Damon Williams  


Electric Daffodil by Damon Williams

October 2020 - Electric Daffodil

About the Image(s)



Fuji X-E3
50-140mm @ 134mm
1/90
F5
ISO 400,
center weighted metering
I lit it from the back with some continuous lighting, I think I did some exposure editing too.

I shot this early in this year as part of the first photo training I'd ever really had, Individualized Photography, here at PSA. I think the assignment was Macro/Close Up and Still Life. I found that making a MEANINGFUL image in either case was challenging, but I finally came up with something that I didn't hate, which was this. What I like about this image: black blacks, tones and texture in the whites, nice colors in the central structure, the entire flower is in focus but the stem isn't. What I don't like about this image: I think maybe I ought to crop in from the left more to get the flower out of the center more (but that would leave a lot of black on the right), I'm not sure it's that original. I presented it to my club as an entry for the theme "Up Close." It was...unloved. (sad trombone wah wah wah)


This round’s discussion is now closed!
11 comments posted




 
DAMON,
THE DAFFODIL IS ELECTRIC.
I REALLY LIKE THE COMPOSITIOLN OF THIS IMAGE, YOU'VE PLACED IN A VERY NICE POSITION, MAYBE TAKING ABOUT ONE INCH OFF THE LEFT WOULD KEEP IT IN BALANCE WITH THE THE SPACING AT THE TOP AND BOTTOM AND LEAVING THE ROOM ON THE RIGHT WHERE THE FLOWER IS LOOKING TOWARD.
THE HARDEST THING TO HANDLE ARE THE WHITES, YOU HAVE GOOD EXPOSURE ON THEM. THE CENTER OF THE FLOWER IS A STRIKING ORANGE, PUTTING IT IN SHARP CONSTRAST ON THE WHITE PEDALS.
JUST MY OPINON, GO FOR MORE DOF, I SEE YOU USING F5.6 MAYBE
F11 AND GET MORE IN SHARP DETAILS, JUST LOOKS KINDA OF SOFT IN THE CENTER.
THANKS FOR ELETRIC TINGLE.

  Posted: 10/02/2020 18:46:27
Damon Williams   Damon Williams
You know. You're right. it is kind of soft in the center. Take a look at this version. Does it look the same or better?
  Posted: 10/04/2020 17:16:55



Damon Williams   Damon Williams
  Posted: 10/04/2020 17:21:28
Comment Image



 
WOW MUCH BETTER WHAT'S UP   Posted: 10/04/2020 19:29:03
Damon Williams   Damon Williams
That first one was exported from Mac Photos. The second one was exported from Lightroom. This hosed me for a long time, without me even knowing it, until I happened to be sitting with my club's PSA Rep when he was looking at my submission. I was like "that is not my photo!" After that experience, I started transitioning to Lightroom.

They look great on the screen, but the output via export is a much different product. In this case, I had to do a complete system reset last week, and most of my Lightroom photos were lost (well, I have the originals on a backup drive) but haven't set LrC back up so I decided to just try the Mac Photos version. The settings for both exports are literally the same. I was actually directed to the Apple Engineers a few months ago, for this issue, after some mutual head scratching.

Moral of the story: Not all editors are created equal. Second moral: Mac ain't what it used to be.   Posted: 10/04/2020 21:55:54
 
Fascinating info re LR and Mac Photos. The focus, colors, lighting, detail, whites, composition are all perfect in the LR version. On the other hand, I kind of think "ho hum. Another good flower image". I dont feel delighted, curious, inspired by it. I'm not sure if there is any way to improve the photo. It is perfect, but exciting, not so much   Posted: 10/08/2020 20:58:16



 
The detail and the luminosity of the flower are fantastic. The colors beautiful. The stem out of focus is a little distracting for me. Maybe next time try to give it a greater depth of field. Creating a little more depth between the individual parts of the flower. Never mind I see you did that. I like it better. Sorry I try to not read other's comments before I respond so I don't get distracted. Yes definitely LR version the best.   Posted: 10/20/2020 00:59:30
Damon Williams   Damon Williams
Thanks Diane. Actually, I do have other versions of this with a wider DoF (bringing the stem into focus), but for whatever reason just didn't feel that it had the same impact. I'll take that under advisement though.
YEAH, the difference between LrC and Mac Photos is criminal isn't it? IT'S THE SAME FILE!!! Every time I talk to the Mac folks (which is a lot these days, ever since the advent of Mac 10.15) I tell them how they drove me away from Photos. Oh well.   Posted: 10/20/2020 08:57:05



Emmy Denton   Emmy Denton
Hi Damon,

I'm sorry your club thought this was ho - hum. I like the detail in the petals especially the white ones - it's so hard to capture all that detail. I find both photos a little soft although the LR one is much better. I've had similar issues - so now I double check my jpg files before submitting them anywhere. Sometimes it's just me forgetting to use the sharpen in LR. I have "jazzed up" plane Jane (if there is such a thing of a beautiful flower) with a spray bottle of water. You'd be amazed - especially with a black background. Also I would consider using focus stacking and moving the camera slightly to the left to show a little more of the outside of the center of the flower without loosing the stamen in the middle. I think that would add more of a three dimensionality to the photo and thus interest to those who say ho-hum... I think this is an excellent first try and I'm being supper picky!   Posted: 10/27/2020 00:02:09
Damon Williams   Damon Williams
Thanks for the suggestions Emmy. I hadn't really thought about a recompose, except for cropping. I like the water droplet idea too.Slippery. ;)   Posted: 10/27/2020 00:26:04