Study in Contrast

© Stephen Shoff

Study in Contrast

Uploaded: June 16, 2013

Description

f/16, 1/125 sec, ISO 400; Tamron 18-200 OIS @ 128 mm

Early June was a great time to visit Bryce Canyon Nat'l Park. The wildflowers were in bloom. Temperatures on the trails weren't too bad even in the late afternoon.


Exif: F Number: 16, Exposure Bias Value: 0.30, ExposureTime: 1/125 seconds, Flash: did not fire, compulsory flash mode, ISO: 400, White balance: Manual white balance, FocalLength: 85.60 mm, Model: NEX-7

Comments

Kalena Randall June 16, 2013

Stephen, I love the flowers and the bokeh in this. I find the cliff face in the upper part a bit distracting because the flowers are so small even though it's out of focus. Do you think there is a way to bring the flowers up stronger? I keep looking at it and I can't seem to come up with a something.

I need your technical skills to solve this. :-) #1532622

Stephen Shoff June 16, 2013

Cropped with stronger selective high-pass filter for localized sharpening.

The better technique, Kalena, is better in-camera composition. A wide angle lens close to the flowers might have worked better. #10735334

Beth Spencer June 16, 2013

I really like these flowers, I think maybe because they are purple! I think a tighter crop could work. Can you bring the highlights down a bit in the flowers? #10735389

Kalena Randall June 17, 2013

Stephen, I really like how the flowers stand out more in the rework and the cliff face isn't quite so big. It adds a nice back drop now! Super shot! #10736155

Stephen Shoff June 17, 2013

So here's the non-technical question, Kalena.

When you asked for the flowers to be 'stronger', were you looking to improve a flower picture? If so, I would agree that the tighter crop accomplished that goal.

However, which composition accomplished my intent, as implied by the title, better? This was a image that I took with the express intent of communicating the vast dichotomies of size and permanence that are found in the desert. #10736190

Elaine Hessler June 17, 2013

I do like the second crop better. It brings my eye directly to those pretty flowers-looks like columbine to me. The colors are beautiful-red rock is one of my favorites. How about cloning out the little yellow flower in the back on the right edge? #10736227

Jeff E Jensen June 17, 2013

This is interesting, Stephen. I think it worked well based on your title. I do think that your comment about using a wide angle lens is probably right. #10736434

Elaine Hessler June 17, 2013

I thought Stephen's comment made sense. If he used a wide angle lens and got in really close to the flowers, wouldn't it make those flowers seem larger in comparison to the rock behind it? Not sure if I am following this... #10736473

Stephen Shoff June 17, 2013

You're following this just fine Elaine. That is what I was describing in my original comment to Kalena. I had just finished taking close-up wide-angle pictures of some more accessible flowers right beside the road (that weren't good enough to keep).

But I was walking along the trail and actively wondering to myself, "How many people were actually seeing the flowers?". In this one, I wanted the flowers to be small in the frame, and I wanted to show the expanse of rock and dirt, and the tenaciousness of the flowers clinging to the slopes.

If I were taking a flower picture Elaine, I would clone out the bright yellow along the right. Since this image doesn't seem destined to go beyond my personal photo album, I think I'm going to stay with my original composition.


#10736513


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