Bacterial Mat - Yellowstone

[pat lillich]

wasn't really sure where to put this - but liked it in spite of all the mistakes, and wanted to share.

the bacterial mats around the hot springs were incredible. I made the mistake of taking pics of large areas instead of focusing down on small sections - and the pictures are overwhelming when i look at them in LR. So I cropped this one down to a small portion - and realized this is what I should have done in the first place. This was taken looking almost straight down, which probably wasn't the best choice again. guess we need to go back again and make a thorough scientific study of the best way to take these kinds of pics. :o

I'm curious how people suggest cropping pictures like this - it is pretty much abstract

Taken handheld - reaching out over the mat so its not as sharp as it should have been either, upped the ISO so I could get a short exposure time, but should have gone for more depth of field too.

nikon d300, 18-200 f3.5-5.6, 1/650 sec f/7.1, ISO 640

large crop in LR, plus a little clarity and vibrance
NIK output sharpening in PS.

would love to hear any suggestions on what I could have done differently to get a better pic...

[Julie Kenward]

Pat, I think you've learned a lot here already! When dealing with abstracts it all comes down to finding a focal point for the eye to settle on, a diagonal line that leads your eye through the image, or a repeating pattern that has little distractions around it (very bright or very dark areas).

I chose this section of your image because there is diagonal movement going from the URC to the LLC but there is a dark area at the top that would be nice to clone out if you want to play with this. I'd also look at toning down the very white areas as those can grab the eye and keep it from moving to the focal point/diagonal line. One way to do this would be to use the eyedropper tool to grab a light orange shade, then flip to the soft brush tool and lower the opacity to like 20% and "paint" over that bright area. You might need less or more color - you'll have to decide as you go. I'd also take a look at sharpening it up a bit more. You might try the high pass filter for this - it tends to do a good job on textural images.

[Dave Mills]

Hi, Good advice by Jules regarding a center of interest. In the repost the strongest area was selected and gives the eye something to latch onto. The lighting and color are appealing but I also feel this type of image needs to be sharp when showing this much detail...

[Ken Childs]

Hi Pat, it sounds like you've already figured out that you should have gone in a lot tighter in the field and Jules gave great advice on how to handle a shot like this. Natural abstracts can be hard to deal with and Jules' repost does a great job of showing what to look for. :)

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Pat. Sounds like you have already done a lot of self-critiquing - which is how we develop as photographers. :) Jules has some good suggestions above for you to consider as well. Cropping an image like this can be pretty subjective. As an alternative crop, you have an interesting diagonal element running through about 3/4 of your original post (which Jules also noted). You could include all of this element by cropping from the left and a little from the right. Then take a bit off the top to remove the dark spots. Something in-between this and Jules' crop might also work. Did I mention that this is subjective? :)

[pat lillich]

thanks guys - good input, and really appreciated. Just wish I could figure these things out BEFORE i take the blamed pictures. hope i get to head back there again someday to try to take the pics properly.

meanwhile, I really do love the color, detail and patterns, so even though they aren't sharp enough, I'm going to play with trying different crops and see if i can see the kinds of patterns that you guys talk about.

thanks again for your help!

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Pat,
Still in the Tetons......and while I like Jules crop.......here's one I like that works for me.....so let me know your thoughts