2020 - Image of the Week #46

[Zach]

Zach, nice tone range in "Forging a New Path", but it's just not an image I can see myself coming back to Perhaps ideal for a metal-worker's workshop. The "Autumn Bloom" looks like the petals and stamen are over-exposed, while the rest of the image is very dark. It's like you did selective color, but selective exposure instead, and blew out any details in the subject. I would have zoomed closer to see if there was any detail in there, but the image isn't clickable. Contrast that to the dark side of the anvil... I don't care that it's pure black. I'm not sure if that's just something I'm willing to accept more readily in B&W, or the the loss of detail there is acceptable since it allows you more tonal range in the rest of the image, that the anvil is secondary, while the hammer is the focal point, or that it's possible for that to appear near pure black in reality too... but somehow the over-darkening is fine, while the overblown lighting on the flower, especially since it's the focal point, just doesn't feel right.

First congrats Brant!.


Wow David! Never gotten this much feedback before! It means a lot.

Just want to say thanks for the time and thought you put into this, the anvil pic felt lacking something whilst in color so I tried it in b/w and it just seemed better to me is all, I might go back and fiddle with it some more to see what I can do.

As for the flower, well... it was an experiment of sorts, it is indeed lacking a lot of detail in the petals, that’s why I used this to test some color and exposures settings, since I didn’t have the detail I wanted I just decided to go “what the heck” with it and go a little extreme. I’m not the best at PP but I’ll strive to work harder on it.

Thanks again David!

Zach~

[Kayaker72]

Brant, the "Galactic Core" is nice, but I would have cleaned up the dotted 'airplane line' (or whatever it is). The foreground tree is too well-lit, so it doesn't really fit the rest of the scene. Unsure if that was just a nearby light, or an attempt at light painting. Both issues distracts from an otherwise nice photo.

Thanks everyone!

Yep...my first attempt at light painting. In the future I'll use a flashlight. This was actually with my iPhone as it was all I had on me. I do have a couple of images without light painting and the tree is completely dark and I wanted the tree to stand out as more than just a silhouette. I did darken up the ground to the bottom left. My main issue with the light on the tree is actually color temp. The more I stared at it after posting, It is just off and doesn't fit the scene. Way too cool and the tint is also a bit off. As for the plane, I do see your point and thought about it, but I did like it as a small detail. Thinking about it more, if I were to print it large on my wall, I would want it gone. If I were to print it smaller, I like it.

Thanks for the feedback/interaction. Glad you liked the sunset image. The fun part is that my sister is getting back into photography and she was standing next to me asking about my settings and composition. We actually went out twice on this trip, driving around the Palouse and then to grab that sunset (which was a mile or so from our camp).