Heidi Egerman  


Sea Urchins by Heidi Egerman

December 2020 - Sea Urchins

December 2020 - Heidi Egerman

Original

About the Image(s)

A few weeks ago we were planning a trip to the Oregon Coast for a week. Unfortunately, Oregon’s quarantine prevented this trip. So, I decided to shoot a still life of some sea urchins that I’ve been collecting. It may be bothersome to some that the shells are cropped on the right side, but this is as intended and part of my composition. In the original image there was very little room above the largest shell so I used content aware scale in PS to fix this.


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




Ian Cambourne   Ian Cambourne
A great image Heidi, but to be perfectly honest, and I see that as my job as admin, when I first saw the right hand side I thought "What has she done???" but the more I look at it the way you've presented it, the more it grows on me. Colour vs b&w? Makes little difference to me as there are only a touch of green and pink in the original. Will other viewers say it's a little "heavy" on the right? So what if the left is balanced? I'm just thinking out loud. The composition and crispness of your image as presented is great, but I'm just offering an option to please the masses. What do you think please?   Posted: 12/07/2020 02:44:22
Comment Image
 
Thanks Ian. I honestly mentioned it in my comment because I may have had some questions myself as to the final composition. I'm not sure what composition rules it meets or breaks. Because the crop creates a bit of a triangular shape, my eye starts at the right and moves into the image - which I like. Maybe if I had created more depth of field on the back shell it would not look so cropped off. I do like how this experience really makes us think about and evaluate our images more than we generally would. Thanks for that.   Posted: 12/08/2020 20:14:15
 
Just a short follow-up regarding your alternate image. I'm afraid I don't care of the tight crop at all, but I will be curious as to what others think. In my previous reply, I was commenting on the composition of my original image.   Posted: 12/09/2020 12:11:33



Michael Hrankowski   Michael Hrankowski
(Groups 3 & 83)
Hi Heidi. I ran across some of your previous flower images while perusing the various groups and I was impressed. I particularly like the simplicity of your compositions and some of the creative ways you edit. Regarding the sea urchins: I love this image and I wouldn't change a thing. Both the color and monochrome renditions are equally appealing and I honestly can't decide which one I like better. (that indecision also plagues me with my own images!) Anyway, nice work.   Posted: 12/09/2020 12:56:39
 
Thank you Michael. Your comments are much appreciated. I'll venture out and take a look at your work. Have a great week.
  Posted: 12/09/2020 18:52:22



Jay Joseph   Jay Joseph
Great image Heidi. I like the textures, object placement, and the reflection. I think the crop makes it a very strong image. I would not change anything about it.   Posted: 12/09/2020 14:12:19
 
Thank you Jay. I've become quite fond of this image, but haven't been able to put my finger on exactly why.
  Posted: 12/09/2020 18:53:45



Sanford Morse   Sanford Morse
Very nice. If I didn't have the color for comparison, I would think B&W was the one. But the colors are so unusual that I think they add to the composition.   Posted: 12/19/2020 15:44:22



Trey Foerster   Trey Foerster
Setup is impeccable. I don't think you could lose either way: b&w or color. To balance out the bright at top right, I'd slightly brighten the small disc at far left then burn the top right slightly till a balance between the two was achieved. The sharpness is right on and the reflection gives a very different but nice DOF. I also think you should add more black to the top and bottom as the black to the left makes the image "crunched" to my eye. You have a very nice style to your images!   Posted: 12/20/2020 12:30:52



 
I really like your image. The B&W works well. I like your composition, as it allows for negative space on the left. I wouldn't change a thing on this image. Kudos!   Posted: 12/20/2020 13:59:41