Reflections

[bitrunner]

I enjoy taking pictures of reflected surfaces, and thought I captured this nicely in this photo. However, I have had all kinds of surprising responses, including one that I needed to simplify when I thought it was already simplified. I also thought I was using good composition using leading lines and rule of thirds. Looking for criticism of what's wrong and how can it be improved. Thanks.

[Wavelength]

Dear Andy,

Please post your image here for getting comments easily

i saw your image; i found some elements which are very good and some other which are not so good; the green blurred bush in the foreground on the right hand side is a great hindrance to the view; further i thing a bit more zoom out would give a better scenery ?

Regards

[bitrunner]

I also took some pics zoomed out, but I was attracted to shape of the grass juxtaposed with the bird sculptures. The only way I could have gotten rid of the right hand blur would be to move the focus in front of the blur. Might have been able to.move to the left a little to remove the blur altogether.

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[Shadowman]

Hi Andy,

Perhaps part of the issue is that you lead the viewer to expect reflections and what is shown is miniscule in comparison to the overall composition and a bit too dark to fully appreciate.

[bitrunner]

Reflections tend to disappear when the water is lighter. Wasn't trying to overwhelm viewer with reflections.

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[bitrunner]

Also if the water were darker, there wouldn't be as much color contrast between the water and the grass.


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[Geoff F]

My comments aren't very positive I'm afraid, Andy. Some of them have already been mentioned.

Large completely out of focus bush on the right side. Even the grass like foliage in the centre is soft focus. Looks like the sharp focus area is in the background. I would have preferred it the other way around. Head cut off from the right hand bird statue.

As previously mentioned, the image is rather dark. Possibly lighten the highlights but retain the current shadow values? Or do a bit of selective brightness adjustment with layers and masks or an adjustment brush?

[skitterbug]

I'm not an expert by any means but if the pic were mine, I would have left the birds out completely and moved the path more to the right. Not sure what you were seeing on the left side but if you are looking for reflections of the greenery, you would have had more of that perhaps?

And I have to ask what is that little item on the rock in the center of those bushes. It looks odd?

I really like ponds and the pictures that can be had from them! Is this one nearby so you can "play" some more? Good luck in your quest to capture reflections! I like the idea!

[Rainforest]

Maybe this is a place you can reshoot. It looks interesting. It has a very nice line fore to back though there are some distracting elements and focus issues. Personally I would keep the 1st bird which mimics the line better and forget about the second one and concentrate on the line. Good luck on a reshoot if you can.

[bitrunner]

I did move around, but I was in a public garden. All I could really change was perspective. And everything was designed architecturally, so
to get one bird. Item on rock was a design feature. Do not like doing post processing; would rather get it right in camera as much as possible . Old school

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[bitrunner]

The only other thing I could have done is move 25 feet or so to the right, but then might have had other issues. I also had autofocus turned on, and the camera was new to me.

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[bitrunner]

I watched a video on abstract photography, and the instructor implied that it wasn't necessary to include all of something to get the point across.

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[Mike Buckley]

I really like the composition, leading lines and reflection (though I do wish the head of the bird on the right could have been included). I prefer simplified images and I agree with you that this one is already simplified.

I agree with John that the image is not mostly about reflections, so the title of your thread is misleading.

would rather get it right in camera as much as possible

I also had autofocus turned on, and the camera was new to me.

For me, by far the biggest issue is that the primary subject (the grass at the edge of water) and secondarily its reflection are both out of focus. Your focus point seems to be behind the birds when the focus point should have been your primary subject. Similarly, your depth of field probably should have also included its reflection.

After capturing an image such as this one, review it in your LCD magnified so you can review the depth of field. When the depth of field isn't ideal, adjust your focusing point and/or aperture to achieve the ideal look.

The second largest issue for me is that the image seems underexposed or at least was post-processed to appear underexposed. That's confirmed when I review the histogram. Also check your histogram after capturing an image and adjust the exposure, if needed, before retaking the photo. Also keep an eye on the histogram as you post-process the image.

[Mike Buckley]

I watched a video on abstract photography, and the instructor implied that it wasn't necessary to include all of something to get the point across.

Do you consider the image to be an abstract? I ask because I'm reasonably confident that few people would think so.

[bitrunner]

Do you consider the image to be an abstract? I ask because I'm reasonably confident that few people would think so.

No, just trying it out. I can figure out that it is a bird. Not sure why it matters that the head is missing.

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