Ugly Hedgehog - Photography Forum
Home Active Topics Newest Pictures Search Login Register
Photo Critique Section
Looking for your thoughts on still life.
Page 1 of 2 next>
Dec 30, 2019 19:58:35   #
Jim-Pops Loc: Granbury, Texas
 
I am going to redo this picture and then print and frame.
Tomorrow I will go out and get a real rose and some leaves. I'm hoping to get an off white rose from our local florist. Trying to decide how much to have in focus. Intending to have the rose and wine glass totally in focus. Thinking about making the second candle from front in focus too. Looking for your thoughts.
Jim


(Download)

Reply
Dec 30, 2019 20:13:23   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
The foreground candle seems too close to the left edge. You might remove that candle all together. Or, shift the camera slightly to the left so the candles move more across and 'up' within the frame. Or, keep the same position, moving the first candle away from the edge and the candles behind the glass both back and 'up' within the frame. The focus and exposure look great to me. It's the positioning that seems to be where to make adjustments.

Reply
Dec 30, 2019 20:20:21   #
Architect1776 Loc: In my mind
 
CHG_CANON wrote:
The foreground candle seems too close to the left edge. You might remove that candle all together. Or, shift the camera slightly to the left so the candles move more across and 'up' within the frame. Or, keep the same position, moving the first candle away from the edge and the candles behind the glass both back and 'up' within the frame. The focus and exposure look great to me. It's the positioning that seems to be where to make adjustments.



Reply
 
 
Dec 31, 2019 06:28:38   #
dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida
 
CHG_CANON wrote:
The foreground candle seems too close to the left edge. You might remove that candle all together. Or, shift the camera slightly to the left so the candles move more across and 'up' within the frame. Or, keep the same position, moving the first candle away from the edge and the candles behind the glass both back and 'up' within the frame. The focus and exposure look great to me. It's the positioning that seems to be where to make adjustments.


Canon's comment...
I would say that the two front candles are stealing the show from the main actor... the flower with the supportive harmonizing candle chorus in the background.

Reply
Dec 31, 2019 07:52:12   #
Stephan G
 
Jim-Pops wrote:
I am going to redo this picture and then print and frame.
Tomorrow I will go out and get a real rose and some leaves. I'm hoping to get an off white rose from our local florist. Trying to decide how much to have in focus. Intending to have the rose and wine glass totally in focus. Thinking about making the second candle from front in focus too. Looking for your thoughts.
Jim


I think the placement of the glass is taking away from the focus of the flower. I zoomed in on the flower, filling the frame with a couple of candles with it. To me, it presented a very strong still life study. The glass could be included only if it is in sharp focus. (Check out some of the still life paintings of the Dutch Masters for examples.) Perhaps moving the glass away (right or left) from the flower to emphasize their differing planes.

Reply
Dec 31, 2019 08:40:40   #
AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!
 
The placement of the candles makes a really nice line leading the eye to and beyond the rose and up to the glass. I think that's really nice. I think the two front candles need to be more in focus. I've always been told that near objects should be in focus, even if they aren't the focal point. I don't know if you can achieve enough DOF to get that or not. I do like the candles behind being OOF.

Reply
Dec 31, 2019 09:00:55   #
Jim-Pops Loc: Granbury, Texas
 
Replying to comments so far, thank you for your input. From your comments the forward 2 candles are bothering many and now wondering if is because there not in focus and therefore drawing too much attention? My intention will be to get the wine glass and flower totally in focus by means of focus stacking. I can also get the two forward candles in focus with 2 additional focus stacked shots.
How are the pictures looking on your monitors, just right or to dark?
I just had 2 photos printed on glass and both of them came out to dark. Wish I could get it right. At the same time I had 10 prints on paper that were done using another service and they printed as I expected, not to dark.

Reply
 
 
Dec 31, 2019 09:05:29   #
Stephan G
 
Jim-Pops wrote:
Replying to comments so far, thank you for your input. From your comments the forward 2 candles are bothering many and now wondering if is because there not in focus and therefore drawing too much attention? My intention will be to get the wine glass and flower totally in focus by means of focus stacking. I can also get the two forward candles in focus with 2 additional focus stacked shots.
How are the pictures looking on your monitors, just right or to dark?
I just had 2 photos printed on glass and both of them came out to dark. Wish I could get it right. At the same time I had 10 prints on paper that were done using another service and they printed as I expected, not to dark.
Replying to comments so far, thank you for your in... (show quote)


The prints on glass, it could be that they are not backlit enough. Just a thought.

Reply
Dec 31, 2019 09:09:03   #
repleo Loc: Boston
 
I think all of the suggestions above are great. I would add that I would like to see a bit more light on the glass - just enough to hint at the outline of the right side and a little more on the rim. The rim as shown is too detached from the composition and is just a distraction.

Reply
Dec 31, 2019 09:10:30   #
Jim-Pops Loc: Granbury, Texas
 
Stephan G wrote:
The prints on glass, it could be that they are not backlit enough. Just a thought.


They are not back lit. The image is printed on the back side of the glass with colors and then a final layer of white is applied removing all transparency. I have had two prints done previously and they came out fine. The problem is when I'm working with a dark image and want subtle highlights.

Reply
Dec 31, 2019 09:11:19   #
Jim-Pops Loc: Granbury, Texas
 
repleo wrote:
I think all of the suggestions above are great. I would add that I would like to see a bit more light on the glass - just enough to hint at the outline of the right side and a little more on the rim. The rim as shown is too detached from the composition and is just a distraction.


Good point👍

Reply
 
 
Dec 31, 2019 10:53:51   #
fergmark Loc: norwalk connecticut
 
repleo wrote:
I think all of the suggestions above are great. I would add that I would like to see a bit more light on the glass - just enough to hint at the outline of the right side and a little more on the rim. The rim as shown is too detached from the composition and is just a distraction.


This was my thought also.

Reply
Dec 31, 2019 10:56:02   #
Wanda Krack Loc: Tennessee, USA
 
I would remove the two front candles, or move the one closer to the rose to the left........leaving a nice reflection light from the rose in the dark base reflective surface. Otherwise, the lighting looks good, focus good, but I find the two forward candles oof too much. It's funny how we all see something different in a photo. It reminds me of the article I read in the general about photo judging and critiquing this morning.

Reply
Dec 31, 2019 15:44:12   #
Hamltnblue Loc: Springfield PA
 
Jim-Pops wrote:
Replying to comments so far, thank you for your input. From your comments the forward 2 candles are bothering many and now wondering if is because there not in focus and therefore drawing too much attention? My intention will be to get the wine glass and flower totally in focus by means of focus stacking. I can also get the two forward candles in focus with 2 additional focus stacked shots.
How are the pictures looking on your monitors, just right or to dark?
I just had 2 photos printed on glass and both of them came out to dark. Wish I could get it right. At the same time I had 10 prints on paper that were done using another service and they printed as I expected, not to dark.
Replying to comments so far, thank you for your in... (show quote)


I typically have to boost the exposure a half stop before printing. The only way around it is to calibrate your monitor.

Reply
Jan 1, 2020 07:10:24   #
R.G. Loc: Scotland
 
I see you allow edits so I'll post this rather than try to explain. This is the best I could do with some rather clumsy cloning. My suggestion is to have a candle on each side of the "entrance" into the scene. I would have staggered them a bit more and I would have had the one on the left a little lower in the frame, but the limits of my technique with the clone tool didn't allow that exact placement .

As Wanda pointed out, this leaves room for a nice reflection of the rose (you'll have to use your imagination for that one ). I also agree with comments that the glass is too low profile. I know you want the glass to be a subtle presence and not an eye-catcher, but the way it is in your original it's a bit too much of a non-presence. I found that increasing the overall Clarity not only brought out the glass, it also brightened up the image in a pleasing way.

I also agree that the foreground candles should be sharp. If they're too intrusive after that you should find some other way to make them slightly less eye-catching (i.e. less vivid). It shouldn't take much, just a subtle drop in contrast and/or clarity and perhaps saturation, and perhaps use a subtle custom vignette that comes far enough into the shot to include the foreground candles but not the rose.
.


(Download)

Reply
Page 1 of 2 next>
If you want to reply, then register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.
Photo Critique Section
UglyHedgehog.com - Forum
Copyright 2011-2024 Ugly Hedgehog, Inc.