Grass seed heads and rain drops

[Myer Bornstein]

Taken this morning in between the rain showers. canvas added to left and a lone leaf on right cloned out in PS
Nikon D300s Nikon 300 f4
300mm
450mm (in 35mm film)
Subject dist: 0.030m
1/640 sec, f/8
Mode: Av
Metering: Multi-segment
ISO: 800
White balance: Auto
Flash: On

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Liked the simplicity of the image. Wondering if a BW conversion with some strong contrast (or possibly a high-key approach) may enhance the image...?

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Myer,
Well.....this one just doesn't work for me and I think it's because of the flat light Kaushik was eluding to. The grass really doesn't seperate from the sky enough with either sharpness (could have been the rain) or dramatic light. For the simple comp to work, it must have plenty of texture or dramatic light.....and that just isn't presnt here. You also have much more empty space.....so the grasses are even more minimalized. The lone diagonal frond had the most promise IMO....concentrating on it would have been your best bet.

[Julie Kenward]

Myer, I'm afraid I agree as well but...I think you could definitely improve on this the next time around. I think you might have chosen a vertical crop here because the fronds where hanging down when, in reality, I think it would have been much stronger as a vertical with some extra room on the left side of the frame. For this to work as a vertical, I think that stem end needs to be down at the bottom right edge of the frame. Make sense? A really good tip to remember is don't look at direction - look at overall shape. if you had to draw an imaginary circle around this plant as it is presented here you'd be much closer to drawing a horizontal box than a vertical one, hence, more reason to go in that direction with your composition and crop. Keep trying, though! It all takes practice!