Morning weeds

[GaryCh]

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I don't quite feel comfortable making a PAD yet, but I'm still trying to find one decent picture a day. I's getting easier so maybe I'll commit to a PaD Blog sometime.

Anyway, here's todays... no macro so I'm using the 14-45.

Just weeds in a rather uninspiring paved driveway.


-Gary

 

[bilzmale]

They have a jewel like quality in this shot - nice and sharp.

 

[BBW]

"Just weeds" doesn't quite cover this one, Gary - they're beautiful and "jewel like" is an apt description. I love the water droplets. Nice going!

 

[BlairMacKay]

Really sharp, great shot!

 

[LisaO]

Nice water droplets especially along the edges.

 

[pete_t]

Lovely image. Given weeds are just plants growing in the wrong place, I'd like some like those in my driveway!

 

[JoeG]

As your picture shows, everything is inspiring if you look closely enough. Great shot!

 

[cosinaphile]

gary the "presence" of the leaves,and droplets.... and the hydrophobic nature of the droplets and pools is so stunnng and crisp .
the exposure and contrast is also finely seen, and frankly im stunned by the sheer visual quality here , but since you raise the issue of editing photo here on the forum with such conviction, ill take a stab with a worded suggestion rather than try my clumsy "elements" to make the point .......
.[ also, personally , id ask you first:smile: ]
what troubles me here is the almost perfect centrality of the surface tension pool of water dead center , it stares at me like an eye and i cant help thinking that moving it a bit away from dead center would not make the image stronger .., wiser .
of course ,there are times when having the first seen element of an image dead center is the best call , but i think that this is not for every image , and i wonder if your image would not benefit from moving that pool off of dead center too.
but the image is still very good as it is , and reminds me of what my ep1\gf1 is capable of in terms of image quality and sheer punch.

cheers

 

[GaryCh]

Thanks for all your nice comments, it means a lot, really : )

Cosina, I have the utmost respect for your work and I would be honoured for you to show me your treatment if you get time. I think it would be very educational. Hmmm, I really should change my sig to explicitly grant tweaking rights ; )

As regards IQ - The image in original looked bright and a little washed out. For the PP I was a little lazy and didn't do any cropping. I did however use a Clarity and Soft-Wow in Lightzone - just to sharpen, draw the greens deeper and bring the highlights out.

Sometimes, even nature needs a little help


-Gary

 

[cosinaphile]

gary, understand i have zero post process skills, really all im suggesting is is a crop
[ wasnt sure if your orig had room at the edges ..]

if you think my humble suggestion has merit then make it happen , you would be able to do it in 10% of the time it would take me... id would like to see it with that central element less centered, perhaps a crop to off center that element , will offer no improvement


it would be interesting to see

 

[matmcdermott]

Big thumbs up. Really nice.

If we're going to armchair compose, I'd say next time considering moving the droplet down and to the left, leaving more out-of-focus area in the upper right. But that it nitpicking.

 

[GaryCh]

Big thumbs up. Really nice.

Thanks Mat

If we're going to armchair compose, I'd say next time considering moving the droplet down and to the left, leaving more out-of-focus area in the upper right. But that it nitpicking.

Okay, a quick test chop ...

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A little more 'thirdsy' I guess.

I think I'd rather bring the larger in-focus pool down to the lower right a little to a 'thirdsy' position but then zoom in a little to have the second pool sit right-of-centre to counter-balance. I'll definitely play with the composition a little tonight.

But, to be honest, I'm just thrilled that you guys liked it : )


-Gary

 

[cosinaphile]

gary i think having the other large 'pool' is integral to the sucess of your image at this point the original is better imho.

 

[cosinaphile]

ok gary , ill play if you promise not to laugh........

a tiny bit of desaturation and a bit of crop to decenter the focusded central pool



now gary ,in the interest of fariness , i give permission to adjust one or two of my images in the gallery , any one except portraits please , what id really like to see is improvement in the photos of the firefighting photos , which im less than happy with

 

[GaryCh]

gary i think having the other large 'pool' is integral to the sucess of your image at this point the original is better imho.

Yeah, I thought so too... I edited the above post to say as much.

I guessed at a more balanced thirdsy composition... like this...

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Better ?

edit: LOL - we are playing leap-frog with the posts : ))) We had a similar idea for the more 'balanced' crop although I do prefer yours as mine is, on reflection, a little too tight. I like the desatch although I might be just a touch less aggressive with it (personal preference I guess)

Thanks for the input Cosina : ) Definite improvement.


-Gary

 

[cosinaphile]

i thought de saturation would help but on that point i feel your greater saturation makes for a better photo at the end of the day , looking at them side by side , i like the more saturated one better ..... , also im not thrilled wiith my crop either but decentralizing the focal [ not focus] point has some merit, but i supect a better crop awaits

and it remains a powerful image,even if you leave it as you first presented it here

 

[GaryCh]

No, I think you've pretty much nailed it. The crop is far more balanced this way.

I think the large droplet in a rather 'thirdsy' bottom-right position leaving the second drop right-of-centre has great merit. I might desaturate just the tiniest bit too, although it is going into a portfolio of flowers which are quite vibrant already... so I do need some strength of colour for this image to compete well with the rest.


-Gary

 

[goldenlight]

Gary, I think the original composition is just fine. Sometimes I think that deliberately bowing to the rule of thirds is a mistake. If it naturally falls into place that's great but to deliberately contrive it can result in a contrived looking composition. If every photo we took was a perfect example of the rule of thirds wouldn't they all start to look a little boring?

Your picture is a wonderful example of making an ordinary subject look fresh and interesting. The only reservation I have is that maybe it's just a tad oversharpened, but that usually comes down to personal preference. I really like it. :smile: