Simple Pleasures

[Marie Hass]

Just sat down to the kitchen table looking out the window at the gorgeous pre-spring light coming in.

And then I saw this.

Enjoy.

Comment or critique if you will.





Marie

[Wavelength]

Pleasure of seeing and watching beauty....

[Rainforest]

A pleasure for sure and you are right the light is gorgeous. They are both really nice shots. Possibly lightening up the petals a bit near the stem in the second one might be something to try. So pretty!

[Marie Hass]

Thank you, Nandakumar.

It is so nice just to be still and let it soak in.

Marie

[Marie Hass]

Thank you, Susan.

My PP jpegs always are darker than the original and my intent.

I forget t o account for that.

Marie

[bje07]

Nice colors and aspect of the leaves thanks to the beautiful light captured. I love them.

[Geoff F]

I would be tempted to crop a little closer to the flower.

Maybe crop to 4 x 5 ratio for the first image but keep the leaf directly behind the flower intact. Perhaps 5 x 4 ratio for the second one and lose a fraction from the bottom?

[Mike Buckley]

It is so nice just to be still and let it soak in.

Both images certainly deserve that kind of attention. The light and compositions are just wonderful.

I favor the first one because of the beautiful underside of the leaves beneath the blossoms. The veins in those leaves are wonderful leading lines pointing toward the blossom. Consider cropping about halfway between the top and the blossoms to bring even more attention to that area of the scene.

[Marie Hass]

I would be tempted to crop a little closer to the flower.

Maybe crop to 4 x 5 ratio for the first image but keep the leaf directly behind the flower intact. Perhaps 5 x 4 ratio for the second one and lose a fraction from the bottom?

Geoff, thank you!

I have been playing with understanding the Fibonacci spiral, and how it works when cropping. Do you have a better suggestion for me a regarding a better crop using this principle?

I am just learning.

Marie

[Marie Hass]

Both images certainly deserve that kind of attention. The light and compositions are just wonderful.

I favor the first one because of the beautiful underside of the leaves beneath the blossoms. The veins in those leaves are wonderful leading lines pointing toward the blossom. Consider cropping about halfway between the top and the blossoms to bring even more attention to that area of the scene.

Thank you, Mike for commenting.

Did you see my comment to Geoff above?

I am enjoying the implications of the Fibonacci spiral so that I can retain a more artistic composition.

Marie

[Mike Buckley]

I am enjoying the implications of the Fibonacci spiral so that I can retain a more artistic composition.

That's fine so long as we don't force an image to fit whatever compositional guideline we are thinking of at the time. If the Fibonacci spiral indicates to leave more space in the upper part of the image, that's misguided in my mind. Just my opinion.

[Geoff F]

For me, Marie, compositional rules are OK when it comes to creating a scene from nothing; for example, placing images for still life photography. Much the same manner in which an artist would work with a painting.

However, real life nature doesn't conform to arbitrary photography rules. It is more a case of forget about the rules, or at least use quite a bit of flexibility. Start with what you have captured, but try to do what you can in the way of composition angles before shooting. Then decide what is going to be the main subject and work away from there.

I often place a few pieces of card against my screen to decide how I am going to crop an image.

For me, the first image has quite a bit of out of focus leaves at the bottom which becomes wasted space to my eyes. But you need to show the undersides of those nicely marked leaves and stems. This gives a fairly fixed starting point. From there, it is a case of looking at the alternatives until a pleasing scene develops; which may or may not fit in with any fixed rules.

The second image, to my eyes, has the flower fairly well up towards the top right corner with a large dark part of a leaf in the bottom left corner where it is dominating the composition and distracting from the flower. I would want to reduce, or exclude, the effect of that leaf.

Before shooting any botanical subjects I have a long look at the overall scene and move or clip out any distracting elements. Then I think about my focus depth and whether I am getting what I want from one shot or do I need to do a merge of focus points.

I also look carefully for any potential hot spots, as you have in the top right corner. Excessive shadows also have to be considered.

All this, to me, is more important than attempting to force a natural scene into fixed rules.

[Marie Hass]

Thanks, Geoff, for the explanation. I am just learning and wanted to know your thoughts. Appreciate it.

I dealt with the hot spot by decreasing brightness a tad and adding a vignette. Perhaps not enough? I am open to all possibilities and will try a crop using your input.

Thanks so much for replying again.

[Marie Hass]

Thanks, Mike. I value your opinion.

Just trying different things instead of my best guess.

Again thanks for replying.

Marie

[Shadowman]

Nice set.

[Marie Hass]

Thanks John. It has been hard to pick a camera up again.

[bnnrcn]

Great color contrast and light Marie I agree with Mike about cropping from the top a bit and may be cropping some of the out of focus leaves in the FG but leaving the underside of the leaves in the frame.

[Marie Hass]

Jean, I missed replying to your comment. Thank you for stopping by.

Marie

[Marie Hass]

Thank you Binnur.

I will give it a try.

Marie

[purplehaze]

The first one especially is gorgeous, Marie. Count me in as one who favours the tighter crop. I think it would create a marvellous sense of intimacy, while leaving lots of variation in colour, light and texture to luxuriate in. So nice to see you posting again!