need honest critique!

original

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i really like it bud, great capture. it could use a bit more contrast, but still a great shot.

I agree with Airfrogusmc. I think the brightly colored flower in the muted surroundings better illustrates the contrast you spoke of between your mother's personality and her current life events. However, I think I would like the uncropped version with this treatment. I think the bland sky and the distant, fading hillside adds to the dreariness of the world around your flower. I might clone out the pole/tower sticking up in the background for a smooth transition from the foreground to the sky.

My prayers go out for your mother.

Bigbitt8706 wrote in post #6145543
Speedie- I wanted this to be a somewhat moody shot, it was very hazy this morning. I appreciate the reprocess, but I think I’m going to stick with mine… sometimes desaturated colors work better with the feel of a shot, and I hope this is one of those occasions. Lol yeah I actually did plant it right there before the shot.

Swaffs- I think we may use a little too much “pop” in our work sometimes… this is supposed to be a somewhat neutrally colored shot. And as far as what I’m trying to say with it, my mother has been hospitalized for the past week with a faulty heart, and she has maintained the same beautiful personality that is in stark contrast with everything going on in her life. essentially, this is a portrait of my mother.

Flo- Lol I actually dropped the plant into the ground right there… I bought it at Lowes like 20 minutes before the shot. Would a different plant work there, or are you talking about just plain bad composition? The flower was a big reason I wanted to take this shot (read what I wrote to swaffs about what I was trying to say)... you are right, it is a post harvest corn field

Bigbitt8706, When I first saw your image, it spoke to me but of another story than yours. I like your discription of the image's meaning more than mine. The titled which came to my mind initially is 'Phoenix' or something with the meaning of "new birth rising from the ashes".

I also think the brightly colored flower in that dreary and lifeless setting is all the contrast that the image needs to convey its message.

I very much like your use of the boka (forgive spelling if its wrong). The boka combined with the fog enhances the illusion of depth. I suspect you'll probably clone out the tower (or whatever that is in the background), but I wouldn't change anything from the original as you have it.

Your image makes a very dramatic statement even more so with its explaination.

Love and prayers to your Mother. I wish her well.

Speedie wrote in post #6144233
Wow very striking and poignant. Reminds me of those old 2nd World War shots on the front line. Would be good to see a bit more saturation and perhaps a little lighter.

Okay, I'm going to echo Speedie & midnite here to a degree. The image sets a very somber mood that works as is - muted color and all. I think it evokes a feeling of struggle much like the war photos Speedie mentioned. I would keep it as is with a moderate crop on the right coming in a little inside the husky stalk on the right and perhaps take out a little more sky regardless of the fact that it would somewhat violate the "guideline" of thirds. I think this would give a bit more focus to the shot. I think it is a strong image that evokes the intended emotion. I liked the shot from the time I pulled it up and personally I feel a "well done" is in order.

Regards,
Mark

I think the brighter flower would represent something bright in a dull world and the rule of thirds is vastly OVERRATED and over used.

I like the original crop, but would have personally preferred a little more sat on the flower. Also, I know nothing about plants/flowers etc. and didn't find anything weird about the flower choice.

Nice idea, I like the composition. Only other thing for me, is in the original (don't know if it's my monitor) the sky seems weird; middle / mid-right of the frame, not sure what's going on there.

joedlh wrote in post #6146112
Flo,

Hibiscus do grow outdoors. I have some hardy ones in my yard on Long Island. They also grow wild in the tropics. However, you don't see them in burned out corn fields. It looks artificial there.

Oh, I know that. I said "here" they don't. I think the corn stalks alone are the photo.

Bigbitt8706 wrote in post #6145543
Speedie- I wanted this to be a somewhat moody shot, it was very hazy this morning. I appreciate the reprocess, but I think I’m going to stick with mine… sometimes desaturated colors work better with the feel of a shot, and I hope this is one of those occasions. Lol yeah I actually did plant it right there before the shot.

Swaffs- I think we may use a little too much “pop” in our work sometimes… this is supposed to be a somewhat neutrally colored shot. And as far as what I’m trying to say with it, my mother has been hospitalized for the past week with a faulty heart, and she has maintained the same beautiful personality that is in stark contrast with everything going on in her life. essentially, this is a portrait of my mother.

Flo- Lol I actually dropped the plant into the ground right there… I bought it at Lowes like 20 minutes before the shot. Would a different plant work there, or are you talking about just plain bad composition? The flower was a big reason I wanted to take this shot (read what I wrote to swaffs about what I was trying to say)... you are right, it is a post harvest corn field

When getting a critique you should not interpret your work and you’re not here to defend it either.
The best thing you can do is to never respond to any criticism. Take the criticisms on board as points of reference for future photographs.

Learn from your mistakes and learn what makes your photo emotionally connect with others

It's tough not to defend you work or try to explain what you were trying to accomplish.

A good critique will point out the positives of a photograph and will include some suggestion for improvement.

scorpio_e wrote in post #6151571
When getting a critique you should not interpret your work and you’re not here to defend it either.
The best thing you can do is to never respond to any criticism. Take the criticisms on board as points of reference for future photographs.

Learn from your mistakes and learn what makes your photo emotionally connect with others

It's tough not to defend you work or try to explain what you were trying to accomplish.

A good critique will point out the positives of a photograph and will include some suggestion for improvement.

I'm not so sure I agree with this entirely. I agree that people should not get defensive over constructive criticism; check your ego at the door. I do, however, believe that if the photographer is trying to convey a meaning or emotion, and has failed, then telling the panel what they were trying to do could gain specific tips on how to achieve their goal.

You have to be able to defend your work (without getting defensive). Its a must in all aspects of photography. You have to defend it all the time in the commercial world, weddings, fine art, in ever area of photography and the better you get at it the better your chances of getting the work you feel really strongly about shown.

Gooble- I’m glad someone agrees with me on this one…

Sycamorebirds- My knowledge of flowers is so limited, to be honest with you the only thing I know about poppies is that you can extract opium from them, so I thought they were illegal… and if there not illegal, I wouldn’t even know what one would look like in the store.

Polarbare- I thought about finding a young plant to drop there, but I didn’t think it worked with the juxtaposition I was trying to convey… you see young plants in post-harvest corn fields all the time… you NEVER see full grown beautiful flowers like this.

L.Morey- Lol think how the corn feels

Joedlh- it is artificial… I set this shot up.

Aram535- oh crap what happens if you plant a flower in a corn field? I really hope this isn’t unethical… yeah I have since fixed up the right side and cloned out the wire tower in the background, so I think it looks better now… what is high contrast b&w?

Stathunter- from everything I have seen on this forum, speedie’s a very talented person and I would usually agree with you on his edits, but this time I like the more dreary feel of mine.

Airfrogusmc… I love the idea of saturating the unsaturated flower… the original was almost neon orange, and the desaturation, among other things, made the flower fit in… the orginal didn’t “pop”, it clashed. I’m going to have to fool around with this image a little bit more now… I’m completely with you though; it is a “rule” of thirds, and a rule that is very much meant to be broken. If it is a great photograph, it’s a great photograph, regardless of what “rules” are broken.

Jamican_sole- Thanks!

GQsmithy- I didn’t even see that tower until you pointed it out! I have since cloned it out, and it looks better now… thank you for your positive thoughts for my mother.

Midnitejam- I’m glad you liked it! I have cloned out the tower now, I didn’t even see it until GQsmithy pointed it out! Thank you for wishing my mother well

ImageMogul- Thank you! I’ll fool around with cropping it to see what I get


Freestylee30- are you taking about the posterization? I don’t see it on my monitor, but when I pull up this website on my iphone I can see it. But if my biggest sacrifice on this image is it doesn’t work well on a phone, I think that’s ok.

Flo- I thought it was empty without the flower

Scorpio_e- I usually would completely agree with you- an artist is not supposed to interpret his own work, but I was directly asked what it meant… I respect that, and I’ll answer that. I apologize if you think I’m getting defensive, because that is certainly not my intention… the only reason I post anything on this forum is to get critiques on my work so that I can improve myself as a photographer, not to post something and try to prove to the rest of the world that it is perfect. The first thing I asked of those viewing this image is that they ‘tear it apart’… I’m searching for what I did wrong so I can not only improve this image, but my photography skills in general. I am sorry that this did not emotionally connect with you, but I do get the feeling from others that they did connect to it. I let my images speak for themselves, but I will answer questions, and explain to others why I did what I did. I believe that if you cannot explain why you made a photograph, than you yourself do not know why you created the image, making it meaningless aside from it’s aesthetic appeal. I would highly appreciate it if you gave me a critique on my photo, rather than my responses, however.

airfrogusmc wrote in post #6152200
You have to be able to defend your work (without getting defensive).

This is the key.

I like the original but a bit more saturation on the flower by itself would do it for me. I like the idea. It also reminds me of a war field that has seen better days. I think by giving the flower a tiny bit more "pop" will get the idea across a little better. My opinion.

Nice work!

Bigbitt8706 wrote in post #6152338
Gooble- I’m glad someone agrees with me on this one…

Sycamorebirds- My knowledge of flowers is so limited, to be honest with you the only thing I know about poppies is that you can extract opium from them, so I thought they were illegal… and if there not illegal, I wouldn’t even know what one would look like in the store.

Polarbare- I thought about finding a young plant to drop there, but I didn’t think it worked with the juxtaposition I was trying to convey… you see young plants in post-harvest corn fields all the time… you NEVER see full grown beautiful flowers like this.

L.Morey- Lol think how the corn feels

Joedlh- it is artificial… I set this shot up.

Aram535- oh crap what happens if you plant a flower in a corn field? I really hope this isn’t unethical… yeah I have since fixed up the right side and cloned out the wire tower in the background, so I think it looks better now… what is high contrast b&w?

Stathunter- from everything I have seen on this forum, speedie’s a very talented person and I would usually agree with you on his edits, but this time I like the more dreary feel of mine.

Airfrogusmc… I love the idea of saturating the unsaturated flower… the original was almost neon orange, and the desaturation, among other things, made the flower fit in… the orginal didn’t “pop”, it clashed. I’m going to have to fool around with this image a little bit more now… I’m completely with you though; it is a “rule” of thirds, and a rule that is very much meant to be broken. If it is a great photograph, it’s a great photograph, regardless of what “rules” are broken.

Jamican_sole- Thanks!

GQsmithy- I didn’t even see that tower until you pointed it out! I have since cloned it out, and it looks better now… thank you for your positive thoughts for my mother.

Midnitejam- I’m glad you liked it! I have cloned out the tower now, I didn’t even see it until GQsmithy pointed it out! Thank you for wishing my mother well

ImageMogul- Thank you! I’ll fool around with cropping it to see what I get

Freestylee30- are you taking about the posterization? I don’t see it on my monitor, but when I pull up this website on my iphone I can see it. But if my biggest sacrifice on this image is it doesn’t work well on a phone, I think that’s ok.

Flo- I thought it was empty without the flower

Scorpio_e- I usually would completely agree with you- an artist is not supposed to interpret his own work, but I was directly asked what it meant… I respect that, and I’ll answer that. I apologize if you think I’m getting defensive, because that is certainly not my intention… the only reason I post anything on this forum is to get critiques on my work so that I can improve myself as a photographer, not to post something and try to prove to the rest of the world that it is perfect. The first thing I asked of those viewing this image is that they ‘tear it apart’… I’m searching for what I did wrong so I can not only improve this image, but my photography skills in general. I am sorry that this did not emotionally connect with you, but I do get the feeling from others that they did connect to it. I let my images speak for themselves, but I will answer questions, and explain to others why I did what I did. I believe that if you cannot explain why you made a photograph, than you yourself do not know why you created the image, making it meaningless aside from it’s aesthetic appeal. I would highly appreciate it if you gave me a critique on my photo, rather than my responses, however.

Keep at it brother, I love your spirit and you do have a good eye.