I am really enjoying the warm feeling of the light in your image, Ray. I think you did a very good job with the exposure, and I really like the sharp and clean intricate detail.
I am not sure about the composition, though. And here is where personal preference comes into play, so take my comments for what they are worth, hoping they will give you some insight to make your image better.
I think that the left side of the image makes your image feel a bit empty and makes the subject less important. In addition, the presence of some bright OOF areas in the BG creates distractions rather than supporting the subject. I would think about cropping/toning them down.
I also feel the OOF foreground side of the leaf being intrusive at the expense of the sharp side of the leaf.
So, if you want the subject to stand out more, and get the viewer "up-close", my recommendation would be to reduce the impact of those shortfalls I mentioned. May be resorting also to some artistic liberty to make your image feel like fine art. Just follow your vision.
Shasoc wrote:
I am really enjoying the warm feeling of the light in your image, Ray. I think you did a very good job with the exposure, and I really like the sharp and clean intricate detail.
I am not sure about the composition, though. And here is where personal preference comes into play, so take my comments for what they are worth, hoping they will give you some insight to make your image better.
I think that the left side of the image makes your image feel a bit empty and makes the subject less important. In addition, the presence of some bright OOF areas in the BG creates distractions rather than supporting the subject. I would think about cropping/toning them down.
I also feel the OOF foreground side of the leaf being intrusive at the expense of the sharp side of the leaf.
So, if you want the subject to stand out more, and get the viewer "up-close", my recommendation would be to reduce the impact of those shortfalls I mentioned. May be resorting also to some artistic liberty to make your image feel like fine art. Just follow your vision.
Thanks for the detailed comments Socrate. This is one of the reasons that I did post this particular shot up for c&c. I struggled with most of the details that you speak of before coming to this one particular version of the shot posted.
I tend to like some supporting elements or sense of place, and thus likely tend to have more OOF items in my shots than I should. Interesting observation about "feeling empty".
Re: distracting bright elements, I agree, I actually cropped out some on the left side of the image. Guess I did not crop out enough.
Below is a different shot that somewhat addresses the two elements above, but does not address the OOF foreground. I'll have to think about hot to get there composition-wise in the field.
