First Image Posting

After a good bit of time lurking in the forums, and a good bit of urging from a friend and BPN member to join, I've decided to take the plunge and start looking for critiques and advice on my images. This first image was taken at the Prairie Garden Trust in central Missouri earlier this week and it is a shot of a field of Blazing Star (liatris).

Camera: Canon Mark IV
Lens: 180mm
Settings: 1/320 @ f/5.6

Shot in RAW, processed in Lightroom, then edited in Topaz Simplify. I used the BuzzSim preset and then tweaked the detail settings. This is my first attempt at "out of the box" processing, but Jay, my friend, has convinced me with some of his images to at least give it a try.

Jphn,

Greetings. Welcome to BPN. I particularly like the color in your photo - the contrasting green-violet. A little separation of the in focus flower & the rest would work better for me. Looking forward to seeing more from you.

Cheers,

-Michael-

John, Big welcome to BPN and OOTB. This is a lovely first post. Being an ex-florist I have worked with Liatris extensively and I never get tired of the interesting compositions that can be created with it. I like the effect of the filter and wonder if a square crop with the left flowers cropped off would be the way to go here.:S3: Colors are very pleasing and again big welcome.

Thank you for your comments and observations.

Michael, I have another version of the image shot at f/3.5 that gives a bit more separation due to the shallower depth of field, but I think I may have needed to recompose to really get the separation between the foreground and background that you point out. Something to keep in mind for future shots! Thank you for your comments.

John

Denise, thank you for your suggestions...I have to tell you, I always struggle with cropping images (something I need to get over). I got into photography at the age of 13 when I inherited my Dad's old Agfa Ambi Silette, and I can still hear him telling me to crop with my feet or with the lens, not in the darkroom and now, at 54, that advice still rings in my ears...amazing what you remember from your first mentors! I did a square crop per your suggestion and will post tomorrow (I wasn't sure if the one image limit pertained to re-processed images or not) to see what you think. Thank you for your advice...Jay speaks highly of you!

John, The crop of course is a matter of personal preference and please only crop if you agree. Sounds like good advice from your Dad. I always try to get it right in camera but sometimes I don't see the whole picture till it's on my screen:S3: You can always repost an image with adjustments made to it after suggestions in the same thread if you like, no need to wait. Jay is an amazing photographer and he has a great eye, lets see what he thinks along with some of the other talented folks in this forum.

Denise, attached is a crop of the original image; I like the tighter composition, but I'm not sure if I lose a bit of the feeling of space you feel on the prairie...I'm undecided on this one! On the other hand, after 33 years in the classroom, I know that you learn best when you take the time to listen and then stay at the table for the discussion that follows. Thank you again for your insights.

Jon, I hope you don't mind. I was thinking more like this? I gotta run will check back later!:S3:

I don't mind at all...thank you! This version actually gives it some breathing room, and I think that's what was missing on mine. And I just noticed that you cloned the stray bloom on the right side out of the image...it helps with this particular crop! :S3:

John,

Welcome. Glad to see you took the plunge. You have so many fine images to share. :w3 I love these flowers, and think they are a particularly challenging subject. The feedback you are getting is great, and what I cherish about this forum. Love the colors..........

Jon, welcome to OOTB! A great first post - I love the colors and the three-dimensional feel to it. I think Denise's crop with a little more room on the left looks good but I like the original post a lot also. I like the little white wildflower on the left that got cropped out - It'd be nice to get a pano with more of them included in the background :S3:

Welcome to OOTB! and to BPN! As you can see from the responses here, there is a lot of help here. I understand your hesitancy to crop based on what you said, but there are times when it is a good thing, even in PP. Good color. good contrast, and you have that one especially sharp flower for focus. A great start. I like Denise's crop idea. It is very similar to the one I was going to do and repost here. Looking forward to many great postings from you!

Hey John, welcome to OOTB. A very nice first post, love the purple against the green background. I like Denise's crop suggestion, but also like the original post as well. Look forward to seeing lots of your imagery!

Hi John, Sorry I misspelled your name. I have a client who spells his Jon and I must have gotten confused in my hurry. I looked at your original post again and it does have more of a wildflower look to it than my repost. Either way I would be happy with this one.:S3:

Hi John, let me add my welcome to BPN and OOTB! So stop lurking and post already, what took you so long? :bg3: Seriously, great first post and I really look forward to seeing more of your work. Exploring the possibilities of your images will be a lot of fun but I have to warn you that it is addictive! You have been warned!! :c3:

I'd like to thank all of your for your warm welcomes as well as the comments and suggestions. I'm looking forward to learning from all of you!

Hey John,
Welcome to the forums! I generally prefer tighter crops.....so your cropped version works best for me! Great job following the suggestions and taking the image up a notch!

Thank you, Roman...given the responses and suggestions, I wish now I hadn't waited as long to join!

Hi John,
Welcome to BPN. Great first attempt and post. Really like the complementary colors between the flowers and the background. I like your crop on the repost, but have no problems with your OP. In your OP I like how you show us more of the open field. I don't mind the separation between the Blazing Stars and the one on the left being offset. I feel it balances the comp. I would just darken the bright areas on the left if you choose to go with the full frame version. Overall very nice job!

John, I like Denise's crop the best. I think it gives the flowers enough room with out giving it a cut off look. Welcome to BPN.

Thank all of you again for the warm welcome and the suggestions. I now have two versions saved..one similar to the OP and one very similar to the crop offered by Denise. The tips have given me so much food for thought as I begin to look over some of my older images, as well as some from a shoot yesterday...thanks again!