To reshoot or not to reshoot, that is the question

I saw a haybale on a hill with some purple flowers in front while driving to work. I stopped to shoot it, but I had to rush it. The DOF is not what it could be I think and I'm not sure of the focus. I had to handhold but probably could have gone a couple more stops smaller in aperature. I don't know. Scrap it and reshoot? I don't know if I could get that darn butterfly to pose again, but if it looks bad overall ... I'd rather reshoot. Alright, what do you think. I'm over a bale ... er ... uh ... barrel on this one.

What do you think about the shot with the trees on top cropped off the top using a standard 8x10 format? I am not sure you need them.

Croasdail wrote in post #6399822
What do you think about the shot with the trees on top cropped off the top using a standard 8x10 format? I am not sure you need them.

+1... loose the trees and this would look really cool... nice eye

I agree with the guys about the background. It's unnecessary and I would bring the camera down to get rid of it. I also think you need to figure out which object in the picture you like more because both of them are pretty interesting, but when combined with such a narrow aperture, they really fight for your attention.

I've seen this kind of shot before and I'm confused about something...How is the bale in uncut grass??

That bale was cut and baled about 6 weeks ago and just left in the field.

I thought that I liked the photo the way it is, but I scrolled the photo up to the top of the screen and cut off the trees and presto it is much better that way.

Yall are right.

Maybe reshoot with more shallow DOF, with focus on the bale so the flowers in the foreground are blurred - the color and form will suggest the flowers, but the focus will be on the bale. Try shooting in different light (early morning, evening) to get more shadow definition of the bale's form, maybe?

Good crop suggestion form the posts above as well.

Keep working this one and post the results!

Kirk

I agree with Kirk.
The flowers look a little over sharpened to me!!

The hay cock needs to be at least as sharp as the flowers.
Crop the trees.
Print it and hang it. You have a winner

I'm not sure what f stop you used, but if you do reshoot again use f/22.

Just my own opinion(s) here but most of the issues you made comments on could probably be fixed in Photoshop. I agree with the comments that it does look a little over-sharpened in the foreground and in addition to that I'd also straighten the tree line and maybe take a closer look at your colors...looks a tich too red to me.

As to reshooting it or not...honestly that's kind of up to you. Without seeing the full size original to see just how much work you'd have to put into it, it's a hard call. Personally if I'm not happy with a shot and I don't feel I can "fix it", then as long as the opportunity is available, I will usually go for the reshoot myself...but again that's if I can't fix it. If I can repair an otherwise decent image and only spend 1/2 an hour doing so compared with maybe spending an hour or more driving back to the place (not to mention the money spent on gas) along with setting up the camera/shot again and then having to edit the new pic...you get my drift. Sometimes it's easier to reshoot, sometimes it's not really worth the effort.

That said, from what I see here it looks like a lovely shot and most of the issues probably could be fixed in pp. You'll have to decide if the time is worth it and/or your editing skills are up to the task. -If- you choose to reshoot, I would pay a little more attention to your DOF....decide exactly what you want the focus to be. To me the hay bail and the flowers in the foreground should take priority. I seriously doubt I'd use f/22 as was suggested though...you don't need that much DOF and in fact, I'd try to keep the trees in the background out of focus as they're not really relevant to the shot other than providing a sense of DOF (which would be lost if you had EVERYTHING in focus here). And you could always clone the butterfly back into the new shot from this one .

Okies...just my $.02 worth,
Jim

I am trying to figure put why folks want the bale looking good..you have those gorgeous flowers and the butterfly..I would 69 the bale and crop. Just me.

Flo wrote in post #6409580
I am trying to figure put why folks want the bale looking good..you have those gorgeous flowers and the butterfly..I would 69 the bale and crop. Just me.

69??

PETERSYMES wrote in post #6410464
69??

Axe...lol....and it was freudian slip.lol..I meant 86:p:o

I suggested blurring the flowers because, even in their blurred state, it will be obvious what they are and the color of the flowers and their form/arrangement are what anchor the foreground, not the details of the petals themselves, etc. The bale, if blurred, will be more amorphous and not necessarily a recognizable element, even in a field of grass. If you keep everything in focus, the scene gets a little confusing.

The form of the bale is really nice - its isolation is also sort of serene and its existence amid the grass is nice context. The sharpness of the bale and the grass would emphasize the nice texture that each possesses. The composition as in the original photo, with the tree line cropped, would be balanced as well and the blurred flowers in the foreground would separate and give depth to the image. The purples and blues of the flowers also adds a nice complement to the golds and oranges of the bale and grass.

Reshoot it if it is not inconvenient - shoot in the late evening for a golden tone and stronger definition of form via shadows or early in the AM for a bluish tone and see what you get. If you want to compress the fore and back grounds together, shoot telephoto, if you want more separation, shoot wide. Do all of that fun stuff in-camera as you will go insane trying to mask the flowers from the grass/bale. Try shifting focus, first shooting the flowers in focus and blurring the bale/grass, and then shoot another image focusing on the bale and blurring the flowers, etc.

Go for it, it will be a good learning experience with a nice scene. Who knows, you may even get a Wyeth landscape out of it. Or you could just 69 the bale and shoot the flowers. Hehe.

Enjoy!

Kirk