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Tom Redd
10-08-2010, 12:39 AM
I headed into the Big Cypress Swamp hoping for some wildlife shots. I didn't get anything special in the wildlife department but took this photo which I liked. I tend to like darker images. Many will say this is under exposed. I shot others with different exposures, but personally liked the darker (this one) best. I am curious as to what the members of the forum think, too dark??

Thank you for your comments and critiques.
D3s
105mm macro
Hand held
1/400
f/5.6
-5 ev
iso 200
no flash

Melissa Groo
10-08-2010, 06:22 AM
Hi Tom. Lovely image. I too am drawn to darker exposures but find that many others aren't! I do think this could be brightened a bit to good effect. It's just such a pretty flower and I find myself straining to see it. I am also unsure what the reflection is of on the left of the flower, maybe clone that out? I like the compositiion though I think you could crop it a bit more to really show off the flower. And maybe boost the saturation a bit.
Thanks for sharing this!

Ken Childs
10-08-2010, 07:26 AM
Hey Tom, I find this composition interesting with the ripples pointing at the flower and the flower looks good and sharp but I'm definitely in the 'this is too dark' camp. I agree that the leaf? on the left of the flower could be cloned out and I would crop a little from the left. All I did here was increase the contrast and crop from the left. There are other minor things that could be done such as spot clean-up etc. but no time to do that right now. This is just to give you something to compare with the OP. Please let me know what you think. :)

Tom Redd
10-08-2010, 08:54 AM
Melissa and Ken- thank you good suggestions. I tried to incorporate both, I cloned out the leaf at the base on the left, did some spot clean up, increased the contrast and saturation as well bumped the vibrancy just a touch. I couldn't increase the contrast much as it would decrease the ripples and that made the LR corner too dark. I think this repost is much better thanks to your suggestions.

Dave Mills
10-08-2010, 09:20 AM
Ken made some good points and his repost a big improvement. IMO the lily as a vertical with the ripples cropped out is a stronger comp...

Ken Childs
10-08-2010, 09:23 AM
Tom, that definitely looks better! I don't know what editing software you're using but in Photoshop it would be relatively easy to select the just the flower and add some contrast to it. That way you wouldn't affect the ripples.

Steve Maxson
10-08-2010, 10:30 AM
Hi Tom. Here's another vote in the "too dark" camp - but we all have our own perspectives and preferences. :) I like your repost. It is still on the dark, moody side, but the flower has more life to it - more impact. Good sharpness and DOF on the flower, I like the shadow below the flower, and removing the leaf was an improvement. You have an interesting comp, as presented, but I also like Dave's suggestion of a vertical comp, as an alternative.

Don Thompson
10-08-2010, 10:02 PM
I really like the image but fall into the too dark category. I think Ken's repost is perfect. While I personally don't generally clone objects, removing the leaf definitely improves the image. I vote to keep the ripples. I think it adds to the composition.

All that said, I even like as originally posted.

WIlliam Maroldo
10-09-2010, 10:45 AM
Whether you like "darker" or "lighter" images may very well depend on the image, the mood you wish to convey, ect., but underexposure in the field is in my opinion a major error. If you wish to darken it post processing it is perfectly acceptable, but undexposure is a recipe for serious digital noise as well as losing detail almost completely in darker areas. If you take a moderately overexposed image and drop exposure in post-orocessing to fit your "darker" image vision, you not only will avoid noise to a large degree, but maintain detail throughout the image. regards~Bill

Tom Redd
10-09-2010, 02:40 PM
Dave, I will repost with a vertical crop.
Ken, I use Aperture, I am relatively new to all this and haven't figured out photoshop. Yes you are right, I could do it the way you suggest, I went back and did that, much better, thank you.
William, you are right, good suggestion.

Thank you all for the comments and suggestions. I will repost one final version with the vertical crop, but personally, I like the ripples - salt to taste, right? :) Thanks again.

Steve Maxson
10-09-2010, 02:56 PM
Hi Tom. I like your vertical crop a lot. IMO, you have two very viable ways to present this image. :)

Julie Kenward
10-09-2010, 08:18 PM
Tom, I'm going with your repost - the cleaned up version with the horizontal crop. I like the vertical but the best part of the "dark factor" here for me is the negative space sitting to the right. It's the light out of the dark thing that's working here...and without the darkside to balance the lighter side I think it loses a little of its dramatic impact.

Another thing you might try is to mask the flower and take the BG to a pure black and white and see what you think of that as well.

I also think you could get away with only lighting up the yellow area and leaving the rest of the flower on the dark side...so many options here! You did a wonderful job of cropping in both cases...composition is right where it needs to be. Both images feel balanced and well spaced. Nice work!

Jay Sheinfield
10-10-2010, 11:00 AM
Hi Tom,

Just what you needed, another opinion. Here you go............

I vote for the original concept. You have three compostional elements as I see it. The flower, the shadow and the ripple. Just a matter of balancing. For my taste, slight crop to downplay the shadow and ripple and add more focus on the flower re-balances the comp to add all three elements while favoring the flower which appears to be the central theme.................darkening the water will help preserve the dark mood of the image, while lightening the flower invites my eyes.

Creative image with great mood. Here would my take on it..............didn't take the time to crop the leaf.

Sorry for all the editing, but had some upload issues...............