try though.

10. Nope. I've seen too many of these shots from too many people during the past 3 months.

11. Technically I like the shot, crisp contrasty color and fun to look at. But something about the crop or the frame is buggin' me. It looks too chopped off. I think a field of these shot from a wider perspective would be amazing.

12. Gotta like this one too. Like that tone again. Mostly, it's just a contemplative picture, worth hanging up near a desk.

13. See no. 5.

Few things can beat being out there alone for hours with rich shooting material. I'd say you had a fine afternoon.

M

thank you so very much

#1, I do have a few other comps of this... the cloud is a little wild fire, at the time I thought to add it in to help the understanding of the haze... but I can try a few things.
#2, looking into my PP, I may have added a little too much Luminance...work in progress.
#3, no idea what type, and agreed I could have comp this a little better, (this was a split second decission due to the setting sun within moments of this shot...)
#4,

#5, will look into PP revision asap. maybe a tighter crop too.
#9, agreed
#10, oh come on:D that was my first one ever, and its a mountain dandy

#11, I didnt have much to work with on the FG or BG... I wish Id thought to try different framing!
#13, I will revise the PP on this one too, there is something about it I really like, so dont give up on this one M!...

Tango · August 6, 2009

wfeller wrote:

Looks good Aaron. I like #1 the best. No critique- show me your taste and judgement.

-

(oh hey, whens the next trip up here?)

Tango · August 6, 2009

Eia wrote:

No critique but I know what I like... 1, 10, 11 stand out for me!

Thank You!!

Tango · August 6, 2009

theNOIZ wrote:

My brutha from anutha mutha (a mutual name that Aaron and I use for each other ),

Per my comment on FB, now I can see the smoke from the fire on the left side of the first image. I really like this image in the sephia-ish tone that you used. It looks like the same tone that you used on #12. However, I like the first one better. #12 gets a little dark at the bottom, but it could be my monitor. I'm going to hold out on my comments until I see what you-know-who says.

brutha, I have a few more slightly different comps to show on this #1...
glad you like the PP!

Tango · August 6, 2009

Awais Yaqub wrote:

very nice photos ! 11th is my favorite

Thank You Awais!

Tango · August 6, 2009

coscorrosa wrote:

You asked for it!

Thanks!! I will get back to you on all this asap... I ran out of time..

dlplumer · August 6, 2009

Truly a beautiful series Aaron. I particularly like the toned images, but they are all beautiful. Love some of the selective focus shots on the flowers and the dandelion.

Very artistic stuff man

Danny

Kolob overlook & some wildflowers

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